# Why did the chicken cross the road?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-chicken-cross-the-road/229726>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 17, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-chicken-cross-the-road/229726 "2004-02-17T23:26:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Stimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/779978/32.png) [@Stimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stimpy)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-chicken-cross-the-road/229726/1 "2004-02-17T23:26:39Z")

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Funny the things you think about when throwing a sicky…  
How did this ‘joke’ become so popular and is so renowned? It’s not exactly the joke that killed the Nazi’s is it! 🙂

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**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-chicken-cross-the-road/229726/2 "2004-02-17T23:54:36Z")

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> [@Stimpy](#):
>
> It’s not exactly the joke that killed the Nazi’s is it! 🙂

Because, you know, if it was, casualties would have been appaling.

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**Author:** ![Uncivil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ccd318/32.png) [@Uncivil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncivil)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-chicken-cross-the-road/229726/3 "2004-02-18T00:04:10Z")

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Its the clever juxtaposition of chickens and roads, as well as the excitement of the actual crossing, that make this such a popular joke. It can also be seen as a metaphor for chickens, roads or crossings, all of which can themselves be metaphors.

Hey, some people think Jim Davidson is funny.