Monday, June 12, 2006
JOKE!
A joke. And this joke has been polished up. It's much funnier than it was 24 hours ago. Ready?!?!
Q: What did the snail say while he was riding the turtle's back?
Okay, that's the set-up. Don't read the next line until you're sure you're comfortable with the set-up. The next line is the punch line, and once you've read it, you won't be able to ever read it again the same way as you read it the first time. Jokes are all about timing.
A: Whee!
Do you get it? If not, maybe I can explain. The joke is that snails move so slowly that to them a turtle moves excitingly quickly. The humour lies in the difference in perspective between you (presumably a human) and a snail, causing a complete reversal in the perception of an event that beforehand you likely thought would be universally perceived as slow. If you're still not laughing, it may be because you are concerned that you don't know specifically which snail and turtle are being referenced. The use of the definite article 'the' in the set-up may cause one to think that one should already be familiar with these animals, but there is no such expectation with this joke. The definite article is used to avoid an all-encompassing generalization. To ask "What does a snail say when riding on the back of a turtle?" would be overreaching in its attempt to articulate a universal truth about snails. Such an attempt would be inaccurate, and would pull the joke out of the realm of the concrete, which would do it a disservice. Part of the joke's charm is its reference to an imagined but specific incident of a snail riding a turtle.
Good one, eh!??!?!
Q: What did the snail say while he was riding the turtle's back?
Okay, that's the set-up. Don't read the next line until you're sure you're comfortable with the set-up. The next line is the punch line, and once you've read it, you won't be able to ever read it again the same way as you read it the first time. Jokes are all about timing.
A: Whee!
Do you get it? If not, maybe I can explain. The joke is that snails move so slowly that to them a turtle moves excitingly quickly. The humour lies in the difference in perspective between you (presumably a human) and a snail, causing a complete reversal in the perception of an event that beforehand you likely thought would be universally perceived as slow. If you're still not laughing, it may be because you are concerned that you don't know specifically which snail and turtle are being referenced. The use of the definite article 'the' in the set-up may cause one to think that one should already be familiar with these animals, but there is no such expectation with this joke. The definite article is used to avoid an all-encompassing generalization. To ask "What does a snail say when riding on the back of a turtle?" would be overreaching in its attempt to articulate a universal truth about snails. Such an attempt would be inaccurate, and would pull the joke out of the realm of the concrete, which would do it a disservice. Part of the joke's charm is its reference to an imagined but specific incident of a snail riding a turtle.
Good one, eh!??!?!
// posted by Flidge Penkings @ 2:03 PM 
