# Jokes that require a lot of specific knowledge, and probably won't be funny to very many people **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 15, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423 "2011-09-15T18:49:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/21 "2011-09-16T02:19:03Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don’t. Those who understand ternary, those who don’t, and those who thought this was a binary joke. (Stolen from someone’s signature in another forum. ) ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/22 "2011-09-16T02:29:46Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don’t. > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Those who understand ternary, those who don’t, and those who thought this was a binary joke. There are 10 types of people: 1 who understands hex and F all the other types. Also: Q: Why do programmers always confuse Christmas and Halloween? A: Because OCT 31 = DEC 25 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/23 "2011-09-16T03:34:25Z")
The most esoteric joke I ever made was one time when I happened to be standing among four co-workers who were all quite tall. I said I felt like I was in a Yasujiro Ozu movie. And, no, nobody got it. Ozu was known for shooting scenes from a very low camera angle so that the audience was often “looking up” at the characters. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/24 "2011-09-16T03:46:26Z")
If you count cultural knowledge, I’ve posted before: I was once playing with my daughter before bedtime, and for some reason she grabbed my finger and put it on her nose. I immediately said in my best Yakoff Smirnoff voice, “In Soviet Russia, nose gets _you_!” As my only audience at the time was five years old, I was rewarded with nothing but a quizzical look. It probably wouldn’t work for anyone under 30, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/25 "2011-09-16T04:42:02Z")
Doesn’t require multiple fields of knowledge, but it is fairly esoteric: Feynman and Heisenberg go on a road trip, Feynman driving. Heisenberg starts getting nervous and tells Feynman to slow down, or he’ll get a speeding ticket. Feynman says, “Don’t worry, Werner. I’ve been watching the speedometer carefully, and I’ve been driving at exactly the speed limit.” Heisenberg gets really angry. “You idiot! Now we’re completely lost!” …But nobody laughs when I tell it. Something wrong with my delivery, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/26 "2011-09-16T04:56:29Z")
What’s a polar bear? A rectangular bear after a co-ordinate transform. ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/27 "2011-09-16T05:03:22Z")
> [@Civil\_Guy](#): > > Doesn’t require multiple fields of knowledge, but it is fairly esoteric: > > Feynman and Heisenberg go on a road trip, Feynman driving. Heisenberg starts getting nervous and tells Feynman to slow down, or he’ll get a speeding ticket. Feynman says, “Don’t worry, Werner. I’ve been watching the speedometer carefully, and I’ve been driving at exactly the speed limit.” > > Heisenberg gets really angry. “You idiot! Now we’re completely lost!” > …But nobody laughs when I tell it. Something wrong with my delivery, I guess. If you want a shorter (and maybe easier to deliver) version, I heard it like this: Heisenberg gets pulled over while driving on the highway. The officer asks him, “Do you know how fast you were going back there, sir?” Heisenberg replies, “No, but I know exactly where I am!” My contribution: Knock, knock Who’s there? Interrupting coefficient of friction Interrupt- Mu! Ok, so it’s only really one field, but it also references another joke, which gets pretty specific (interrupting cow/moo! for the uninformed) ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/28 "2011-09-16T05:17:30Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Heard from a bio course at a Jewish college: > > What did one red blood cell say to the other? _Ad maiah b’esrim_. > > Okay, raise of hands, how many people here understood that? > [@Yllaria](#): > > Now raise hands everyone who wants to. (My hand is up.) Google isn’t helping. _Ad maiah v’esrim_ is a birthday wish which means “until 120” in Hebrew. 120 years is sort of the maximum age you can aspire to according to Jewish lore; it’s how long Moses lived. Meanwhile, red blood cells live for about 120 days. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/29 "2011-09-16T08:39:51Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > If you want a shorter (and maybe easier to deliver) version, I heard it like this: > > Heisenberg gets pulled over while driving on the highway. The officer asks him, “Do you know how fast you were going back there, sir?” Heisenberg replies, “No, but I know exactly where I am!” If Schroedinger is the passenger, the cop then opens the trunk and says “Do you know there is a dead cat in here?” and Schroedinger answers “I do _now_”. > [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > My contribution: > > Knock, knock > Who’s there? > Interrupting coefficient of friction > Interrupt- > Mu! > > Ok, so it’s only really one field, but it also references another joke, which gets pretty specific (interrupting cow/moo! for the uninformed) Similarly: A black cat, a grey cat and a white cat start at the ridge of a pitched roof of uniform composition and slope. At _t_=0 they begin sliding under the influence of gravity. Which cat falls off the roof last? The one with the highest m ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/30 "2011-09-16T08:44:38Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > If Schroedinger is the passenger, the cop then opens the trunk and says “Do you know there is a dead cat in here?” and Schroedinger answers “I do _now_”. I think that’s very funny. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/31 "2011-09-16T09:55:40Z")
What’s an anagram of Banach-Tarski? Banach-Tarski Banach-Tarski. (I either stole that from here or an even geekier forum :)) ---
**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:** [September 16, 2011, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/32 "2011-09-16T10:32:53Z")
Are Calvinist ministers pre-ordained? ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/33 "2011-09-16T12:41:56Z")
**Ornithology joke I made up yesterday:** What does a minister say when marrying two swans? “In cygnus and in health…” ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/34 "2011-09-16T12:42:58Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Are Calvinist ministers pre-ordained? _Love_ it! * * * How many church elders of [insert your denomination here] does it take to change a light bulb? _Change???_ ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/35 "2011-09-16T12:54:38Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I was in the staff kitchen at work a few weeks ago trying to maneuver some ice cubes out of the tray–they kept flying out and falling on the floor. > > “I feel like Anna Held,” I said. “I Just Can’t Make My Ice Behave!” > > [deafening silence – tumbleweeds] Then Hanna Arendt was right: Eve’ll be banal. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/36 "2011-09-16T13:27:23Z")
Haha you guys are great! I get the physics, math and engineering jokes for sure… but some of them are really stumping me! The pedant’s revolt? Anna Held? Can someone explain these to me? Sorry for being so lame ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/37 "2011-09-16T13:40:40Z")
Double Foolscap wrote: \> What’s an anagram of Banach-Tarski? \> \> Banach-Tarski Banach-Tarski. \> \> (I either stole that from here or an even geekier forum ) You stole it from me: > **[Esoteric Humor](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=557882)** > > I like esoteric humor. The more more obscure the better. This does mean, that when I encounter a joke I don’t get, that I must track down the reference and figure it out. For instance, this Xkcd cartoon: Apocalypse This led me to find the... ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/38 "2011-09-16T13:47:41Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Haha you guys are great! I get the physics, math and engineering jokes for sure… but some of them are really stumping me! The pedant’s revolt? Anna Held? Can someone explain these to me? Sorry for being so lame ☹ [Wat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Tyler) Tyler (pronounced like ‘What’) was a leader of the Peasants Revolt in England… ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/39 "2011-09-16T14:01:16Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Double Foolscap wrote: > > \> What’s an anagram of Banach-Tarski? > \> > \> Banach-Tarski Banach-Tarski. > \> > \> (I either stole that from here or an even geekier forum ) > > You stole it from me: > > [Esoteric Humor - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=557882) As it’s about maths, I’m going to say I _researched_ it from you. (Also, thanks for giving me a joke to put in my dad’s birthday card that year - he really enjoyed it.) ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423/40 "2011-09-16T14:09:17Z")
> [@Civil\_Guy](#): > > Doesn’t require multiple fields of knowledge, but it is fairly esoteric: > > Feynman and Heisenberg go on a road trip, Feynman driving. Heisenberg starts getting nervous and tells Feynman to slow down, or he’ll get a speeding ticket. Feynman says, “Don’t worry, Werner. I’ve been watching the speedometer carefully, and I’ve been driving at exactly the speed limit.” > > Heisenberg gets really angry. “You idiot! Now we’re completely lost!” > …But nobody laughs when I tell it. Something wrong with my delivery, I guess. If it makes you feel better, I chuckled when I read it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-require-a-lot-of-specific-knowledge-and-probably-wont-be-funny-to-very-many-people/596423.md?page=3)