# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/121 "2004-06-13T05:57:13Z")
Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Dugrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dugrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dugrik)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/122 "2004-06-13T10:37:23Z")
Maybe it’s because I grew up in a world of synthetic fibers, but it was a long time after my childhood before I got this one: Q: How do you get down off an elephant? A: You don’t. You get down off a goose. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/123 "2004-06-13T12:11:27Z")
Re: the “squash it” joke, I had never seen this before this thread, but looked at it for a couple of minutes thinking “Huh?” and then thought “Ah-ha! The Indian’s _name_ is Big Black Bug!” :smack: (Like Running Bull, or whatever.) I still think that makes more sense, and is just as funny, even after seeing the supposed proper explanation… ---
**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 13, 2004, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/124 "2004-06-13T12:45:32Z")
> [@flamingbananas](#): > > Isn’t the punchline _really_ “Because the Burger King forgot to wrap his Whopper?” Very well could be. But my classmate said “…pulled out his Whopper”. That was about 30 years ago, and I’ve never heard or read the joke again anywhere else since then. But even with your suggested punchline, I still wouldn’t have gotten the joke at 8 years old 😉 ---
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/125 "2004-06-13T16:15:12Z")
> [@Eman\_Bruin](#): > > SNIP\> > > Biggus Dickus I get, though… Uuuhh, you might want to rephrase that (unless you’re just bragging about you husband/boyfriend/whatever) 😉 Peace - DESK ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/126 "2004-06-13T16:23:47Z")
> [@haardvark](#): > > I read this one on the jokes page of _Electric Company_ magazine when I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade, circa 1978 or so: > > “Where does the king keep his armies?” > > “Up his sleevies!” > > I don’t remember where I was when I _got_ it, but I was definitely in my late teens, and it was a real “OH!” moment. I probably walked into a telephone pole I was so momentarily stunned… Oh man, the _Electric Company_… it was years before I got the “Fargo North, Decoder” joke! ---
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/127 "2004-06-13T16:42:43Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > One teen is undressing the other. It’s also a reference to a game we used to play when I was a kid (pre video games) called, “Button, Button, Who’s got the button.” Peace - DESK ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/128 "2004-06-13T22:19:17Z")
> [@racinchikki](#): > > Huh? The line I quoted was from the final episode of _Dinosaurs_; it was a sitcom about a dinosaur family, headed by Earl (Oil, if you pronounce it the way Bugs Bunny would) [Sinclair](http://cgi.aol.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1331&item=3683076983&rd=1#ebayphotohosting). It took me _years_ to understand the Sinclair connection, and several hours after that to get Earl = Oil. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/129 "2004-06-13T23:07:16Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > The line I quoted was from the final episode of _Dinosaurs_; it was a sitcom about a dinosaur family, headed by Earl (Oil, if you pronounce it the way Bugs Bunny would) [Sinclair](http://cgi.aol.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1331&item=3683076983&rd=1#ebayphotohosting). > > It took me _years_ to understand the Sinclair connection, and several hours after that to get Earl = Oil. And continuing the oil theme, wasn’t Earl’s boss named B. P. Richfield? ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/130 "2004-06-13T23:31:40Z")
Heh. I vaguely remember the Dinosaurs tv show, but not the characters’ names, so I was SO lost. I sat there trying to think of a guy named Earl Sinclair, and why it would be funny… the Sinclair oil company (I have a metal advertising sign with their dino on it, hanging in my bathroom) came to mind immediately but I couldn’t think of why that would be funny… I get it now. ---
**Author:** ![d\_redguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@d\_redguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/d_redguy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/131 "2004-06-14T00:22:45Z")
Sixth grade. After a middle school dance. I came home heartbroken because the girl I had a crush on refused to dance with me that evening. I went immediately to bed, crying. My brother obviously told my parents, because my father came into the room, sat beside me on the bed, and told this sweet little story (put in quotes to separate from the rest of this sordid tale): > [@](#): > > One day, a mouse was walking down the railroad tracks. Just boppin’ along, enjoying the day, la-la-la. Soon enough, a train rumbles by. The mouse hops off of the tracks in time to not get squashed. He is so relieved that he wasn’t killed that he doesn’t even realize that the train has chopped his tail clean off. So the mouse continues on his way. > > The mouse walks for another hour before he realizes something is horribly wrong. > > He looks to the left…nothing. > > He looks to the right…nothing there either! > > He looks behind…Oh No! His TAIL IS GONE!! > > The little mouse is frantic. He NEEDS his TAIL! He realizes that the train must have cut it off back there when he dodged it! So back he goes, retracing his steps. The little mouse is determined to find his tail. Finally, the mouse finds his tail. There it is, resting right on the track. But he doesn’t know what to do! He can’t sew it on right here, I mean, come on! He’s just a mouse, right? Well, he knows that he NEEDS to have his tail, so he starts to pick it up in his teeth. Just as he picks his tail up, another train comes barrelling through, cutting the mouse’s head off. “Son,” my father said," do you know what the moral of the story is?" “I think so dad,” I tried gamely (I had stopped crying about my sorry self by now. My dad is a great story-teller.), “it means that I shouldn’t worry about stuff that really isn’t important, right?” "…well…the moral of the story is this, _‘Don’t loose your head over a piece of tail.’_ Goodnight, son." …Three years later, in the middle of my freshman English class, I fell out of my chair. Laughing hysterically. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/132 "2004-06-14T04:45:52Z")
I don’t blame you. That’s really funny, how he said the word “lose,” with the wrong spelling. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![d\_redguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@d\_redguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/d_redguy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/133 "2004-06-14T11:00:02Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I don’t blame you. That’s really funny, how he said the word “lose,” with the wrong spelling. > > 😃 :smack: …well, my dad always was a bad speller. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![haardvark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@haardvark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/haardvark)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/134 "2004-06-14T17:09:54Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Oh man, the _Electric Company_… it was years before I got the “Fargo North, Decoder” joke! I don’t understand what you mean. j/k There was also a Sesame Street bit with a bunch of sandwich fixin’s (loaf of bread, lettuce, cheese, bologna) in a refridgerator and they are all talking about cooperation, and somehow contrive to make a sandwich out of themselves. At the end of the skit everyone is congratulating one another on how popular the sandwich was with the human outside the fridge, and there’s a brief pause, and then the cheese says, “…butter…” Everyone turns to look at the cheese and quietly say, “Wha?” I remember my mom laughing like hell when she first saw it, but I didnt get it until much later… ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/135 "2004-06-14T19:15:24Z")
I hope other people here know of the amazing Firesign Theatre, whose records - far beyond mere comedy albums - are a mine of a million allusions. As is even the name. Back in college my roommate and I used to listen to them obsessively, especially their masterpiece, _Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers_. Every aspect of it parodies one or several things, and every line refers to something else. It starts with a radio show, emanating from the Powerhouse Church of the Presumptious Assumption of the Blinding Light. Pastor Rod Flash is up in his B-29, broadcasting through his mike. > [@](#): > > FLASH: Hello, Dear Friends. It’s so beautiful up here, Dear Friends. It’s so clean. Yes, Dear Friends, there’s no drunken drivers here. No broken glass. No air. Over. > > REV MOUSE [_on the ground_]: White Lightning, White Lightning, this is Ground Beef Control. Do you read me? Over. > > FLASH: I read only Good Books. Over. > > REV MOUSE: Ho, ho, ho! You must be way out there, Pastor. Over. > > FLASH: I’m high, all right, but not on false drugs. I’m high on the real thing. Powerful gasoline, a clean windshield, and a shoeshine. Over. > > REV MOUSE: He’s turning over! > > SOUNDS: _The airplane turning over and diving. Noise of fighting over the radio._ > > FLASH [_off, excited_]: Get thee behind me!! > > REV MOUSE: Are you in danger, Pastor? > > FLASH: I’m all right, Roger. Just a little argument with my co-pilot. And at this point, about 50 listenings in, my roommate and I turned to each other and shouted, “God Is My Co-Pilot!” I’m still not sure about the “no air” and “shoeshine” references, so if any Dopers who lived through the 60s have functioning brain cells left, I’d love to get it after all these years. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/136 "2004-10-14T19:20:44Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > I hope other people here know of the amazing Firesign Theatre, whose records - far beyond mere comedy albums - are a mine of a million allusions. As is even the name. > > Back in college my roommate and I used to listen to them obsessively, especially their masterpiece, _Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers_. Every aspect of it parodies one or several things, and every line refers to something else. > > It starts with a radio show, emanating from the Powerhouse Church of the Presumptious Assumption of the Blinding Light. Pastor Rod Flash is up in his B-29, broadcasting through his mike. > FLASH: Hello, Dear Friends. It’s so beautiful up here, Dear Friends. It’s so clean. Yes, Dear Friends, there’s no drunken drivers here. No broken glass. No air. Over. > > REV MOUSE [on the ground]: White Lightning, White Lightning, this is Ground Beef Control. Do you read me? Over. > > FLASH: I read only Good Books. Over. > > REV MOUSE: Ho, ho, ho! You must be way out there, Pastor. Over. > > FLASH: I’m high, all right, but not on false drugs. I’m high on the real thing. Powerful gasoline, a clean windshield, and a shoeshine. Over. > > REV MOUSE: He’s turning over! > > SOUNDS: The airplane turning over and diving. Noise of fighting over the radio. > > FLASH [off, excited]: Get thee behind me!! > > REV MOUSE: Are you in danger, Pastor? > > FLASH: I’m all right, Roger. Just a little argument with my co-pilot. > > And at this point, about 50 listenings in, my roommate and I turned to each other and shouted, “God Is My Co-Pilot!” … > > . … uh … but Jesus said “Get thee behind me” to \*\* Satan \*\* … ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/137 "2004-10-14T20:27:30Z")
Here’s a recent one, relating to **Harry Potter** : I didn’t get the pun in “Diagon Alley” until I heard the name pronounced out loud in the audiobook version. ---
**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/138 "2004-10-14T22:51:58Z")
There’s a Monty Python skit where Eric Idle can’t pronounce the letter “c.” Michael Palin asks him if he could use “k” instead and Eric rattles off several words/phrases that start with “k.” One, it always sounded to me like, was “keeble bolly joxford” which made no sense to me. Years later, I read in one of John Mortimer’s Rumpole stories that Horace had gone to Keeble College Oxford and suddenly the joke made sense. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/139 "2004-10-14T23:14:43Z")
> [@Max Torque](#): > > Here’s a recent one, relating to **Harry Potter** : I didn’t get the pun in “Diagon Alley” until I heard the name pronounced out loud in the audiobook version. I got that one randomly at work one time. I was sweeping up, so my mind was free to wander. I’m not sure where my mind got on this train of thought, but… ‘Hmm…An octogon is octagonal, a hexagon is hexagonal…so if things can be set up diagonally, I wonder what a diagon i…D’OH!’ ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/140 "2004-10-15T00:52:28Z")
This is one of the funniest threads I’ve read in years! I wish I had something more amusing to contribute, but the best I can do is that when I was ten or so, I somehow acquired a bunch of stickers with witty sayings on them, and stuck them all over my closet door. One of them read: ``` Summer blonde, summer not ``` I remember quite distinctly wondering what that meant, what a “summer not” was, and how it could possibly be funny. Not until years and years later did I realize that when you say it out loud you can get “some are blonde, some are not”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815.md?page=8)