# 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:** 44
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/862 "2020-12-09T20:46:06Z")
Directed by Michael Bay. Surprised the sandwich didn’t blow up. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/863 "2020-12-09T20:47:14Z")
Please No Anchovies - J. Geils Band, 1980 (a spoken word number of the “Love Stinks” album) ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/864 "2020-12-09T21:32:44Z")
Just remembered one from the early 70s. What do you call a feminist leprechaun? Erin Go Braghless I also heard it as “hippie leprechaun” ---
**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:** [December 9, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/865 "2020-12-09T21:37:08Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I don’t know about anchovies being a “thing”, but my dad was part-Italian and we’d have pizza with pepperoni and anchovies every Friday night. I grew up looking forward to pizza with anchovies. We considered them an essential part of the pizza. I realize they are an acquired taste, though, and not a favorite of everyone. My mother doesn’t like pizza very much but when when we went to a fancy pizza place she ordered one with anchovies. I tried a bite and had when not been in a public place I would have spit it out. The flavor was overwhelming. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/866 "2020-12-09T23:07:21Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I remember a lot of cartoons and comics featuring Truant Officers. Even as a kid in the 60s, I had to ask my parents about it. Anybody here ever see one … in real life? One came looking for me once… ---
**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:** [December 9, 2020, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/867 "2020-12-09T23:19:03Z")
Anchovies again? That is so post #35. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/868 "2020-12-10T01:23:24Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > “No anchovies? You’ve got the wrong man. I spell my name - _Danger_ .” For a while in the 80s the San Francisco phone book had a listing for Nick Danger. A friend of mine phoned and said the opening line. The guy who answered snapped right back with the answer, and hung up. And my friend, into the now dead phone connection, said, “Huh?” Almost a case of mind-reading, because you know that Nick “heard” him say it! ---
**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:** [December 10, 2020, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/869 "2020-12-10T01:33:59Z")
I was thinking today that any joke referencing 4-1-1 might have to be explained nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/870 "2020-12-11T13:20:34Z")
I think that “411” has entered the culture as meaning “information” (although I’m old, I should my kids (who aren’t that young anymore either)). They may not know where it came from, but that’s not important. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/871 "2020-12-11T17:31:44Z")
I’m old enough to remember that Information wasn’t always at 4-1-1. I think the number was 1-3-3 until I was around ten years old (1965). Why it was changed, I don’t know. Anyone else remember this? ---
**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:** [December 11, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/872 "2020-12-11T17:55:25Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > When the lockdown started, I saw a fake news headline that Yoko had received a service award from NYC for singing in the streets at night, which kept people indoors. > > I dare say that if Linda were still with us, a duet would have been even more effective. Well, of course, a joke that emphasizes her limitations as a vocalist is not going to get the same degree of blowback as one that compares her to a dog… ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/873 "2020-12-11T18:30:11Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I don’t know if this joke has been mentioned yet, but it may be obscure to a segment of the population. > > Q. What did they find at Jeffrey Dahmer’s autopsy? > > A. Jimmy Hoffa > > Jeffrey Dahmer was the notorious serial murderer and cannibal who was murdered in prison in 1994. Jimmy Hoffa was the UAW leader who mysteriously disappeared in 1975 and presumed dead. Both events occurred far enough back in time that many adults may not know of them. Just to take this to take this a little further into the “today needs explanation” realm,… I thought the joke was that they removed Tammy Fae Bakker’s makeup and found Jimmy Hoffa, and that the police were looking in Jeffrey Dahmer’s refrigerator and found Gein Cuisine. (does anyone today know who Tammy Fae was, or remember Ed Gein?) > [@RTFirefly](#): > > “No anchovies? You’ve got the wrong man. I spell my name - _Danger_ .” > > _The Further Adventures of Nick Danger_ , Firesign Theatre, 1969 What? The makers of Fantastic Cigarettes - long in the leaf and short in the can - bring you another true story from the tattered case book of Nick Danger, Third Eye. Join us now in the adventure we call “Cut Him Off at the Past!” Did this as a “radio play” for a class when I was in high school; can probably still quote most of it from memory. “At Fourth and Drucker, he turns left. At Drucker and Fourth, he turns right. He crosses McArthur Park and walks into a great sandstone building (_smak!_ Ow, my nose!)” I’ve made a few Firesign Theater references at work, and have only had one recognized. I’ll often throw in a “Why, he’s no fun, he fell right over.” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/874 "2020-12-11T18:37:23Z")
I still sometimes use “I can shout! Don’t hear you!” It often gets a laugh, even though I’m sure no one gets the reference. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/875 "2020-12-11T18:52:27Z")
Oh, you mean Nancy! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/876 "2020-12-11T20:49:49Z")
I posted the Tammy Faye joke; “Gein Cuisine” instead of “Lean Cuisine” (_nyuck-nyuck-nyuck!_) is one I never heard before, though I do know lots of Ed Gein jokes (many of which can’t be posted here). My older brother came home from his junior high one day with a whole slew of them. It occurs to me that there must be some who wouldn’t get the _nyuck-nyuck-nyuck!_ reference today. Or lines like “Shaddup, Porcupine!” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/877 "2020-12-11T21:00:04Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’m old enough to remember that Information wasn’t always at 4-1-1. I think the number was 1-3-3 until I was around ten years old (1965). Why it was changed, I don’t know. > > Anyone else remember this? I think every local phone system had their own way of doing it. When I was a kid in our local telephone system, you just “0” for operator to request directory assistance. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2020, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/878 "2020-12-11T21:00:59Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > …can probably still quote most of [Nick Danger] from memory. “At Fourth and Drucker, he turns left. At Drucker and Fourth, he turns right. He crosses McArthur Park and walks into a great sandstone building ( _smak!_ Ow, my nose!)” [tangent] I was on a setup for early teleconferencing software for an engineering firm, with a dozen offices around the world. The head tech guy said “Okay, to test levels we’re going to need twenty minutes of speech with no pauses.” One of my co-workers immediately announced “We got this. Digs, let’s have some Firesign.” I’d spouted lines at work, but hadn’t heard all of Nick Danger since college 20 years before, but damn it was permanently lodged in my brain. It was so fun to do all the voices (perfectly, I might add, even Catherwood). By the end, my boss asked the group if they had their levels. Tech guy said “Oh, we were done ten minutes ago, but we all had to hear how it ended!” … [/bragging] ---
**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:** [December 11, 2020, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/879 "2020-12-11T21:06:19Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > > [@RTFirefly](#): > > > > “No anchovies? You’ve got the wrong man. I spell my name - _Danger_ .” > > > > _The Further Adventures of Nick Danger_ , Firesign Theatre, 1969 > > What? > > The makers of Fantastic Cigarettes - long in the leaf and short in the can - bring you another true story from the tattered case book of Nick Danger, Third Eye. Join us now in the adventure we call “Cut Him Off at the Past!” > > Did this as a “radio play” for a class when I was in high school; can probably still quote most of it from memory. “At Fourth and Drucker, he turns left. At Drucker and Fourth, he turns right. He crosses McArthur Park and walks into a great sandstone building (_smak!_ Ow, my nose!)” I listened to that one a few weeks ago, and it was the first time I understood the line _“My story had more holes in it than Albert Hall.”_ ---
**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:** [December 11, 2020, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/880 "2020-12-11T21:12:02Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > > [@terentii](#): > > > > I’m old enough to remember that Information wasn’t always at 4-1-1. I think the number was 1-3-3 until I was around ten years old (1965). Why it was changed, I don’t know. > > > > > Anyone else remember this? > > I think every local phone system had their own way of doing it. When I was a kid in our local telephone system, you just “0” for operator to request directory assistance. Can’t tell you how many movies and TV shows from the 60s have someone pick up a phone, dial 0 (or just jiggle the connection) and say _“Hello, Operator? Get me the police!”_ I had to explain that to my kids… turns out it wasn’t just the lack of 911 they were wondering about, it was that there was a human being that was paid to wait until you needed them to connect a call for you without you having to dial. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/881 "2020-12-11T21:17:14Z")
Huh? Jiggling the hook (or the buttons on the hook) to alert an operator was still a thing in the '60s? I remember it being done in TV shows like _ **The Untouchables** _, but not when I was in grade school. We all had to dial 0 to get an operator. (This was in Minneapolis, which might actually have been more advanced than other parts of the US, hard as that is for me to believe.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466.md?page=43) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466.md?page=45)