Linguistic joke of the week
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The first two panels of today's SMBC:
The third panel:
The aftercomic:
The mouseover text: "10 points to anyone who tries this".
I'm not sure that there's a good term for this specific type of pun. Another example, in the form of a riddle:
Q: Why is milk fast?
A: Because it's usually pasteurized before you even see it.
bks said,
October 11, 2015 @ 9:23 am
Q. Why is breakfast?
A. Because it's always done before lunch.
Dan said,
October 11, 2015 @ 12:18 pm
Q (speaking very slowly): Why is this joke as slow as molasses?
A (speaking very quickly): Because it's my last joke!
Vilinthril said,
October 12, 2015 @ 3:20 am
@Dan: Don't get yours …?
Rolig said,
October 12, 2015 @ 7:36 am
Q. Why should you never get hungry in the Sahara?
A. Because of the sandwiches there.
L said,
October 12, 2015 @ 10:22 am
Do you know how to make your trousers last?
Make your jacket first.
peter said,
October 12, 2015 @ 9:00 pm
Ultra-finitist mathematician Alexander Yessenin-Volpin once presented a clever mathematical example of such metaplay in a discussion with Harvey Friedman, reported here:
http://www.vukutu.com/blog/2009/06/achilles-and-the-tortoise/
Yuval said,
October 13, 2015 @ 1:36 am
Peter@ I think metaplay is an especially suitable term for this SMBC :->
As for the general case of this type of humor, how about metamelter
S. Norman said,
October 13, 2015 @ 10:55 am
The milkman told of a lady who ordered a very large amount of milk. She explained she wanted to have a milk bath. He asked if she wanted it pasteurized. "No, just up to my neck will be fine", she replied.
January First-of-May said,
October 13, 2015 @ 4:02 pm
@Peter:
For a minute, I thought you were talking about What the Tortoise Said to Achilles (co-written, sometime in the late 19th century, by L.Carroll and C.L.Dodgson), which is also a fairly interesting example of mathematical meta-linguistic humor.
peter said,
October 13, 2015 @ 4:29 pm
@January
Well spotted! That post title was indeed an allusion to Dodgson's 1895 article in the journal Mind, of which more here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Tortoise_Said_to_Achilles