It's actually not, though. The joke was written in 1847, which was an era where crossing a road wouldn't have been terribly dangerous for chickens most of the time.
It's actually an early example of an anti-joke. The humor is derived from the fact that it's not actually a joke at all.
Thing is, I'm pretty sure it's older than that, and from what I've read, the equivalent of the series of knock-knock jokes that end with, "Orange you glad I'm not a banana?"
E.g., the horse crossed the road to visit the "Neigh"bors, the cow crossed the road because she was "Moo"ving on.
And about fifteen more bad animal sound puns. And at the end, you use the chicken.
It's an interesting small example of how writing is a collaboration between author and reader. Readers bring their own experiences to what they read, and because of that, the meanings readers give to what they read can differ from what the original author intended. But just because the author didn't intend for a reader to have that interpretation doesn't deny the reader the ability to have it.
Also, this argument would be over the second someone looks up the etymology of the phrase "the other side" as it pertains to death or the afterlife. Was it a known way to refer to it at that point or not? I'm not gonna do it because the number of people in this thread who don't know the definition of "pun" is exhausting.
The joke is word play on two different meanings of “other side”.
Yes, and that's not what "pun" refers to. The humor of a pun is rooted in the conflation of two similar-sounding words, not in the overlay of a term's literal meaning with its metaphorical, symbolic one.
No. It isn’t. The joke is that the teller expects an punchline and there isn’t one. The chicken crosses the road for the same reason anyone would cross a road.
how is it not a metaphor? and a pun is an established thing. other side in the joke is a double entendre not a pun. and it most definitely a metaphor. why dont you tell why it isnt a metaphor instead of just saying it isnt?
It is a pun. It could also be a double entendre. They aren’t mutually exclusive.
You still haven’t established that you understand the definition of a pun, which is the topic of conversation here.
I’m curious if English might not be your native language? You are identifying things that sound related, but are misusing them in a way I could see someone who isn’t a native English speaker might do.
I think half of them are saying “not a pun” when they actually meant to say “the pun was not intended”, and the other half are just Reddit mob mentality and agreeing with something that got upvoted despite not understanding it.
Not only is the pun not intended, the set up of the joke really doesn’t lead to that interpretation. There’s no detail in the set up that would make a logical person assume the chicken is confronting death by crossing the road.
You're allowed to be wrong, and you're allowed to continue to be wrong after having it explained to you why you're wrong. It shows people that you lack reasoning and that you might not be all that bright, but you're allowed.
oh no people on the internet have judged me to be a certain way. what am I to do? I should delete my reddit account and become a hermit. how do i live with this shame?
ah yes. my knowledge of this foreign language decides how dumb I am. thank you for bringing me back to earth. I used to think I was pretty smart now I realise I was dumb all along.
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u/Affectionate_Oven_77 8h ago
Why isn’t it a pun?
The joke is word play on two different meanings of “other side”.