# What's the "Hard-boiled egg" joke? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2019, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806 "2019-10-31T21:31:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ambushed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@ambushed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ambushed)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/1 "2019-10-31T21:31:54Z")
I’ve been hearing the punch line (or at least the last line) of a joke (however poor) for years, especially in MST3K/RiffTrax vids. It’s something like “no, make that three hard-boiled eggs”. Huh? My older brother knows hundreds if not thousands of jokes. but he’s never heard of that one, and no one else I’ve asked has either. But surely some among the teaming millions know it, so if you do, would you please share it? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/2 "2019-10-31T21:43:26Z")
I assume it’s a reference to [this.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC8PAQQIoCM) ---
**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:** [October 31, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/3 "2019-10-31T21:44:32Z")
As far as I know it’s from A Night at the Opera as **Inner Stickler** says. I use that a lot but not many people get it. ---
**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:** [October 31, 2019, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/4 "2019-10-31T22:32:58Z")
No one watches the Marx Brothers any more. They’re way too far over most people’s heads. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2019, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/5 "2019-11-01T00:22:37Z")
“And one duck egg.” ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/6 "2019-11-01T00:36:37Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > No one watches the Marx Brothers any more. They’re way too far over most people’s heads. I think you’re right. The level of intelligence in this hemisphere has declined to the point where most of us can no longer understand the popular humor enjoyed amongst our grandparents. 99 per cent of Millenials would be mystified at the image of a man dressed in a sardine barrel, or bewildered at someone crushed by a falling safe. Nov shmoz ka pop. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/7 "2019-11-01T00:38:30Z")
I got that riff, but one old timey throwaway joke puzzles me. “You wanna buy a duck?” Sometimes followed by “Why a duck?” The Borscht Belt/Greatest Generation would always snigger knowingly at this. Was it dirty or something? I know what duck rhymes with, but c’mon. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/8 "2019-11-01T00:55:24Z")
“You wanna buy a duck” was something the comic Joe Penner used to say (not to me) on the radio. It got laffs. I doubt there was any subtext, although you can supply your own if you like (you naaaasty man!). “Why a duck” is not related. I think it was part of a Chico Marx (those Marxes again!) routine where someone used the word “viaduct”, and Chico would answer … you get it. Here’s one I don’t get: “Hmmm, nice piece of material!”, used now and then in Warner Bros. cartoons - obviously someone’s catch phrase, but whose? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/9 "2019-11-01T00:59:36Z")
“Why a duck?” Was a Groucho/Chico routine in **The Cocoanuts,** the Broadway smash hit that became the first (1929) Marx Bros. movie. Yeah, it was based on “viaduct.” ---
**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:** [November 1, 2019, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/10 "2019-11-01T01:12:39Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > Here’s one I don’t get: “Hmmm, nice piece of material!”, used now and then in Warner Bros. cartoons - obviously someone’s catch phrase, but whose? I found a web link suggesting it was Joe Besser’s phrase. [Bugs Bunny in “A-Lad-In His Lamp” (1948) |](https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/bugs-bunny-in-a-lad-in-his-lamp-1948/) ---
**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:** [November 1, 2019, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/11 "2019-11-01T01:35:20Z")
In the future people will be baffled when old-timers say “D’oh!” or “That’s what she said.” Catch phrases have a limited life. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2019, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/12 "2019-11-01T01:38:44Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > In the future people will be baffled when old-timers say “D’oh!” or “That’s what she said.” Catch phrases have a limited life. Absolutely. Old books will be published in annotated form so that there can be footnotes from the editor explaining who “Kato Kaelin” was, or “Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/13 "2019-11-01T02:25:58Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > “Why a duck” is not related. I think it was part of a Chico Marx (those Marxes again!) routine where someone used the word “viaduct”, and Chico would answer … you get it. “Why a duck” is a reference, not a catchphrase. It only appeared in one comedy routine (unlike “Wanna buy a duck?” which Joe Penner used all the time). When people say it, they are referring to the Marx Brothers routine. It was only funny within the routine, and when people used it to show they knew the routine. AFAIK, it was not used in any professional comic’s routine. It’s the same with “And two hard boiled eggs,” though that’s far less common. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2019, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/14 "2019-11-01T02:33:28Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > Here’s one I don’t get: “Hmmm, nice piece of material!”, used now and then in Warner Bros. cartoons - obviously someone’s catch phrase, but whose? It’s possible that this referred to a (presumably then-popular) joke about a tailor. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/15 "2019-11-01T04:37:40Z")
A tailor? Hmmm. Sam, you made the pants too long! Hard boiled eggs and nuts! ---
**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:** [November 1, 2019, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/16 "2019-11-01T04:59:23Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > Hard boiled eggs and nuts! You forgot the “Hmmph!” at the end. 😃 “There’s no such place as Wasatchekan.” ---
**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:** [November 1, 2019, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/17 "2019-11-01T05:04:11Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > “Why a duck” is a reference, not a catchphrase. A man walking down the street sees a fat woman carrying a duck. He says “Hey, where’d you get the pig?” The woman says “It’s not a pig, stupid, it’s a duck!” The man says “I was talking to the duck!” BADUM _TISH_! ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/18 "2019-11-01T06:07:51Z")
Somehow my ancient mind conjures an image of a jokester cracking a “hard boiled” egg on the fall guy’s head, only it’s not hard boiled after all, ha ha. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/19 "2019-11-01T07:17:26Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > I found a web link suggesting it was Joe Besser’s phrase. [Bugs Bunny in “A-Lad-In His Lamp” (1948) |](https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/bugs-bunny-in-a-lad-in-his-lamp-1948/) he also used it when he was with the 3 stooges hed look at an attractive girl and run a finger down her arm and say it and usually would get smacked by either the girl or moe … ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806/20 "2019-11-01T11:28:33Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > he also used it when he was with the 3 stooges hed look at an attractive girl and run a finger down her arm and say it and usually would get smacked by either the girl or moe … I didn’t know Moe was a #MeToo supporter. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hard-boiled-egg-joke/842806.md?page=2)