# The "Smart Pills" Joke... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 7, 2016, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402 "2016-01-07T09:13:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/21 "2016-01-07T15:40:05Z")
42 here, raised on the U.S. East Coast, lived all over the country since then. I’d never heard it before, and despite thinking of myself as having a fairly sophisticated sense of humor, it made me snort out loud. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/22 "2016-01-07T15:48:39Z")
it might be interesting to see if those with an agricultural experience are more likely to have known about it; than those without. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/23 "2016-01-07T15:51:07Z")
Not to my knowledge. Not by the uninformative phrase “smart pills”. ETA: OK yeah, now that I"ve googled it. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/24 "2016-01-07T16:05:57Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Googled it, and yes, I had heard the joke before, but did not associate it with the description “smart pills joke,” so I would have said “no” beforehand. > [@kayaker](#): > > Hey! That’s _my_ answer. Likewise. 40s, SoCal. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/25 "2016-01-07T16:27:42Z")
No, 33 from VA. I didn’t even recognize it after I’d looked it up. I’ve heard plays on a similar concept, but not close enough to consider them essentially the same joke or derivative. It definitely seems like an old joke though, I had much crasser ones when I was young. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/26 "2016-01-07T16:31:38Z")
Not googling, so not voting, I guess… (You could’ve spoiler-box’ed it. Not clear why us reading the joke would spoil your thread) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/27 "2016-01-07T16:36:31Z")
I’d heard it before, but I only figured that out after Googling it. It’s not a particularly memorable joke to me. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/28 "2016-01-07T16:38:47Z")
Never heard of it, not familiar with it after googling, and I’m also in the 45-54 range originally from Philadelphia. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/29 "2016-01-07T16:42:30Z")
I had to google. If I’ve heard it before, I don’t remember it. But I doubt I will remember it much after today. So, maybe? fifties, northeastern US. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/30 "2016-01-07T16:44:01Z")
Forgot to mention that I’m 30 and from the Ozarks. I only saw the joke online. I can only imagine it being a kids’ joke, and I wasn’t into that type of humor as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/31 "2016-01-07T16:44:43Z")
Mid-forties here, raised in New England - never heard it. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/32 "2016-01-07T16:47:48Z")
Had to google it, so I’m just assuming it’s the right joke. No, never heard it. Grew up in Western NY, 48. Here’s a link to the joke: [http://jokes.cc.com/funny-kids/331mek/smart-pills](http://jokes.cc.com/funny-kids/331mek/smart-pills) ---
**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:** [January 7, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/33 "2016-01-07T17:40:59Z")
Thanks, **ITD**. I wasn’t going to Google it either. I don’t see why the OP couldn’t have put the joke in a spoiler box, either. I haven’t heard that particular version, but I heard one about a doctor giving a placebo to a patient. 58 years old and grew up in PA. I’ve also lived in Arizona and Colorado. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/34 "2016-01-07T17:43:18Z")
Nope. Mid-fifties, grew up in Chicago, now live in NY state. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/35 "2016-01-07T18:03:26Z")
Never heard it. 52, grew up in Toronto, Ontario. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/36 "2016-01-07T18:12:19Z")
Heard as child in Alabama in the 1980s (slightly different than version linked, but close enough). ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/37 "2016-01-07T19:05:33Z")
No. 47, New York State ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/38 "2016-01-07T19:09:18Z")
I heard it as a kid (NJ, 1970’s), but so long ago I didn’t remember it before googling it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_dread\_simoom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_dread\_simoom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_dread_simoom)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/39 "2016-01-07T20:24:06Z")
Yes. 64. Western Canada. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402/40 "2016-01-07T20:55:28Z")
I remember my father telling that joke. The same ending, but with more story. This was in the 50’s in Southern Utah. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-smart-pills-joke/742402.md?page=3)