# Jokes that, nowadays, need explaining **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comedian-jokes\ **Created:** [September 25, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466 "2020-09-25T02:53:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 34
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/662 "2020-11-08T18:08:30Z")
Niagara Falls! Slowly he turned. Step by step. Inch by inch. When the manager signs the check for the first baseman, whose name does he sign? Who. The manager! ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/663 "2020-11-08T18:11:04Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Niagara Falls! Slowly he turned. Step by step. Inch by inch. Grin! There was a comic book yack ever so long ago, where, in a crowded bar, one guy shouts out, “I don’t give a damn!” and everyone else in the bar shouts back, “Shortstop!” ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/664 "2020-11-08T23:35:47Z")
> [@robby](#): > > You might be surprised. I think there is a good chance the Beatles will remain ubiquitous for decades to come…or even longer. In fact, the joke that talks about the youngster who remembers the Beatles as “that band Paul McCartney was in before Wings” needs to be explained not because nobody remembers the Beatles, but because nobody remembers Wings. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/665 "2020-11-09T00:18:56Z")
I think that was pretty much the case even when that joke was new. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2020, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/666 "2020-11-09T00:46:32Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > In Orange County, there’s an area of Westminster referred (and not always affectionately) as “Little Saigon.” No, the road signs that they put up are pretty matter-of-fact about it. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/667 "2020-11-09T04:12:29Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Grin! “Larry and Curly, when the pants fell.” “Moe, when the pies flew. Shemp at the ironing board.” ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/668 "2020-11-09T11:29:41Z")
Are nominations for ‘post of the year’ open yet? This is absolute gold, very well played.[quote=“digs, post:637, topic:921466, full:true”] > [@Senegoid](#): > > Indeed, people ~~write~~ compose entire stories with emojis. It was the 💯 of 🕰 It was the 🚽 of 🕰 [/quote] > [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > I once had anchovy pizza. It wasn’t bad, but I didn’t care for it. It just tasted like tuna. All the anchovies I have ever had have been much saltier and ‘fishier’ than all the tuna I have ever had. I would say the group of people who will eat tuna but not anchovies might even be bigger than the group that won’t eat fish at all. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/669 "2020-11-09T12:52:17Z")
When I want to illustrate the low quality of the alcoholic beverages available I describe them as “[Lost Weekend Gin](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037884/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_108)” with a picture of Ray Milland on the label. Not one in fifty get it, but I keep on doing it. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/670 "2020-11-09T14:59:52Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > Are nominations for ‘post of the year’ open yet? This is absolute gold, very well played… Aw, shucks. Just glad to have lightened things up… you folks have gotten me through a stressful pandemic election season. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/671 "2020-11-09T15:04:15Z")
Well I laughed. But as time goes by it’s gonna have a really limited audience. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/672 "2020-11-09T19:19:12Z")
Somebody had to explain to me the Ray Milland joke in the old Looney Tunes cartoon where he pays for a drink with a typewriter and gets back a bunch of mini typewriters as change. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/673 "2020-11-09T20:21:29Z")
> **[The Lost Weekend (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Weekend_(film))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > The Lost Weekend is a 1945 American film noir drama film directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Ray Milland and Jane Wyman. It was based on Charles R. Jackson's novel of the same name about an alcoholic writer. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won four: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It also shared the Grand Prix at the first Cannes Film Festival, making it one of only three films—the other... ‘Don is broke and tries to pawn his typewriter so he can buy more alcohol…’ ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/674 "2020-11-10T17:41:36Z")
I’ve been bingewatching _Phineas and Ferb_ lately (don’t judge me). The number of jokes that will go way over kids’ heads is astonishing. One episode recently watched involves a parody of the tattooed hands scene from _Night of the Hunter_. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/675 "2020-11-10T19:04:53Z")
Is that the movie where Robert Mitchum has “Love” tattooed on one hand and “Hate” on the other? Because I’ve seen this in so many cartoons that I think that even if you don’t know the origin of the meme you at least understand the reference. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/676 "2020-11-10T19:16:47Z")
One example for the trope is the Clash’s “Death Or Glory” from 1979: _Now every cheap hood strikes a bargain with the world And ends up making payments on a sofa or a girl “Love and hate” tattooed across the knuckles of his hands_ _Hands that slap his kids around 'cause they don’t understand how_ _Death or glory_ _Becomes just another story_ Great song btw. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zdIdv2ReeDY/hqdefault.jpg "The Clash - Death Or Glory (Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdIdv2ReeDY) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/677 "2020-11-11T09:11:38Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Is that the movie where Robert Mitchum has “Love” tattooed on one hand and “Hate” on the other? Because I’ve seen this in so many cartoons that I think that even if you don’t know the origin of the meme you at least understand the reference. Yep, that’s the one. P&F basically parodied the whole scene. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/678 "2020-11-12T08:39:09Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > SNL did a skit last night imagining Donald Trump in the back of a white Ford Bronco with Don Jr. at the wheel just like the OJ slow speed chase. That happened 24 years ago, plenty of people now are already too young to recall that event even if they’ve heard of the OJ trial and the murders. Hell, it was just a few years back that Bill Hader played Vincent Price in a mock 1950s early 60s Colgate Presents: Vincent Price’s Halloween Special with guests like James Mason and Gloria Swason. I can’t help but think a lot of people under 30 are all that familiar with Vincent Price. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/679 "2020-11-12T15:43:26Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Hell, it was just a few years back that Bill Hader played Vincent Price in a mock 1950s early 60s Colgate Presents: Vincent Price’s Halloween Special with guests like James Mason and Gloria Swason. I can’t help but think a lot of people under 30 are all that familiar with Vincent Price. Hader has a story where he is about to go onstage to do the Vincent Price character for the first time and Lorne Michaels comes up to him and starts talking to him, giving a little encouragement, and ending with “Do you think anyone will get who you are?” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/680 "2020-11-12T15:57:34Z")
Oddly, my kids in their mid-30s know who Vincent Price was. Sometime in the late 80s somebody gave us a 3D camera as a present and it came with video instructions presented by Vincent Price. They were just little kids then and fascinated by that video for some reason. When Edward Scissorhands came out shortly after that, it was noted as Price’s final movie appearance and they were quite proud of themselves for knowing who he was. I’d say not a lot of people under 40 would be very familiar with him, not that many people have seen that camera instructional video. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/681 "2020-11-12T16:06:38Z")
I have not a clue who Vincent Price is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466.md?page=33) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466.md?page=35)