# Jokes (and other things) that you didn't get until much, much later. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815 "2004-06-05T15:36:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/41 "2004-06-07T13:40:29Z")
When I was a kid, my older brothers told me a joke I didn’t get until high school: How do you get down off an elephant? You don’t; you get down off a duck. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/42 "2004-06-07T13:45:25Z")
This one I didn’t get for a while. :smack: “My daughter’s going for a cruise.” “Jamaica?” “No, she wanted to go.” ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/43 "2004-06-07T13:55:30Z")
The old Bugs Bunny cartoons are full of references to contemporary (I assume Warner Brothers) movies that I didn’t get when I was a kid. A standout for me is a joke on “The Lost Weekend” – a drunk is sitting at a bar, pushing his typewriter towards the bartender, who says “Here’s your change, Mr. Milland” and gives him a bunch of little typewriters in return. (Ray Milland played an alcoholic writer who was always hocking his typeweriter for booze money.) And, um, this is my first post after 2 years of noble silence. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/44 "2004-06-07T15:31:55Z")
The old Henny Youngman line “Take my wife… please.” Heard this plenty growing up but never understood till my late teens. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/45 "2004-06-07T17:41:49Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > "The clown can stay, but the Ferengi in the gorilla suit has to go " How long did that take you? About seven years? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![vertizontal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ad7895/32.png) [@vertizontal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertizontal)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/46 "2004-06-07T17:57:18Z")
For years I read the comic strip **“The Lockhorns”** before it occurred to me that the married couple constantly “lock horns” over something. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/47 "2004-06-07T18:05:10Z")
> [@](#): > > In one of them, he talked about kids playing “Button, Button – here comes my father.” > [@](#): > > “If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?” > > For the longest time, I thought the humor was just in the stereotypical sleazy guy delivery. > [@](#): > > "The clown can stay, but the Ferengi in the gorilla suit has to go " I don’t get these, and wouldn’t have understood the Superman joke or the one about the two Indian Braves and the bug if they hadn’t been explained. I realize that a joke loses its humor if you have to explain it, but that’s also true if the audience doesn’t understand it. Could we please offer an explanation for the jokes for those of us who won’t get them? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/48 "2004-06-07T18:48:37Z")
The pick-up line has a play on the words “would you hold it against me?” As in the idiomatic meaning – would you fault me for it – and the literal meaning – would you physically hold your body against mine. The other two, I have no clue. And the “squash it/squaw shit” pun is awfully difficult to get (especially since I pronounce the two differently.) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/49 "2004-06-07T19:57:26Z")
As a child, I used to read “children’s” joke books. I’ve since come to the conclusion that most of these “children’s” jokes were simply really really old jokes chosen because they were inoffensive, and probably selected by someone who was old enough to remember why they were funny. There were a number of them that, while indeed inoffensive were also unfunny because they were either anacronistic or out of place. To wit: “Did you hear about the little girl with her hair in bangs who was always in a bad mood? Her nickname was 'Surly with the fringe on top.” and “A snail bought a car and painted a big letter “S” on the side. When he drove it around, the other snails would say, ‘Look at that S car go!’” I read both of these jokes in grade school, and didn’t get either one until I was out of high school. When I was in the third grade (about 1974), once a week we had a “joke day” in place of show-and-tell. We could tell a joke instead of showing and telling. So one day, my classmate Kathy stood up in front of the class and told this joke: Q: Why did the Dairy Queen get pregnant? A: Because the Burger King pulled out his Whopper. The teacher calmly said, “Go sit down, Kathy.” Judging by the lack of reaction from my other classmates, I think I wasn’t the only kid in the room who didn’t get the joke. I don’t think Kathy even understood the joke. I think I was in high school when I remembered it, and finally got it. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/50 "2004-06-07T20:06:16Z")
Good old Officer Shrift in _The Phantom Toolbooth_. The day when, thinking back on the book, I went ‘Ooohhh… he’s short!’ If you don’t know what I’m talking about , then read the book. I don’t think you’ll regret it. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/51 "2004-06-07T20:24:21Z")
> [@](#): > > There were a number of them that, while indeed inoffensive were also unfunny because they were either anacronistic or out of place. To wit: > > “Did you hear about the little girl with her hair in bangs who was always in a bad mood? Her nickname was 'Surly with the fringe on top.” > > and > > “A snail bought a car and painted a big letter “S” on the side. When he drove it around, the other snails would say, ‘Look at that S car go!’” Why do you think these aren’t funny or anacronistic? “Surrey with the Fringe On Top” isn’t THAT old of a song. _Oklahoma!_ the movie came out in 1955 and is regularly produced by community theater groups, high-schools, etc. I bought the tape for my children, 9 and 6, and they’d certainly get it. It’s a fun song! And I don’t think escargots are particularly rare as a dish, are they? Or am _I_ not getting something? (Which is certainly possible. I didn’t get the “squash it” joke.) ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/52 "2004-06-07T20:47:11Z")
> [@Number Six](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > "The clown can stay, but the Ferengi in the gorilla suit has to go " > > I don’t get these, and wouldn’t have understood the Superman joke or the one about the two Indian Braves and the bug if they hadn’t been explained. I realize that a joke loses its humor if you have to explain it, but that’s also true if the audience doesn’t understand it. Could we please offer an explanation for the jokes for those of us who won’t get them? This is from _Star Trek: The Next Generation_. In the pilot episode, Geordi tells a joke, but all we hear is the above punchline. Data doesn’t get it. Then, in the first movie after he’s put in his emotion chip, Data starts laughing. Geordi asks him what’s so funny, and Data replies that he just got the joke. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/53 "2004-06-07T21:03:29Z")
> [@Ellen Cherry](#): > > Why do you think these aren’t funny or anacronistic? “Surrey with the Fringe On Top” isn’t THAT old of a song. _Oklahoma!_ the movie came out in 1955 and is regularly produced by community theater groups, high-schools, etc. I bought the tape for my children, 9 and 6, and they’d certainly get it. It’s a fun song! > > And I don’t think escargots are particularly rare as a dish, are they? > > Or am _I_ not getting something? (Which is certainly possible. I didn’t get the “squash it” joke.) I think, perhaps, **Phase42** meant that they aren’t jokes a child is likely to get without some explanation. Despite that yours have, I doubt that the majority of children have seen Oklahoma! (heck, I’m 20 and haven’t) or know what escargot is. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/54 "2004-06-07T21:25:38Z")
I was probably 16 before I realized the pun in the slogan “If it’s Quik, you can’t drink it slow.” I just though they meant if you have Nestles Quik in your milk it’s so good you want to drink it fast. Never got the Quik(quick)/slow thing until one day in the kitchen I was drinking some and it just came to me. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/55 "2004-06-07T22:23:56Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > Have you guys seen those green camo. shirts that say “Ha, now you can’t see me”? Well, there a version that goes, “Ah crap, it’s snowing.” > > This guy wore that to class one day, and I sat there, for almost an hour, trying to figure out what it was. About five minutes until the period was over, I finally got it. I stood up and yelled “I GET IT NOW.” I was so proud of myself. Kinda sad really. Is there more to this than the idea that the camoflage won’t work in snow? From your excited reaction it seems that there ought to be some other joke to it that I’m missing… ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/56 "2004-06-08T00:18:51Z")
What **Garfield226** said. _Oklahoma!_ premiered on Broadway on March 31, 1943, more than a year before my _parents_ were born. And my parents were 11 when the movie came out. The joke book in which I saw the joke in the early '70s was probably published sometime in the '60s, so was probably more “current” then. But in the early '70s, with me being probably 8 or 9 years old, _Oklahoma!_ just wasn’t on my radar. No home VCR back then, and if I ever saw it on TV it probably wouldn’t have registed as something I’d remember, least of all a single song from a musical. And escargot? Never heard of it until I was in high school. Even if I had heard of it as a child, the pun would probably have gone over my head at that age. Hey, how about a joke that I read back in high school, and still don’t get at age 38: Q: Why is there a corner tap on the basilica? A: So the pope can cash his check, too. Even the Catholics to whom I’ve told the joke don’t get it :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/57 "2004-06-08T02:42:13Z")
The “Eat Me” cake parade float from **Animal House**. When I was a kid, and to be honest, even a teenager, that was just about cake (and not so funny, either). :wally ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/58 "2004-06-08T03:38:53Z")
How about the magic spell Bullwinkle casts? _Eeney meaney, Chili beaney, the spirits are about to speak!_ To which Rocky the Flying Squirrel responds: “Are they friendly spirits?” Bullwinkle: “Friendly? Just listen.” It wasn’t until my 40s that I got the joke. My wife and I were talking about the show when she pointed out that “the spirits” invoked by chili beans made it a subtle fart joke. Too subtle for me; I didn’t realize it, and she’s never let me forget it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/59 "2004-06-08T03:46:06Z")
A riddle it took me two years to figure out (luckily my age was in the single-digits so I’m not _too_ upset): Q: “If April showers bring may flowers, then what do may flowers bring?” A: “Pilgrims.” :dubious: 😕😕😕 :mad: 😕 :mad: :mad: :mad: :dubious: 😕😕😕 Two… whole… years. I still remember where I was when I figured it out: at the old KFC in Bellair Plaza on AIA in Ormond Beach. :o :mad: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/60 "2004-06-08T03:46:59Z")
Okay, my own personal Rocky and Bullwinkle epiphany. 🙂 I didn’t realize till I was in my late 30s that Mr. Peabody was a shaggy dog. > [@Phase42](#): > > Hey, how about a joke that I read back in high school, and still don’t get at age 38: > > Q: Why is there a corner tap on the basilica? > A: So the pope can cash his check, too. > > Even the Catholics to whom I’ve told the joke don’t get it :dubious: I’m guessing it refers to some Polish men (such as factory workers) who cash their paychecks at the corner tavern and spend some of the money there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815.md?page=4)