| 1 | Most jokes have a single, clear meaning. We all know that a woman is "for" Flushing, New York because of AmbiguousSyntax. We all know that a pony coughing because he's a little horse is a {{pun}} on the words "horse" and "hoarse". We all know that two of three castaways on a deserted island wishing for a genie to take them home and the third castaway wishing for his friends to come back is because the third castaway was TooDumbToLive. |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Then there are these. Like most jokes, these jokes were probably intended to have one meaning, but some people interpret it as having another meaning. Even if the double meaning was intended by the writers, this may not always be clear to the audience. |
| 4 | |
| 5 | May cause a BrokenBase about the meaning of the joke. AmbiguousSyntax and MultipleReferencePun are when this is intentional. Compare/contrast StealthPun, where a joke that may or may not be intentional goes over most people's heads. Compare PoesLaw, when the joke can be interpreted to mean something serious. Also compare ComicallyMissingThePoint. See also HarsherInHindsight and HilariousInHindsight for jokes whose punchlines change over time. |
| 6 | ---- |
| 7 | !!Example subpages: |
| 8 | |
| 9 | [[index]] |
| 10 | * AlternativeJokeInterpretation/WesternAnimation |
| 11 | ** ''AlternativeJokeInterpretation/TheSimpsons'' |
| 12 | [[/index]] |
| 13 | |
| 14 | !!Other examples: |
| 15 | |
| 16 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 17 | |
| 18 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 19 | * ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': In "Beauty and the Beach", James tells Misty that she should try entering the beauty contest again in a few years. Is this a typical YearsTooEarly taunt, or was he insinuating that the ten-year-old Misty was too young and underdeveloped to have a realistic chance of winning against older competitors? |
| 20 | [[/folder]] |
| 21 | |
| 22 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 23 | * During the Bizarro World arc of ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'', Bizarro asks why Bizarro Batman is absent at the assembling of the Unjustice League and is told by Bizarro Green Lantern that it's because Bizarro Batman was shot by his parents. This either means that the Bizarro World's counterpart to Bruce Wayne was [[OffingTheOffspring killed by his parents]] before he could become Bizarro Batman or that Bizarro Batman became a bat-costumed vigilante while his parents were still alive only to be shot to death by his mother and father sometime before Bizarro called for the Unjustice League to show up. |
| 24 | * ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': |
| 25 | ** In ''Recap/AsterixInBritain'', there's a joke where the idea of a tunnel under the Channel is mentioned, but it'll take a while. Today, it seems like typical {{understatement}} from [[NationalStereotypes the British]], but when the comic was written in the 60s, it did indeed seem like an unattainable dream. |
| 26 | ** In "Asterix and Son", a Roman legionary sings at night, leading to a lot of voices [[WokenUpAtAnUngodlyHour complaining about it]]. One voice yells, "Call that singing?!". Was this someone saying the legionary was a bad singer, or was it a response to the voice before them (presumably [[DreadfulMusician Cacofonix]]) saying, "Only bards have the right to sing!"? |
| 27 | * ''ComicBook/GhostbustersIDWComics'': In one comic, Peter Venkman says to Walter Peck, "Sorry Egon couldn't make it. Something about some bad couscous." Is the joke that Egon [[TheFoodPoisoningIncident has food poisoning]], or that (because he's a scientist who [[CollectorOfTheStrange collects mould]]), he's studying some expired couscous? |
| 28 | * ''ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'': In one of the more famous ParentalBonus moments, a gang of lawmen (pursuing Scrooge based on false information) approach Scrooge's cabin where Goldie has just entered, their comments implying that there's a lot of BelligerentSexualTension being worked out in there. [[HangingJudge Roy Bean]] then says [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2ffeda232df4dad33933897763e54635.jpg whatever's going on in that cabin is not a hanging offense in Texas or anywhere else (Thank Gosh!)]], which can either be taken as his being grateful that [[{{Demographically Inappropriate Humour}} sex isn't illegal]], or that he's not legally required to play MomentKiller and face the combined wrath of Scrooge and Goldie. |
| 29 | [[/folder]] |
| 30 | |
| 31 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 32 | * ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': |
| 33 | ** Quite often when there's a NoodleIncident or a literal incident involving noodles (such as when Calvin did a presentation in which [[UnconventionalFoodUsage he used noodles to look like a brain]]), there'll be readers wondering if that incident was ''[[TropeNamer the]]'' Noodle Incident. |
| 34 | ** In one strip, Calvin's mother remarks that his gory-looking snowmen have "slowed down traffic" on their street. Does that mean that there is less traffic because people are scared away, or that the traffic is moving more slowly because the drivers want a closer look at the snowmen? |
| 35 | ** One of the family's many {{Horrible Camping Trip}}s was horrible because [[RainRainGoAway of the rain]]. On the way home, Calvin's father exclaims, "I've had enough! What a rotten week!", and then the rain stops, annoying the father even more. The final panel shows Calvin asking Hobbes what any of "Dad's words" meant. The intended meaning of the strip was that Calvin's father swore off-page, but some readers pointed out that, knowing Calvin's dad, he could have been yelling in {{Angrish}}, and some young children who read the strip interpreted it as Calvin mistaking the "I've had enough" line for a magic spell to stop rain and wondering which of the words did it, or joking that his father's words must have meant something different since he usually never gives up. |
| 36 | ** Susie is Calvin's ImpliedLoveInterest, yet they also [[VitriolicBestBuds fight a lot]]. Is this a parody of tropes like LovingBully, or is the joke that the reason for their fighting is that they don't want to admit that they're [[PuppyLove in love]]? |
| 37 | ** In one strip, Calvin climbs out of bed, phones his parents, and says, "It is now three in the morning. Do you know where I am?". This was intended as a reference to a PSA that had the line "Do you know where your children are?", but people who didn't get the reference thought it was just Calvin being a CloudCuckoolander. |
| 38 | ** One strip has Calvin at the dinner table wondering, "What if we die and God is a big chicken? Eternal consequences, that's what!". They are eating chicken, so the intended meaning is that Calvin is worried about being sent to Hell for eating God's kind, but due to the art style, some readers didn't realise it was chicken, so they thought that Calvin was either (A) wondering if God was a coward, (B) paranoid over the idea of going to Heaven and having to worship a chicken for all eternity, (C) making a funny interpretation over God's true reality since he doesn't know if he actually exists or (D) just spouting a weird NonSequitur. |
| 39 | ** In one strip, Calvin wants to play with "the old pigskin", and then we see him with a toy that looks like a pig's skin. It was meant to be a BaitAndSwitch gag, since "pigskin" is slang for an American football, but people who didn't realise this thought Calvin had bad taste in games. |
| 40 | ** One strip has Calvin commenting on world hunger and expressing sympathy towards people who don't have enough to eat. [[BigEater Hobbes]] says he knows what that feels like, to which Calvin responds by angrily shouting, "No, you don't!" Is he angry at Hobbes for implying he doesn't get enough to eat, or because he thinks Hobbes is belittling a very serious issue and the people who suffer because of it? It could also be both. |
| 41 | * ''ComicStrip/CloseToHome'': In one strip, many students start claiming to have come down with mysterious illnesses on a day with multiple hard tests scheduled. Are they [[PlayingSick faking]], or is the stress making them feel unwell? |
| 42 | * ''ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUS'': In one installment, Dennis and his father walk by an out-of-business vegetarian restaurant, with the former saying it's no wonder they went bankrupt. Blog/TheComicsCurmudgeon admitted he wasn't sure if the intended joke was Dennis mistakenly thinking the economy reflects his whims, or that the restaurant was such a bad idea that even a child could tell it would fail. |
| 43 | * ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'': |
| 44 | ** One strip has some cows sneak into a farmer's house while he's away, and one of them is described as making "an unpleasant discovery" in the freezer. Did she find beef or frozen bull semen? |
| 45 | ** In one strip, a man opens up his blinds to see a tied-up cat dangling in front of the window and tells his unseen wife "the dog ain't going for the new cat". Larson's intended meaning was that the dog tied up the cat out of [[JealousPet jealousy]] at it, but some readers thought the cat was tied up by the humans so it could be used to train a guard dog. |
| 46 | ** The "CowTools" cartoon is perhaps one of the most well-known examples of this in the history of newspaper comics. Larson intended the joke to be about how strange the tools were and [[ShrugOfGod never put much thought into what they were supposed to be or how they were used]]. That didn't stop readers from coming up with their own explanations, even decades after the comic was first printed (a Redditor came up with a theory that the tools were for a mothering class). Some other readers had a different explanation: it was cows trying to imitate human tool usage. |
| 47 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'': |
| 48 | ** What is the meaning of [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2006/10/13 this 2006 strip]]? Garfield comes across a sign reading "beware of bunny", and comes across a dog-like creature. Either (1) there was a bunny but the dog ate it, (2) the dog is [[ADogNamedCat named Bunny]] and Garfield is surprised at how unfitting such a name is, (3) the bunny wasn't as worthy of that "Beware" sign due to Point #1, or (4) the "dog" is just a really odd-looking bunny. |
| 49 | ** In one strip, Jon drinks a cup of what he thinks is coffee while taking Garfield for a vet appointment, and Liz tells him "Congratulations-- you're going to have a litter of puppies", much to Jon's [[IAteWhat understandable disgust]]. The intended meaning of the joke is that he drank fertility medicine for dogs, but some people have taken it to mean he [[VulgarHumour drank dog semen]]. |
| 50 | ** One early strip has Garfield mention that his Uncle Bernard went to the vet and came back as his Aunt Bernice. Is this an oblique reference to [[AnimalsFearNeutering neutering]], or did Garfield's relative get [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} sex reassignment surgery]]? |
| 51 | ** On the August 4th, 2000 comic, Garfield talks to a worm. He asks if it likes being a worm, it asks "do cats eat worms?", and Garfield says no. The worm says, "I ''love'' being a worm." Is this a joke that the worm is happy when it realizes that Garfield won't eat it, or was it phrased as a rhetorical question? |
| 52 | * The [[https://twitter.com/JohnnyCallicutt/status/1637061411753844736 March 18, 1950]] ''ComicStrip/{{Nancy}}'' strip confused many readers when it popped up on Website/{{Twitter}}. Nancy walks into a DoubleFeature intended for adults, then comes back wearing incredibly big shoes. Someone speculated this was a VisualPun on the phrase "getting too big for your boots", since Nancy conceitedly walks into a theater assuming she'll understand the movie. Another is that people took off their shoes in the theater and Nancy got hers confused on the way out. It could also be that since people usually take off their ''hats'' before going to a movie, Nancy took off her shoes, since she doesn't wear a hat. And yet another believes it's a {{pun}} on double ''feet''-ure. |
| 53 | * ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'': One strip has Pig write a letter to his landlord in response to a rent hike, threatening to give him time out. Pig comments that it always worked for his mom. Stephan Pastis [[WordOfGod said in a treasury]] that the intended meaning of the joke was that Pig's mom often got her son to behave by threatening to put in him in time out, but some readers thought it meant she frequently got what she wanted by writing ''her'' landlord. |
| 54 | [[/folder]] |
| 55 | |
| 56 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 57 | * In the ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''/''Series/{{Community}}'' {{Crossover}} ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9768420/1/Community-Psychology-A-Study-of-Arrested-Development Community Psychology: A Study of Arrested Development]]'', Britta tries to impersonate a lawyer but fails. She later tells Jeff "First the good news: I was not arrested for impersonating a lawyer." He replies "Good. Wait, there was a possibility of that?" Does Jeff's comment mean he's just now learning that Britta was doing something potentially illegal or is he referring to his own time as a lawyer which came to an end because he didn't meet the educational requirements? |
| 58 | * In the ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' fanfic ''[[http://lingdata.eclipsingmoon.net/fanfic/hoshisboxsecurityhazard.html Hoshi's Box: Security Hazard]]'', Malcolm Reed and Hoshi Sato have been left in charge of the ship while everyone else goes on shore leave. Bored, they try to make themselves feel better by saying that the trip will probably turn out wrong for everyone else. Malcolm says that he bets Travis Mayweather will get a sunburn. Is the joke that Travis, being black, sunburns the hardest so if ''he'' gets a sunburn it's a very bad trip, or is it a joke about how [[ButtMonkey he has rotten luck]]? |
| 59 | * ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'' Parker wants his mom to draw an image of Goh getting his life sucked out by the characters of Chloe's story -- who are based on characters from ''Anime/YuGiOhVRAINS'' -- without thinking of the implications. Is he aware of how dark of an idea that is or does he just find the idea as a way to involve Goh in the illustrations? |
| 60 | * ''Fanfic/MyImmortal'': |
| 61 | ** Voldemort gives Ebony a "dude-ur-so-retarded look". Is this a DisapprovingLook, a DeathGlare, or a mocking "stupid person" face? |
| 62 | ** Sirius/Serious is called a "dogfather". Assuming this wasn't one of the story's many typos, was this a {{pun}} on how he's able to turn himself into a dog? Or was it part of the RunningGag of Ebony refusing to say religious words (e.g. saying, "pentagram" instead of "cross" regardless of context)? |
| 63 | * ''Fanfic/PeekingThroughTheFourthWall'': |
| 64 | ** In Episode 31, Luna says she once dressed as a lamp for Halloween, but her classmates teased her by saying she always looked like that. This was intended as a reference to a meme about replacing Luna with a lamp, but it could also be interpreted as her classmates implying [[LampshadeWearing she got drunk all the time]] (albeit falsely, since After Dark: 4 reveals that [[TheTeetotaler she doesn't drink]]). |
| 65 | ** In Episode 17, when Lincoln is picked up by three {{Original Character}}s named Sophia, Maria, and Zoe who note that he's heavy, one of the {{MST}} guys notes that most of the weight would be in his head. Is this a joke about how Lincoln is a cartoon character drawn with a very large head, or is it saying that, since he's uncharacteristically angsty in the fanfic, his angst is so excessive it's literally weighing down his brain? |
| 66 | ** In Episode 33, Lana mentions that she knows a frog named Jeremiah. One commenter mistook this for a nationalist joke, comparing French people to frogs, but it was actually a reference to a song that had the lyric "Jeremiah was a bullfrog". |
| 67 | ** Two from Episode 38: |
| 68 | *** The episode involves five of the [[RuleSixtyThree gender-swapped]] Loud siblings reading a story in which Linka [[SanitySlippage goes insane]] due to her [[SweetTooth love of chocolate]], calling herself the "chocolate monster". She has an empty box labelled, "In case the chocolate monster is about to come out", and the siblings reading the story wonder what it was meant to contain. Lane jokingly suggests Pepto-Bismol -- is he joking that the term "chocolate monster" sounds like an UnusualEuphemism for [[ToiletHumour poop]], or is he saying that if Linka ate too much chocolate in a fit of insanity, she'd get indigestion? |
| 69 | *** Later on in the story, Linka asks Lane if he added [[IntangibleIngredients love]] to his pies, to which he blushes. The real siblings look awkward at this -- is it because the "love" comment reminded them of ''Film/AmericanPie'' (in which a boy masturbates with [[UnconventionalFoodUsage a pie]]), or do they think blushing at a compliment seems too romantic for siblings? |
| 70 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' meme video "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJVnhUaNrUY Steamed Hams, but It's the First Rehearsal]]", in which the characters are just actors rehearsing a play of the skit, Agnes's actress does not say her line "Help! Help!". Is this meant to mean that she forgot (since most of the humour comes from the actors not remembering their lines) or that the set designers used real smoke and Agnes's actress passed out? |
| 71 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''' meme video "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wwSBID94yw Steamed Hams, but Skinner Serves Poop and Chalmers Thinks it's Just a Joke]]", when Chalmers finally [[IAteWhat realizes]] that Skinner really did serve poop and asks him why, Skinner makes a noise reminiscent of a wolf howling. Is he farting, is he saying, "Pooooop!", or is he just making the wolf noise randomly because he's crazy? |
| 72 | * In one fan comic based on ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', Arathorn disapproves of Aragorn and Arwen dating, then Thranduil tells him to consider himself lucky, since Legolas and Gimli [[SlashFic are also dating]]. Is Thranduil homophobic, or is he [[FantasticRacism bigoted against dwarves]]? |
| 73 | * In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwzt1itvW6Q this]] fan video based on ''Series/TheMandalorian'', Din watches a video in which a man does a goofy dance while clad in Mandalorian armour. He says to himself, "A Mandalorian would never, ever dance like that". Does this mean that Mandalorians don't dance, or that there's a particular Mandalorian style of dancing? |
| 74 | * In the TrollFic ''Fanfic/SupperSmashBrosMishonhFromGod'', one of the plot twists is that Michelle Obama is actually Music/MichaelJackson, and that UsefulNotes/BarackObama is gay. Is this meant to suggest the in-universe author is a ConspiracyTheorist, a transmisogynist who thinks [[TransEqualsGay transgender women are gay men]], and/or a racist who [[RacialFaceBlindness thinks all black people look alike]]? |
| 75 | [[/folder]] |
| 76 | |
| 77 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 78 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheAristocats'': |
| 79 | ** When Roquefort the mouse is leading a bunch of stray cats to the kidnapped cat family, a man sees them, [[NoMoreForMe thinks he's drunk]], and pours his wine out. Some people have interpreted him as thinking he's drunk at the sight of cats being chased by a mouse, while others have interpreted it as him thinking he's drunk because the mouse and some of the cats are wearing clothes. |
| 80 | ** When Thomas sings his OverlyLongName, Duchess says that his name seems to "cover all of Europe". Is she saying that his name is so long that, if written down, it would seemingly cover the whole continent, or is she commenting on the fact that he has names from several European countries? (for instance, Giuseppe is Italian and O'Malley is Irish). |
| 81 | ** Marie expresses disdain at being referred to as the "caboose" when she and her brothers are playing train. Is this because she feels the caboose is the least significant part of a train, or because [[JokeOfTheButt "caboose" is slang for "butt"]]? |
| 82 | * ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': |
| 83 | ** When Belle calls Gaston "primeval", he earnestly thanks her. Is this because he [[BookDumb doesn't know]] what "primeval" means, or because he [[InsultBackfire takes it as a compliment]] because he hates thinking? |
| 84 | ** When Gaston says that he's been thinking during the reprise of his VillainSong, Le Fou responds, "A dangerous pastime". Is the implication that he believes all thinking is dangerous (meaning he hates thinking just as much as Gaston), or that it's dangerous for ''others'' when Gaston specifically starts thinking? |
| 85 | * In ''WesternAnimation/Cars1'', Lightning spots a tattoo on Sally's behind and points it out. Sally [[EmbarrassingTattoo acts embarrassed]], and drives backwards so that he won't see her tattoo. Is the joke that she's embarrassed because the tattoo is on her "butt" (which would raise the question of why cars don't cover their rears if they find them shameful like humans do), or is she embarrassed because she got it when she was younger and sees it as an OldShame? |
| 86 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheCurseOfTheWereRabbit'', Wallace [[NakedPeopleAreFunny is naked]] due to having just changed back from being a [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent were-rabbit]]. Gromit puts him in a cardboard box to cover his shame, which is labelled "may contain nuts". Is this because Wallace is a "nut", i.e. a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, or because his "nuts" (as in, his gonads) are being covered by the box? |
| 87 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', while Pacha is introducing Kuzco to the diner waitress as his spouse and explaining how it's their honeymoon, she dryly replies, "Bless you for coming out in public." It's probably scripted as a reference to Kuzco's [[HotGuyUglyWife llama appearance]], but with how Disney has become more open with LGBTQ+ representation over time, it could also be suggested that [[ComingOutStory she's aware Kuzco is male]]. |
| 88 | * ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'': |
| 89 | ** When Marlin and Dory are [[SomethingThatBeginsWithBoring playing I Spy]], Dory keeps using Marlin as the thing she sees. Is the joke that, besides the ocean itself, there's nothing and no one else to "spy", or is it that, due to her [[ForgetfulJones memory problems]], she just can't remember choosing Marlin? |
| 90 | ** Deb thinks her reflection is her sister, and she thinks the "sister's" name is Flo. Was that name chosen as a pun on "Aunt Flo", which is slang for periods (since she introduces herself as "Auntie Deb"), or is it because "Deb" rhymes with "ebb"? |
| 91 | ** In the DVD menu, Dory says, "I've always wanted to be in a film!", to which Marlin replies, "You were ''in'' a film; ''this'' one!". Is this just [[ForgetfulJones Dory]]'s short term memory loss acting up again, or is it that [[AudienceWhatAudience she doesn't know it's a film but he does]]? |
| 92 | ** When Nemo and his friends first see the boat, Tad states that Sandy Plankton told him that it's called a "[[JokeOfTheButt butt]]". Is the joke that Sandy Plankton is a KnowNothingKnowItAll who misinformed Tad about what it's actually called, or did Tad simply misquote what Sandy Plankton told him? |
| 93 | ** Sheldon sneezes a lot, and claims that it's because he's "[=H2O=] intolerant", which basically means "[[AbnormalAllergy allergic to water]]". Is this true, or is he exaggerating by saying that his allergies are so bad that it might as well be water that he's allergic to? |
| 94 | * In ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'', the trolls' song has the lyric, "So he's a bit of a fixer-upper; so he's got a few flaws, like his peculiar brain, dear, his thing with the reindeer. That's a little outside of nature's laws!". Some people think that they were referring to the fact that he uses a reindeer named Sven as a [[HorseOfADifferentColour horse]], when he can just use an actual horse, but others think the writers sneaked a {{bestiality|IsDepraved}} joke in, and still others think they're just referring to how Kristoff speaks for his pet reindeer Sven. |
| 95 | * ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2'': Gobber's comment "This is why I never married. This and one other reason", can be taken as Gobber admitting he's gay, or that he's impotent. Voice actor Creator/CraigFerguson, isn't gay but said it in a way that implies the former, but the way it's presented makes it open to interpretation. |
| 96 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney'': |
| 97 | ** One early scene has Quasimodo, who wants to attend the Festival of Fools, blurt out the word "festival" when his alphabet lesson with Frollo reaches the letter "F", then abruptly say "forgiveness" when Frollo reacts poorly. Was this because forgiveness was the word he was supposed to associate with "F", or was he saying it to ask Frollo for forgiveness? |
| 98 | ** When Clopin gives Quasimodo and Phoebus a [[KangarooCourt trial]] in the Court of Miracles, under the impression that they're still working for Frollo, he tells them "we find you totally innocent... which is the worst crime of all". Is this a mockery of Frollo's self-righteousness? A reference to Frollo persecuting Gypsies for imagined crimes? Or is it based on the premise that a "totally innocent" person likely wouldn't be a friend of those in the Court of Miracles? |
| 99 | * In ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeTheMeltdown'', there's a scene of Scrat in {{Heaven}}, only to get sucked away and wake up, whereupon Sid says, "I saved you!" but Scrat attacks him. The intended joke was that Scrat really did go to Heaven, but some viewers misinterpreted the scene as him having [[IWasHavingSuchANiceDream dreamt he went there]]. |
| 100 | * In ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeDawnOfTheDinosaurs'', Buck the crazy weasel tells the heroes not to breathe in the green gas or they'll die. When they stop being able to hold their breaths and end up breathing it in anyway, they survive but they start laughing uncontrollably and speaking in [[HeliumSpeech helium voices]]. They also start making goofy confessions and blames-- is the joke that they think they're going to die and are getting things off their chests, or that the gas has made them high? One of the possum brothers denies that he [[EmbarrassingDampSheets wets the other's bed]] like he said, claiming it was "gas talk", but was he really high or was he just saying he was to avoid embarrassment? |
| 101 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Igor}}'': At one point, Scamper says that if Eva is having a "woman problem" he wants no part in it. Some viewers took that as a [[DemographicallyInappropriateHumour period joke]], while others thought he was suggesting she was falling in love with Igor, and he feels romance is girly. |
| 102 | * ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'': |
| 103 | ** Riley's imaginary boyfriend's only line besides his catchphrase ("I'd die for Riley!") is explaining that he's from Canada. Did Riley make him Canadian because she [[CanadianEqualsHockeyFan plays hockey, which is associated with Canada]], or is it because of the stereotype that [[GirlfriendInCanada Americans' imaginary love interests tend to be Canadian]]? There’s also the fact that Riley was originally from Minnesota, which borders Canada, so having a Canadian boyfriend would be a more plausible story than other instances of the trope. |
| 104 | ** Sadness likes "the funny movie where [[DeathByNewberyMedal the dog dies]]". Is the joke that she's so morbid she [[BlackComedyPetDeath finds a sad movie funny]], or was it that she thought that the movie was funny in general, but remembered the dog dying the most because that was the part that was sad and therefore relevant to her? Proponents of the former sometimes see it as a [[ShoutOut reference]] to ''Film/OldYeller'', while proponents of the latter may see it as a reference to ''Film/MarleyAndMe''. |
| 105 | ** The end of the movie features a button marked "PUBERTY". Some see this as a StealthPun on "hitting" puberty, while others just think it was added because puberty can be a source of CringeComedy. People have also debated whether it was supposed to mean "Push in case of puberty" or "Push to initiate puberty". |
| 106 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'': |
| 107 | ** At the beginning, [[TheHero Simba]] learns that he will become king just like his father, and he excitedly tells his uncle Scar who secretly wants the throne for himself. When Simba asks, "When I'm king, what will that make you?", Scar responds, "A monkey's uncle." Was he calling Simba a monkey, or was he saying that it was unlikely for Simba to become king? It could also be that deep down he means the latter, but he wants Simba to think he means the former. |
| 108 | ** When Zazu the bird says that Simba is getting "wildly out of wing", is it just another way of saying, "out of control" meant to rhyme with "king" in a goofy way, or is it a HoldYourHippogriffs for "out of hand"? |
| 109 | ** During the "Hakuna Matata" song, Pumbaa mentions that he was downhearted and is about to rhyme it with "every time that I farted", but Timon [[SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion interrupts him]] with "Not in front of the kids!". Some viewers have interpreted this as a [[MediumAwareness fourth-wall breaking joke]] about the child audience, but other viewers think it refers to unseen animal kids and Simba. |
| 110 | ** When Zazu tells Scar not to "play with [his] food" when the latter talks to a mouse, does this mean Zazu is a snob, or Scar is a PsychopathicManchild? |
| 111 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing2019'': Unlike in the original movie, Timon notably does ''not'' stop Pumbaa from saying "farted", which both characters take the time to acknowledge. Was Pumbaa allowed to say it because the word "fart" isn't as taboo as it used to be? Or was it because the kids in the original audience have grown up over the 25 years between the movies? |
| 112 | * ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'': In one scene, a monster tries to [[ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight scare a sleeping girl at night]], only to find her already awake, listening to rock music, and walking very close to him unfazed, despite allegedly being only six years old. Does this mean that 7-11 years have passed without the monsters noticing and the girl is now a teenager? Or does it mean that the girl is an unusually tough six-year-old, [[MusicAgeDissonance listening to music she's clearly too young for]] and AdmiringTheAbomination? |
| 113 | %% * ''WesternAnimation/PussInBootsTheLastWish'': At one point, Baby Bear mentions that he doesn’t have “dingle berries,” (testicles) to which Papa Bear tells him that he does. Although the intended joke was probably that Baby doesn’t know what dingle berries are, it’s also possible that the line suggests that [[TransAudienceInterpretation Baby is trans in some way]]. If that’s the case, then does it mean that he’s a trans man and really doesn’t have dingle berries but wants them, and Papa is trying to make him feel better, or is he a closeted trans woman who does have dingle berries but doesn’t want them, and Papa is struggling to accept his son’s new identity? |
| 114 | * In ''WesternAnimation/{{Scoob}}'', there's a brief moment when [[WesternAnimation/WackyRaces Dick Dastardly]] introduces himself to Scooby, who repeatedly calls him "Rick", forcing Dastardly to repeatedly correct the dog. Some think it's just Scooby being a SpeechImpairedAnimal as per usual, but others think he's ''deliberately'' calling Dastardly "Rick" to {{troll}} him since this version isn't as speech-impaired as others. It helps that Scooby ends up using the moment to flee. |
| 115 | * ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'': |
| 116 | ** When Shrek and Donkey arrive at Lord Farquaad's castle, Shrek looks up at the impressive height of the tower and asks Donkey "Do you think he's {{compensating for something}}?"; Shrek's joke could mean he thinks Farquaad's compensating for either his [[HeightAngst short height]], or a TeenyWeenie. It could be both as at the time, Shrek doesn't know yet that Lord Farquaad is short while the viewer does. It's also possible that the joke is that Shrek is EntertaininglyWrong, in that he has correctly guessed that Farquaad is compensating for something, but thinks it's a TeenyWeenie (as [[CompensatingForSomething one's first guess usually would be]] in such a situation), when we the viewers [[DramaticIrony already know]] that it's in fact his height. |
| 117 | ** After Lord Farquaad calls Shrek hideous on seeing him for the first time, Shrek says "well, that's not very nice. [[InsultMisfire He's just a donkey]]." to which Farquaad responds with "indeed". Was the joke that Farquaad was dismissing Shrek's attempted deflection because he couldn't be bothered to come up with a wittier response, or was he subtly negating it by ''agreeing'' with Shrek?[[note]]If one goes with the latter interpretation, Farquaad's line could easily be expanded to "Indeed, ''he's'' just a donkey, '''you''' are hideous".[[/note]] |
| 118 | * ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'': At the beginning, Donkey says that his wife Dragon has been "moody", but at the end of the film, she's back to normal and they have babies. Is the joke that Dragon was [[PregnantReptile pregnant]] and [[PregnancyMakesYouCrazy hormonal]]? Or is it referencing the idea that mythical monsters such as dragons are often [[MamaBear violently protective of their eggs]]? |
| 119 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'': At the end, Carl Fredricksen is pointing out the red cars while Russell is pointing out the blue ones. Then, Dug (a dog) says, "Gray one!". Is this because AnimalsSeeInMonochrome, is he mistaking the Spirit of Adventure (a zeppelin) for a gray car, or is it a joke about how gray is the most common colour for cars? |
| 120 | * In the DMV scene in ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'', Nick tells the joke, "What do you call a three-humped camel? Pregnant!" Some have taken the joke as meaning that the third hump was the baby camel, while others saw it as a play on the word "[[{{Parental Bonus}} hump]]". There was even a minor Administrivia/EditWar on [[Website/TVTropes this very wiki]] about the meaning of the joke. |
| 121 | [[/folder]] |
| 122 | |
| 123 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 124 | * In one of ''Film/TheAddamsFamily'' movies, Gomez tells Debbie that "of course" they have cable. Why would this be obvious? Some viewers see it as a ContinuityNod to the first movie, in which Gomez starts watching ''Series/GilligansIsland'' to cope with being evicted, others think it refers to them watching horror movies and dark documentaries on TV, still others think it refers to their enjoyment of whipping one another [[note]]the exchange does come right after Gomez mentions having a dungeon in the house, so the joke could be that he thought Debbie was asking about the dungeon's torture implements[[/note]], some think it refers to tightrope walking (which seems like something they'd do) and a ''fifth'' interpretation is that it refers to Fester experimenting with electrical wires. |
| 125 | * Creator/StanLee's cameo in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' has him as the driver of the school bus Peter Parker is riding on. After the kids panic to distract him from seeing Peter become Spider-Man, Lee says "You act like you've never seen a spaceship before." People have come up with two interpretations for this line: he's either referring to the invasion from ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' or the fact that some of his other cameos have had him traveling through space. |
| 126 | * ''Film/Batman1989'': While in a meeting with some gangsters, the Joker quips that the recently killed [[TheDon mob boss]] Carl Grissom, for all his misdeeds, [[TheOneThingIDontHateAboutYou had a "tremendous" singing voice]]. Is this a reference to how Grissom sold Joker out to the authorities, since "singing" is criminal slang for ratting out another crook? Or is it a dark joke about how Grissom screamed when Joker killed him in revenge? Or was the Joker just being a {{cloudcuckoolander}}? |
| 127 | * ''Film/BlazingSaddles'': Among the listed crimes committed by the outlaws are "people stampeded and [[BestialityIsDepraved cattle raped]]". Is this actually what happened, or did whoever wrote the list mix up some words? |
| 128 | * ''Film/{{Borat}}'': The movie's version of the Kazakhstani {{national anthem}} includes a verse praising a fairly ordinary swimming pool. Is this meant to imply that UsefulNotes/{{Kazakhstan}} is severely backwards and underdeveloped (a theme explored throughout the movie), or is it a joke about how the country is landlocked and has a dry climate? |
| 129 | * ''Film/CharlottesWeb'': When Templeton reveals that the Zuckermans want to have Wilbur (a pig) for Christmas dinner, one of the cows remarks that she's glad nobody eats cows, even though they obviously do. Is this because [[TheDitz she's dumb]] (or [[AnimalStereotypes cows in general are dumb]])? Is it because a dairy cow (who are kept for milk and not meat) would [[DramaticIrony have no way of knowing]] that humans eat cows? Or is she glad that no one eats ''dairy'' cows? |
| 130 | * ''Film/TheFifthElement'': As Korben leaves his apartment, he's confronted by a mugger. He looks over the mugger's gun and says it's not loaded, telling him to push the yellow button. Once the mugger does so, the gun fizzles out, allowing Korben to draw his own pistol and disarm him. Did Korben trick the mugger into actually turning on the safety, or did Korben genuinely tell him how to load it, knowing the gun was a piece of crap that was likely to jam when you loaded it? |
| 131 | * ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'': |
| 132 | ** When Walter Peck says that the Ghostbusters caused the explosion that was actually his fault, Egon yells, "[[YourMom Your mother!]]" without finishing the sentence. Is the joke that he's [[{{Angrish}} too angry to come up with a proper insult]], or was he about to say that Peck's mother violated EPA law by giving birth to him, but didn't finish because he was interrupted? |
| 133 | ** Peter Venkman cites "dogs and cats living together" as a sign of the apocalypse. Is this a reference to [[AnimalJingoism the stereotype that dogs and cats hate each other and thus normally wouldn't want to live together]], is it a reference to the Bible passage that mentions "the wolf will lie down with the lamb", does "living together" refer to [[InterspeciesRomance marriage]], or is it absurdism, since many households actually ''do'' own both a cat and a dog? |
| 134 | ** When the Ghostbusters are buying the firehouse, Egon points out the building's flaws, to the point of claiming it should be condemned, but then Ray shouts, "This place is great! You guys should buy this pole!". Is Ray [[OnlyOneFindsItFun the only one who likes the firehouse]] despite its obvious flaws, or was Egon trying to bring down the price and Ray spoiled his plan? |
| 135 | ** During the climactic battle, Egon states that he's "terrified beyond rational thought", even though the phrasing means he's obviously not. Is the joke that Egon sees even just ''being'' scared as inherently irrational even if one can handle said fear, since he's such a stickler for rationality? Or was he deliberately making a joke, with the joke being that he's so composed he can even crack jokes during the literal Apocalypse? Either way, it's a joke about how he's TheStoic. |
| 136 | * In ''Film/GhostbustersII'': |
| 137 | ** Venkman sings, "Do", Ray sings, "Re", but Egon sings his own name. Is he punning on the fact that "re" and "Ray" are homophones, or is it because "mi" (the actual next note in the scale) sounds like "me"? |
| 138 | ** When Venkman asks Egon and Ray if they've been "sleeping" with the {{ectoplasm}}, Egon looks guilty. Did he actually sleep with the slime, or was he making the guilty expression on purpose as a joke? |
| 139 | * After Phil catches a boy falling from a tree in ''Film/GroundhogDay'', the TropeNamer and TropeCodifier for GroundhogDayLoop, the boy [[UngratefulBastard doesn't thank him]]. Phil responds, "See you tomorrow... maybe." Some took it as meaning that Phil might not be there to save the ungrateful kid in the next time loop, while others thought he was referring to the fact that the time loop could break the next day. |
| 140 | * ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'': James Bond describes serving Dom Perignon '53 at more than 35 degrees Fahrenheit as being "as bad as listening to Music/TheBeatles without earmuffs". WordOfGod claims that this was a joke about the incredibly loud screaming of {{fangirl}}s at Beatles concerts, but it's been interpreted for decades as [[TakeThat a knock at the band itself]]. |
| 141 | * ''Film/MuppetsFromSpace'': When Gonzo says that his alphabet cereal is "sending [him] a message", Rizzo responds, "I know how you feel -- I had some guacamole last night and it's still speaking to me!". Is this an AndImTheQueenOfSheba type quip, or did the guacamole give him gas or food poisoning? |
| 142 | * ''Film/RoboCop1987'': The titular {{cyborg}} attacks a robber at a convenience store and then thanks the storeowners for their cooperation, since he did a lot of damage in the process. This is sometimes interpreted as him thanking the ''robber'' for his cooperation. |
| 143 | * In ''Film/ScoobyDooMonstersUnleashed'', Velma awkwardly tries to swagger around in a leather jumpsuit to impress her boyfriend. He asks her, "[[GrossoutFakeout Do you have to go to the bathroom?]]". Does he think she needs to go to the bathroom because her failed swaggering resembles a PottyDance, or because he [[MistakenForFlatulence mistook the squeaking sounds made by her suit as Velma farting]]? |
| 144 | * When ''Film/StarWarsANewHope'' was first released, Obi-Wan's "Only a master of evil, Darth" comment was just thought of that 'Darth' was Vader's first name. From context, we now know it's a ''title'', and Obi-Wan would definitely know that, so it comes across as him being sarcastic. |
| 145 | * During ''Film/StarWarsTheForceAwakens'', Finn ends up in a lie with Rey about being part of the Resistance and pushes [[RobotBuddy BB-8]] to play along -- although visibly hesitant, he obliges, and when Finn gives him a grateful thumbs-up, BB-8 juts out a little arm with a lighter in response. This was meant to be BB-8's form of a thumbs-up (as if to say "No problem, I got your back!"), but considering the context, several viewers believed he was trying to [[FlippingTheBird flip Finn off]] for the trouble they're soon to find themselves in. |
| 146 | * In ''Film/SpaceJam'', when Creator/BillMurray shows up for the climax as a borderline DeusExMachina, Daffy asks him how he got there and Murray replies, "The producer's a friend of mine." Either Daffy is questioning how Murray got into the WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes world, and the answer is that Murray knows the producer of Looney Tunes, or they're raising the very valid question of what Bill Murray is doing in a Looney Tunes/NBA crossover movie in the first place, in which case the producer in question would be the film's producer, Creator/IvanReitman, who was indeed a friend of Murray's. Judging from the disgusted reactions from Daffy (and [[EvenEvilHasStandards the leader of the Monstars]]), they took the latter interpretation. |
| 147 | * In ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', when Eddie asks Roger, who's currently on the run from the law, if anyone knows the rabbit's come to his office, Roger responds that no one does. However, he does explain he asked a number of people for directions, including the news boy, the fireman, the green grocer, the butcher, and the baker, but none of them knew. Only one person could tell him: the liquor store guy. Eddie gets ''very'' angry upon hearing this. The joke could be that either Roger asking willy-nilly around town means everyone knows where he's going, or everyone knows because [[TheAlcoholic Eddie]] is a frequent customer of the liquor store, and the guy in charge is a notorious gossip. |
| 148 | * ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'': There's a RunningGag that a horse whinny sound effect plays every time [[CreepyHousekeeper Frau Blücher]]'s name is said, even in scenes where no horses are present. This was probably intended as a parody of the ScareChord trope, but some people saw it as an [[GeniusBonus obscure reference]] to the Prussian general Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (whose horse was famously shot dead at [[UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars the Battle of Ligny]]), or an indicator that [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals the horses are scared of her because she abused them in the past]]. And then there's the famous [[PopCultureUrbanLegends urban legend]] that it's because "blücher" is supposedly the German (or Yiddish) word for glue... |
| 149 | [[/folder]] |
| 150 | |
| 151 | [[folder:Jokes]] |
| 152 | * There's a joke that can actually be taken ''three'' ways: a woman puts an ad in a newspaper for a man who is a good lover. There are three criteria the man must meet: he must not beat her up, he must not run away, and he must be good in bed. When the woman hears the doorbell ring, she opens it and sees a man with no arms or legs. It's obvious that the man cannot physically beat her up or run away, but the woman asks, "What makes you think you are good in bed?" The man responds, "How do you think I rang the doorbell?" So either he has a GagPenis, a very long tongue, or can jump very high. |
| 153 | * We all know the famous joke about the chicken who crossed the road [[AntiHumor to get to the other side]]. Besides the obvious, there's also the interpretation that the chicken [[DrivenToSuicide wanted to commit suicide]] and get to "the other side" (as in, the afterlife). |
| 154 | * "YourMom is so fat, when she goes to In-N-Out, she can't get out." Is it because she can't fit through the door, or is it because she won't stop eating the burgers? |
| 155 | * "YourMom [[UsefulNotes/EntertainmentSoftwareRatingBoard is rated E For Everyone]]". Is she [[ReallyGetsAround slutty]] or is she [[RatedMForMoney really]] [[AvoidTheDreadedGRating lame]]? |
| 156 | * [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/be3m1u/sixty_is_the_worst_age_to_be_said_the_60yearold/ This joke]] involves a 60-year-old man saying that 60 is the worst age to be because you always feel like you have to pee but can't. A 70-year-old man says that actually 70 is the worst age because you get constipated, but an 80-year-old says that 80 is the worst age because while he pees at six every morning and poops at 6:30, he [[EmbarrassingDampSheets doesn't wake up until seven]]. Someone in the comments posted a bonus ending that involved a 90-year-old saying that ''90'' was the worst age because then you never wake up. Other users had trouble deciding if that meant the 90-year-old was a [[TheUndead zombie]], an [[TheInsomniac insomniac]], a guy paranoid about his mortality (as in, he fears death by old age), or just a [[SeniorSleepCycle guy who sleeps a lot]]. |
| 157 | * There's an old joke about the three stages of life involving SantaClaus: first you believe in Santa, then you don't believe in Santa, then you are Santa. It's pretty obvious what the first two stages mean, but does the third stage mean that you look like Santa, or that you act as the Santa of your family? Some versions of the joke compromise, making the third stage acting as Santa and adding a fourth stage, which is looking like Santa. |
| 158 | * An old joke by a Canadian comic had him find a shirt for a baby reading 'Future President of the United States'. He notes that you would never find the equivalent shirt up north that says 'Future Prime Minister of Canada'. [[TakeThat "Honestly, we just expect more from our children."]] This can be read as either making fun of Americans or the Prime Minister specifically. |
| 159 | * One joke goes "What is usually the last meal of a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] before execution? A steak." Is this a pun on "steak" and "stake", or because steaks contain blood? |
| 160 | * There's a variation of a famous joke about NationalStereotypes claiming that, in Hell, the bankers are Italian. Is this a reference to [[TheMafia Italian organized crime]], or to Italy's myriad economic woes? |
| 161 | * One joke had an elderly woman wanting to commit [[SuicideAsComedy suicide]] by shooting herself in the heart, and then she phones her doctor to ask where the heart is, in which he replies "on the left side of your chest". A bit later, the woman is hospitalized for shooting herself in her [[{{kneecapping}} left knee]]. Did she shoot her knee because of her poor eyesight, or was it because her chest was so sagged it had reached her knees? |
| 162 | * A joke sign reads, "We're a drinking village with a fishing problem". Is the joke that whoever wrote the sign was drunk and got the words around the wrong way, or that they drink so much that they view the fishing as problematic since it gets in the way of the drinking? |
| 163 | * A birthday card depicts a toddler boy looking down his diaper and asking, "Mummy, are these my brains?". Did he soil himself and mistake the poop for his brains, or is he mistaking his privates for his brains (perhaps as a reference to the expression "thinking with one's little head", or a reference to [[GirlsHaveCooties little boys thinking girls are dumb]])? |
| 164 | * A joke that has this by design: A woman marries into a foreign country while [[LanguageBarrier having little knowledge of the local language]]. She continues learning and eventually gets confident enough in her skills to go to the butcher's to buy chicken breasts. Unfortunately, she forgets the word for "breast" as she orders and, in desperation, points at her own breasts, which is enough for the butcher to give her the correct item. The next time she tries, this repeats with chicken thighs. The next time after that, she's coming for sausages and forgets the word yet again. With no idea what to show the butcher this time, she leaves and returns with her husband. [[spoiler:[[BaitAndSwitch Because he can speak the local language]]. If you first thought of another, anatomy-related, reason, it's a feature, not a bug.]] |
| 165 | * The old Sumerian joke "Something that has never occurred since time immemorial: a young woman did not [[ToiletHumour fart in her husband's lap]]": Is it just because women farting in their husbands' laps is just inherently funny, is it a BaitAndSwitch gag about the juxtaposition of such formal language leading to an observation about farts, is it parodying the societal idea that women shouldn't fart by stating that they obviously do, or was "Something that has never occurred since time immemorial" once a popular start for jokes, a la "[[KnockKnockJoke Knock, knock]]" or "What do you call___?"? |
| 166 | ** Another famous Sumerian joke we only have the vaguest of Interpretations for is the famous "A dog walked into a tavern and said, 'I can't see a thing. I'll open this one'." The best context we have, since the source it comes from has a lot of "talking animal" stories, most serious, but some silly, is that the "dog" is probably actually a dumbish human guard, and the tavern possibly rents out bedrooms, and may or may not have prostitutes renting said bedrooms. From there, we've got nothing ''but'' guesses as what's so funny here. A pun or other wordplay in the Sumerian language? Probably not, but worth mentioning. Dog opens a bedroom door to let in more light to "hilarious" results? Dog wants to check said bedrooms? Dog has its eyes closed? Something about a window in the middle of the night? Nobody knows. |
| 167 | * A joke has a cadet get stranded on an uninhabited island with his loaded gun, a somewhat misogynistic gay man and a somewhat homophobic woman. When it becomes obvious that help is not coming and they can realistically survive for a while, each of the cadet's companions approaches him separately, suggesting that he use his gun on the third person so they can spend their days having "a normal sexual life." The punchline has the cadet start living "a normal sexual life" after killing them both. Is the cadet abstaining from sex and so principled about it that he's doing what it takes for things to stay that way? Really into masturbating, but ashamed about it? Asexual and hence genuinely uninterested in the "having regular sex" part of both offers? And let's not get started on the fact that those three options aren't entirely mutually exclusive. |
| 168 | [[/folder]] |
| 169 | |
| 170 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 171 | * In the {{novelization}} of the ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' movie ''Web of Shadows'', Matau starts going feral at night due to a mutation taking over his mind. He builds a nest and asks her teammate and romantic interest Nokama if she has any "urges" that involve him. The next day, Nuju reminisces on hearing "fascinating" noises the other night, prompting Matau to gasp and quickly change the subject. So was Matau howling at the moons because of his animal side taking over (like Vakama did in an earlier scene), or is the joke that he and Nokama acted on their "urges"? In context, it's clearly the former, as sex and romance don't exist in ''BIONICLE'', but the films have always been loose with this rule. Possibly to avoid people reading something dirty into the joke, the scene was cut from the film and only survives in the novel. Nuju's comment about the noises and Matau's awkward reaction [[OrphanedReference were nevertheless kept in the film]], allowing for a third interpretation. Maybe Matau wasn't embarrassed about himself but about Nuju's fondness of listening to animal sounds at night. |
| 172 | * ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'': |
| 173 | ** In "The Third Wheel", Greg hates an illustration on the plates at a restaurant, which is a {{cowboy}} saying, "Come back soon, y'all!". Is this because the restaurant is a SuckECheeses so he doesn't want to come back to it? Is it because he finds being spoken to by a cowboy and/or referred to as "y'all" belittling? Does he not want to be bossed around by an illustration? Or does he just find the cowboy ugly? |
| 174 | ** In one book, Greg notes that it was [[AwkwardPoetryReading a bad combination]] when, at the talent show, a girl read a poem about {{global warming}} at the same time as a boy rode a unicycle while playing the harmonica. Is he saying that the harmonica was so loud nobody could hear the poem, that playing an instrument on a unicycle was too silly to pair with a poem about something serious like global warming, or a bit of both? |
| 175 | ** In "Cabin Fever", Greg gets defensive when revealing that he [[EmbarrassingDampSheets still wet the bed at age eight]] and says that he only did it because he drank a lot before bed, which gave him "crazy dreams". He's illustrated at age eight dreaming that a firehose is broken and the firefighters are wondering what to do. Is the implication that dreaming of the water gushing out of the hole in the hose is what made him wet the bed, or that the dream continued with him [[AllNaturalFireExtinguisher peeing out the fire]], which [[CrashingDreams caused him to actually pee]]? |
| 176 | ** In one book, a tradesman goes to use the bathroom, and Greg notes that since he is reading a magazine, he's probably not going to pee. Does this mean that the tradesman is going to poop, or that he's not even using the toilet but rather using a bathroom break as an excuse to read? |
| 177 | * ''Literature/HarryPotter'': |
| 178 | ** In [[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone the first book]], Ron says that he has one relative who's an accountant, but he finds him too embarrassing to talk about. Is the implication that the accountant is a squib ([[MuggleBornOfMages someone born to at least one magical parent but with no powers]]) and that's why Ron is embarrassed, or does he find the relative's job embarrassing because he's a wizard working in a job associated with muggles (normal people)? Or the guy's personality is so unpleasant it's embarrassing, and him being an accountant is incidental? |
| 179 | ** In [[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban the third book]], the manager of the bookstore Floruish and Blotts mentions that his store spent a lot of money on 200 copies of ''The Invisible Book of Invisibility'', but nobody was ever able to find them. Is this a gag about how impractical such a thing would be, or was the store scammed into buying a nonexistent book? |
| 180 | * In ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1'', after [[ItMakesSenseInContext using the Babel Fish to prove the non-existence of God]], Man "goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing." As many American readers didn't know [[SeparatedByACommonLanguage a zebra crossing refers to a crosswalk]], they thought it meant Man was trampled to death by zebras on an African plain. Given how much of the franchise operates under SurrealHumor anyway, this misconception likely made the joke funnier. |
| 181 | * In the bawdy book ''Polly Has a Smelly Pussy'', which is basically a book full of puns on the double meaning of the word "pussy", the intro says it's for anyone who "has a pussy, wants a pussy, knows a pussy, or is a pussy". Does "wants a pussy" refer to trans women, or people attracted to women? And is "knows a pussy" using "pussy" in the sense of "vagina" or "coward"? |
| 182 | * ''Literature/TheTaleOfGingerAndPickles'': When Ginger (an [[FunnyAnimal anthropomorphic cat]]) says that he's tempted to [[FurryReminder eat his mouse customers]], Pickles (a dog) says that he feels the same about the rat customers, but that if they ate them, "they'd leave us and go to Tabitha Twitchit's". Ginger replies, "On the contrary, they would go nowhere." Is this because [[BlackComedy they'd be dead and thus wouldn't be able to go anywhere]]? Or because they'd be too scared to, since Tabitha is also a cat? |
| 183 | [[/folder]] |
| 184 | |
| 185 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 186 | * On an episode of ''Series/EightOutOfTenCats Does [[Series/{{Countdown}} Countdown]]'', Jimmy Carr makes a joke about Jon Richardson getting married, since it was either that or he'd have to send her back in the mail. Richardson inquired whether it refers to a MailOrderBride or a blow-up doll, to which Jimmy seems to acknowledge one being an unintended interpretation, but that either way, it isn't a real love. |
| 187 | * ''Series/NineOneOne'' aired its first season finale shortly after the second season renewal was announced. The finale ends with a 911 call from a man asking if the show will be returning the following season followed by clips of the characters making sarcastic comments. Are their comments suggesting they were definitely going to get renewed or because checking the status of a television series is not the purpose of 911? |
| 188 | * ''Beehive'': The "Air Afrikaans" sketch has two flight attendants refuse to give a vegetarian woman chocolate mousse. Is this them taking petty revenge for her earlier complaining about a lack of vegetarian options on the menu, them confusing "mousse" with "moose", or a reference to the fact that mousse sometimes contains gelatin (which is generally derived from collagen taken from animal body parts)? |
| 189 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 190 | ** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time]]", after [[TheNthDoctor regenerating]], the Eleventh Doctor catches a glimpse of his hair and notes that he's "still not ginger." This was intended to be a CallBack to the Tenth Doctor being disappointed that he wasn't a ginger in ''[[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion The Christmas Invasion]]'', but several viewers interpreted it as him being glad he wasn't. |
| 191 | ** The EndOfEpisodeSilliness of "Tooth and Claw" has the Doctor comment on how Queen Victoria was scratched by a werewolf, and then notes that she and her descendants were all hemophiliacs and implies that had something to do with the werewolf scratch. Is he claiming that they weren't actually hemophiliacs and it was just a cover story for them being werewolves (albeit jokingly, since he'd be more concerned if he actually thought that, not to mention that it's a bite that transmits the lycanthropy rather than a scratch) or is he suggesting that werewolf scratches cause hemophilia? |
| 192 | * ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'': In one episode, Sexu-Al Harris flirts with a female dinosaur by saying she has "two items" he wants to check out. Is this referring to NonMammalMammaries (despite the fact that she wasn't portrayed with any), is it referring to one mundane item plus her sexual organs, or is it referring to her legs? |
| 193 | * In the episode "Cigarettes, Alcohol, and Rollerblading" of ''Series/FatherTed'', [[TheAlcoholic Father Jack]] gives up drinking for Lent. When he sees Father Ted and Father Dougal for the first time while sober, he asks "Where are the other two?" This joke could have meant that he either saw a blurry and distorted version of Ted and Dougal while drunk (which gave him an inaccurate idea of what they looked like), or he always saw 4 other priests thanks to SingleMaltVision. |
| 194 | * ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Phoebe writes a song about a cat who smells bad because of its food. Is the joke that the cat pooped on itself due to a runny stomach, that it's a {{Gasshole}}, or that it has bad breath? |
| 195 | * One episode of ''Series/GetSmart'' shows Max become horrified when he discovers 99 just saw him unbutton his collar. In another, he refuses to let her watch him lower his sock below the ankle. Is the joke about the absurdity of a CasanovaWannabe being so shy, or a satirical jab at the MoralGuardians of the time? |
| 196 | * ''Series/TheMandalorian'': "The Child" has some Jawas messily eating the flesh of a raw, hairy egg. The Mandalorian watches, and shakes his head. Is he disgusted by their lack of table manners, or does he not understand why they'd like to eat that egg? |
| 197 | * ''Series/SpittingImage'': One segment has a Russian cosmonaut hear a knock at the door of the {{space station}} he's on. He opens it, only to immediately close it again when the person knocking explains they're [[KnockingOnHeathensDoor one of Jehovah's witnesses]]. Is this a joke about how stereotypically annoying door-to-door evangelists are, or about Soviet state atheism? |
| 198 | * ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': |
| 199 | ** In "Trials and Tribble-ations", O'Brien suggests Dax tease Worf (her husband) by implying he smells of lilac. She says that she has her own ways of "torturing" him -- is this a reference to the RunningGag of them having rough sex, or is it saying that he sometimes finds her annoying due to their [[GleefulAndGrumpyPairing personality clash]]? |
| 200 | ** Also in "Trials and Tribble-ations", when Sisko explains to two agents who deal with red tape involving TimeTravel that it might take him some "time" to explain something. The agents ask if he was joking, and when [[AccidentalPun he replies in the negative]], they say, "Good. We hate those". Does this mean the agents [[ComicallySerious hate jokes]] or that [[ObligatoryJoke they specifically hate time jokes due to hearing them too often]]? |
| 201 | ** In "The Wire", Bashir complains that a certain novel is boring in that it's simply generations of people living the same plots over and over. Some people took this as BitingTheHandHumour at the fact that ''Franchise/StarTrek'' has several series, while others saw it as a TakeThat to ''Series/{{Blackadder}}''. |
| 202 | ** In one episode, [[StarfishAlien Odo]] mentions he once tried to eat, but he doesn't want to specify what happened, other than that it was unsuccessful and "messy". Does this mean that he spilled the food all over himself due to not being able to swallow, that the chewed-up food fell through his body and landed on the floor, that he coughed the food back up, or that he had to walk around with undigested food inside his body, which then fell out when he returned to his liquid state? |
| 203 | * ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'': In one episode, the engineers Reno and Stamets are affected by some hallucinogenic spores that make them compliment each other, then this makes them feel awkward. Is the joke that they're feeling awkward because they hate each other and so don't want to be nice to each other, or is it that they don't want to seem as though they're hitting on each other (which they clearly aren't, since [[IncompatibleOrientation they're both gay]])? |
| 204 | * ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': |
| 205 | ** In one episode, Worf claims to dislike swimming as it's "too much like bathing". Is the joke that Worf HatesBaths, or is it that he finds swimming boring because it's similar to the mundane act of bathing? |
| 206 | ** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E7Rascals Rascals]]", after the FountainOfYouth effect is reversed, Picard feels his head to find that he's bald again. Is he hoping that he still has hair after aging up, or is he making sure he ''doesn't'' have hair and he's fully back to normal? |
| 207 | ** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E6TrueQ True Q]]", when Dr. Crusher yells at [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Q]], he turns her into a dog. Is this a play on the word "bitch", is it a play on the other meaning of "bark" (which can mean to say something aggressively), or is he implying that humans are no more than dumb animals to him? |
| 208 | * ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': At the end of one episode, Spock, who'd gone blind, gets his sight back and Kirk notes that being TheStoic, he probably didn't have any emotional response. Spock replies, that on the contrary, he ''did'' react emotionally -- because the first thing he saw was [=McCoy's=] face looking over him. Is he calling [=McCoy=] ugly (which is how [=McCoy=] interpreted it), is he saying that [=McCoy=] was being too nurturing looking over him all the time, or is he saying that (given [[VitriolicBestBuds their dynamic]]) he finds [=McCoy=] annoying in general? |
| 209 | * ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': |
| 210 | ** In one episode, Seven of Nine says that everyone can hear it when B'Elanna (a HalfHumanHybrid with a Klingon mother) and Tom have sex. Is this an [[TheImmodestOrgasm orgasm]] joke, or is it a joke about how Klingon women roar when courting/having sex? |
| 211 | ** In another episode, Neelix mentions that [[ToiletHumour most of the toilets aren't working]], which is bad news, especially since there are Bolians on board. Does this mean that the Bolians' waste is toxic, that it smells bad because of [[ExtremeOmnivore what they eat]], or that they just don't like sharing toilets with other species? |
| 212 | [[/folder]] |
| 213 | |
| 214 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 215 | * The folk song "Clementine" mentions that "herring boxes without topses, sandals were for Clementine". Is the joke that Clementine has big feet, or is it a BlackComedy joke about how they can't afford shoes? |
| 216 | * ''Website/CollegeHumour'' has a song called "We Didn't Start the Flame War", in which one person says, "Simpsons did it" (referencing the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode of the same name, and basically calling someone unoriginal for using a joke ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' already used). Someone else replies, "''South Park'' did it too" -- Are they agreeing that the joke was unoriginal and saying that it's so unoriginal that ''both'' shows already did it? Or, conversely, are they saying that the other person was no better because "Simpsons did it" is also unoriginal? Or are they someone who hates ''South Park'' and is pointing out how it's just as unoriginal as ''The Simpsons''? |
| 217 | * In the song "Der Fuhrer's Face", which makes fun of the Nazis, the line "Super duper super men" is said in a high-pitched voice with a [[SpeechImpediment lisp]]. Is this just a mocking voice? Is it saying the Nazis are sissies? Or, seeing as a high-pitched, lispy voice has been stereotypically associated with gay men, is it accusing the Nazis (who were homophobic) of being {{Armored Closet Gay}}s? |
| 218 | * The satirical Music/BobDylan song "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues" has the hardcore anti-communist narrator say he knows [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lincoln_Rockwell George Lincoln Rockwell]] hates commies because Rockwell picketed ''Film/Exodus1960''. Is he saying that because the movie's screenwriter was Creator/DaltonTrumbo, who was famously blacklisted for his communist leanings? Or, since the movie is about the founding of modern UsefulNotes/{{Israel}}, is he repeating the idea that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Bolshevism communism is a Jewish conspiracy?]] Both possibilities were discussed by Dylan's biographer Seth Rogovoy. |
| 219 | * ''Music/SuperGhostbusters'': |
| 220 | ** The song about the lasagna has Joel making a noise throughout the song that could be interpreted as either crying or laughter. As such, is it Joel's character [[LostFoodGrievance crying over having his lasagna being stolen]] (with the joke being that he's dramatic), or Joel himself [[SelfDeprecation laughing at how ridiculous the song is]]? |
| 221 | ** In one song, the singer phones the Ghostbusters, says that his toilet is not working, and when they say that that's no reason to call them, lies that the reason it's not working is that it's blocked with {{Ectoplasm}}. Was the toilet actually broken, but for a more mundane reason, and the singer was such a fanboy of the Ghostbusters that he was in denial of the fact that he needed to call a plumber instead of them, or was the toilet not even broken and he was just {{Prank Call}}ing the Ghostbusters? |
| 222 | * Music/WeirdAlYankovic: |
| 223 | ** In the song [[Music/EvenWorse "Fat"]], Yankovic claims that when he goes to the beach, he's "the only one who gets a tan." Some have taken it as meaning that he blocks the sun for everyone else, while others assumed that he was the only one ''on'' the beach because he took up all the space. Either way, it works well for a song that is an extra-long fat joke. |
| 224 | ** [[Music/{{Alapalooza}} "Jurassic Park"]] has the lines "A huge tyrannosaurus ate our lawyer / Well, I suppose that proves /They're really not all bad". It's clearly an EvilLawyerJoke of some sort, but deliberate AmbiguousSyntax gives it at least three possible punchlines: Either the dinosaurs are "not all bad" since they disposed of a lawyer, lawyers are "not all bad" since they provide sustenance to dinosaurs (or because if the lawyer wasn't there the t-rex might have eaten the narrator instead), or lawyers don't ''taste'' bad. [[WordOfGod Al himself]] said on a Q&A on his website that the joke was deliberately left ambiguous for the listener to decide. |
| 225 | ** There's the abandoned "Has anyone ever told you you've got Yugoslavian hands?" pickup line from "Wanna B Ur Lovr", a song consisting of nothing but lame pickup lines. Is it a reference to the joke about "Russian (rushing) hands and Roman (roaming) fingers"? A lead-in to a "Czech-mate" joke? A nod to Al's Yugoslavian grandparents? Just nonsense? |
| 226 | [[/folder]] |
| 227 | |
| 228 | [[folder:Posters]] |
| 229 | * There's a series of posters that describe people in the style of weather forecasts (e.g. a man who always takes a shower before work has the description "steamy in the morning"). The description for a baby mentions "showers". Does this refer to crying, or peeing? Or is it a pun about a "baby shower", as in a party for an expectant mother? |
| 230 | [[/folder]] |
| 231 | |
| 232 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 233 | * ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'': When Batman is escorting a restrained Joker during the opening sequence, they encounter Killer Croc, who says [[TheNoseKnows he's got Batman's scent]]. Joker responds by quipping, "that reminds me, I need to get a new pair of shoes". Did Croc's comment to Batman make the Joker think his current shoes were too smelly? Or was he reminded of alligator boots after seeing him? |
| 234 | * ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'': Funky Kong has a [[HeartsAreHealth heart]] for sale as a healing item. If you go to buy it, he advises you not to think too hard about the fact that it's a heart. Is this because of the FridgeLogic of him having a disembodied heart, or is it because hearts are a symbol [[HoYay associated with love]]? The Spanish translation seems to go for the latter, as he tells you not to think too much about what it isn't. |
| 235 | * In ''VideoGame/MoshiMonsters'', the description for Hoodoo Stew was "No Hoodoos were harmed in the making of this stew... we hope." It's been debated whether the people who labelled it were hoping [[ImAHumanitarian that Hoodoos weren't cannibalistic]] or that they didn't fall into the stew and die by accident. On the one hand, ''Moshi Monsters'' was no stranger to edgy jokes (they had a whole species [[{{Autocannibalism}} which ate their own ears]] for instance) and the Hoodoos do live in the jungle, and there's a stereotype of jungle-dwellers being cannibals. On the other hand, Hoodoos are generally portrayed as being on the side of good, and we actually get to see the ingredients for Hoodoo Stew which does not include Hoodoo meat. |
| 236 | * Why do the dogs in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' lunge at Link whenever he's in Deku form? Are they acting out of fear, [[GoFetch or do they think he's a big stick]]? |
| 237 | * ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'': In a conversation during the 2nd dungeon, which is an in-universe ClicheStorm of [=RPGs=], the party debate what CharacterClass they'd each be. When it comes to [[ButtMonkey Ryuji]], Futaba says he'd be [[VideoGame/DragonQuestIII the Jester]], which he protests. However, anyone familiar with ''Dragon Quest 3'' (which the geeky Futaba certainly would be) knows the Jester class is famous for MagikarpPower, so was Futaba trolling Ryuji by giving him a stealth ''compliment'' she knew he wouldn't get? |
| 238 | * In ''VideoGame/Portal2'', [=GlaDOS=] begins the game discovering that Chell [[AdoptionDiss is adopted]], and [[EvilIsPetty repeatedly taunts her with petty jokes about how her birth parents don't love her]]. [[BrickJoke Later in the game]], as [[EnemyMine the two end up having to work together against a common enemy]] in the form of [[spoiler:Wheatley]], said enemy tries to relay a childish "[[BigStupidDooDooHead fatty fatty no parents]]" taunt, and [=GlaDOS=] jumps to Chell's defense and calls him out on it ('''"W[-HAT'S-] W[-RONG-] W[-ITH-] B[-EING-] A[-DOPTED?-]"'''), only for her to whisper under her breath to Chell '''"F[-OR-] T[-HE-] R[-ECORD-], Y[-OU-] ARE A[-DOPTED-], A[-ND-] T[-HAT'S-] T[-ERRIBLE-], B[-UT-] J[-UST-] W[-ORK-] W[-ITH-] M[-E-] H[-ERE-]."''' She's clearly just trying to find a reason to mess with [[spoiler:Wheatley]], but there's some contention as to whether her aside to Chell is a HypocriticalHeartwarming joke (implying [[KickTheDog she still thinks being adopted is shameful]]), or a sudden PetTheDog moment (sympathetically acknowledging that it's terrible that her birth parents gave her up). |
| 239 | * ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'': Team Chaotix's [[LimitBreak Team Blast]], Chaotix Recital, is them performing music that is somehow able to destroy all enemies near them. Is this because their music is [[MakeSomeNoise loud enough to be weaponized]]? Or is it because it's [[DreadfulMusician so downright terrible]] that [[BrownNote experiencing it is harmful]]? |
| 240 | * In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' (later carried into ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''), [[VideoGame/MetalGear Solid Snake]] reveals in a codec conversation that he's weirdly annoyed by Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog, and when pressed, [[IrrationalHatred he's unable to explain why beyond "there's something about him I just don't like."]] Fans have theorized many possible explanations: some believe this to be an ActorAllusion as Creator/ChikaoOhtsuka (father of Snake's Japanese VA, Creator/AkioOtsuka) voiced Sonic's arch-enemy Dr. Eggman, others interpret this as an AnimalJingoism joke ([[StealthPun hedgehogs eat snakes]] in the wild), or perhaps an acknowledgement of the fact both Snake and Sonic were the first third-party characters added to ''Super Smash Bros.'', with Snake's annoyance being [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy towards his competitor]]. |
| 241 | * ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosWonder'': One promo has Bowser trying to woo Princess Peach with a flower, only for her to transform into Elephant Peach after an Elephant Fruit passes by...to which he replaces said flower with a bouquet. Is this because Bowser loves Peach no matter her appearance or is he a ChubbyChaser? |
| 242 | * In ''Terrible Treasures'' (a licensed game for ''Series/HorribleHistories''), a miner asks the player if they can smell gas, then comments, "No, it's all right; it's just me". Does this mean he farted, or that the smell was just his imagination? |
| 243 | [[/folder]] |
| 244 | |
| 245 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 246 | * In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', Gundham Tanaka requires virgin blood for a satanic ritual, and Sonia Nevermind replies that her blood wouldn't meet the requirements. Virgin's blood can both refer to the blood of someone who has never had sex or the blood of someone ''whose blood has never been used in a satanic ritual before'', and given Sonia is both a CovertPervert and NightmareFetishist, both are plausible. |
| 247 | [[/folder]] |
| 248 | |
| 249 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 250 | * ''[[Creator/FilmCow Bino the Elephant]]'', when Dr. Z says "It's okay Bino, I have more" after Bino accidentally kills his wife. Does Dr. Z practice polygamy, or, being a MadScientist, does he have clones or other copies of Meredith? |
| 251 | * ''WebAnimation/HazbinHotel'': After Katie Killjoy tells Charlie she's a homophobe because she has "standards", Charlie asks "how's that working out for you?" while gesturing towards a banner that reads "Hell's #1 News Program!" Is Charlie implying that Katie's homophobia was what landed her in {{Hell}} or that she would only be a popular news personality in Hell? |
| 252 | * ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': |
| 253 | ** Blitzo has [[OminousOwl Stolas]] listed in his contacts under "bird dick". Is this an insulting nickname, or an indication that Stolas has [[ExoticEquipment avian genitals]]? |
| 254 | ** In "Loo Loo Land", Loona screams "shut the fuck up!" from offscreen after Blitzo announces that the group is going to Loo Loo Land through a megaphone, seemingly more affected by the noise than Moxxie or Millie despite being further away from its source than them. Is this because [[FurryReminder she has a dog's sensitive hearing]]? Or did she come to work hung over, like in the pilot? |
| 255 | ** In "Spring Broken", Blitzo threatens to call HR on Verosika, which the two of them and Verosika's bodyguard Vortex laugh at, implying Blitzo was joking. Were they laughing because it's Hell and [[WorldOfJerkass people being mean and nasty to each other]] is encouraged? Because HR stands for ''Human'' Resources and everyone involved was a [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demon]]? Because they don't work for the same company, so no HR department would have jurisdiction in the matter? Or was it just a gag about [[NoSuchThingAsHR the stereotypical uselessness of HR]]? |
| 256 | ** In "Exes and Oohs", Moxxie says that Crimson once referred to Chaz as a "friendless horsefucker", which Blitzo misquotes as "[[{{Spoonerism}} horseless friendfucker]]". Was this just a FreudianSlip from Blitzo turning over the fact that Chaz slept with two of Blitzo's friends in his head? Or, since he's a horse lover, did he intentionally switch the words around to avoid speaking of his favorite animal in such a vulgar way? |
| 257 | * ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': |
| 258 | ** In the WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail "other days", Strong Bad goes to check his snail-mail, and after burning up a collection letter from Bubs' Concession Stand, he looks around and wonders "Um, where's my house?" Is the joke that the collection agency [[RidiculousRepossession took his house when he wasn't looking]], or was he wondering [[LampshadeHanging why his mailbox was so far from his house, in the middle of the Field]]? |
| 259 | ** In Issue 13 of WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad, Cheerleader resorts to calling her "B-list" of boys, and ends up calling a plumber's shop. Either Cheerleader got a wrong number, or the fat guy who answers the phone really is the "Randy" she meant to call. |
| 260 | * ''WebAnimation/RWBYChibi'': While reading Blake's copy of ''[[{{filth}} Ninjas of Love]]'', Ruby admiringly comments "now that's a katana". Is she using "katana" as a [[UnusualEuphemism euphemism]], or, since Ruby is a weapons junkie, is she talking about a ''literal'' katana? |
| 261 | [[/folder]] |
| 262 | |
| 263 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 264 | * ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'': "[[http://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/the-pokemon-effect The Pokemon Effect]]" is how ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' was extremely popular when the Katie was in grade school, unpopular in high school, and became popular again in college. This was meant as a commentary about [[PopularityPolynomial the ups and downs of the franchise's popularity]], but some readers interpreted it as a commentary on maturity and the perceptions thereof, with high schoolers seeing ''Pokémon'' as "kid's stuff" (or at least acting like they do) and college students [[Creator/CSLewis outgrowing the desire to be grown up and the fear of being seen as childish]]. |
| 265 | * ''Webcomic/SandraAndWoo'': One strip has Larisa comment that [[ChildProdigy Yuna]]'s discussion of naked singularities and black holes sounds perverted. It's possible that she was talking about the use of the term "naked singularity". On the other hand, Larisa's Russian, and it's a [[CommonKnowledge popular misconception]] that the literal Russian translation of "black hole" refers to something extremely vulgar and perverse (Russians supposedly call them "frozen stars" instead), so it's also possible that her comment was a nod at the myth. |
| 266 | * ''Webcomic/ScandinaviaAndTheWorld'': In the strip titled "Imposter", Sweden tells his fellow Nordics that there's a Nordic imposter among them, and Iceland thinks it could be Finland because he "talks weird". This could be interpreted as a joke on how Finnish is a Finnic language and not a Germanic one, or a joke on the fact that he's usually mute and doesn't talk at all. |
| 267 | * ''Webcomic/SpikedMath'': "Sex Proofs" ends with a censored "proof by brute force". If you use the cryptanalytic interpretation of "brute force", it means that the characters are trying every way to have sex to find out what works. However, if you take "brute force" more literally, it becomes a BlackComedyRape joke (or at least a joke about violent sex). |
| 268 | * On [[https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Comics-by-Inna-Sacali-New-Comics-65814fff9c019__880.jpg this]] online comic, a couple says that their version of Cupid is their baby son asleep in his cot. Is it saying that [[BabiesMakeEverythingBetter him being born saved their relationship]], that they can have sex now that he's asleep, or that they're in a more romantic mood now that they're getting more sleep due to him sleeping more soundly? |
| 269 | [[/folder]] |
| 270 | |
| 271 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 272 | * ''Website/BoredPanda'': [[https://www.boredpanda.com/alternate-fake-captions-wikihow/ This]] list of fake Website/WikiHow captions has a few that are ambiguous: |
| 273 | ** One is captioned "How to communicate with your antivaxxer friend" and it shows a man and a woman with candles, incense, and a ouija board, and the woman is holding a piece of paper. Is the antivaxxer friend the man, who is an antivaxxer due to being a new age type who believes in the supernatural, and the woman is reading the instructions for what to say to him, or is the antivaxxer friend dead from catching a disease they didn't get vaccinated against, and they're both trying to communicate with their ghost? |
| 274 | ** One is described as being part of an instruction guide on how to react when your date shows you his ''Franchise/StarWars'' themed ''Toys/{{LEGO}}'' set and shows a woman with a thong around her legs. Is she putting the thong back on because [[NerdsAreVirgins she doesn't want to sleep with a nerd]], taking it off because ''Star Wars'' is a GeekyTurnOn for her, taking it off so that he will pay attention to her instead of the LEGO set, or putting it on so that the two of them can assemble the LEGO set together? |
| 275 | * [[https://www.iusedtobelieve.com/body_functions/farting/girls/ This]] entry on ''Website/IUsedToBelieve'' concerns a boy who thought bodily organs were the same as the instrument known as an "organ", and asked his friends why we never hear music from them. He mentions that they didn't answer, but later, one of them farted and the other said, "There -- there's some music from one of Olivia's organs!", prompting them both to laugh. The submitter notes that even now, he doesn't know whether the girls laughed because they just found farts funny, or if they found it funny that he didn't know the double meaning of "organ". |
| 276 | * ''Website/{{Neopets}}'': |
| 277 | ** In [[https://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=195805&week=232 this]] article, the section regarding not getting paper petpets wet mentions not to let them near the little Neopet across the street "if you know what I mean". Does this mean that the Neopet across the street is a baby and may drool on the petpet, is not toilet trained and may pee on them, is too young to look after a petpet and may dunk them in water, or was painted with a Water paintbrush? |
| 278 | ** The mention that the in-universe function of the inventory is a bag that's bigger on the inside was intended as a reference to the [[TimeMachine TARDIS]] from ''Series/DoctorWho'', but some players took it as a reference to either the carpet-bag from ''Film/MaryPoppins'' or [[Literature/HarryPotter Hermione Granger]]'s purse. |
| 279 | ** An infamous example comes from the 2024 April Fools prank -- one of the dark posters depicted a Warf (doglike petpet) hanging from a tree with the caption "Just let go". It was intended as simply a DarkParody of the "Hang in there, baby" poster, but some people [[https://www.jellyneo.net/?comments=14676 thought]] that the Warf wanted to [[SuicideAsComedy kill]], or at the very least [[SelfHarm hurt]], itself, while others thought it was saying that the tree was sentient and was being encouraged to let go of its problem, i.e. the Warf. |
| 280 | * ''Website/NobodyHere'': The ashes of the dead dog in "[[https://nobodyhere.com/justme/hermit.here Hermit]]". Is it a joke about people's ability to get lost in mourning or about him getting "[[HookersAndBlow bitches]]"? |
| 281 | * ''Website/TVTropes'' itself has a few of these for trope titles: |
| 282 | ** Is {{Anvilicious}} a portmanteau of "anvil" and "delicious", or "anvil" and "vicious"? |
| 283 | ** CryingARiver was intended to reference the idiom "crying oneself a river", but some tropers took it as a reference to the song "The Story of a Girl", since the girl in that song is said to have "cried a river". |
| 284 | ** DoorstopBaby puns on the expression "doorstep baby", but what exactly is the pun? Is it that someone would stop cold if they saw a baby on their doorstep, or is it a joke about using babies as doorstops? |
| 285 | ** BlindIdiotTranslation is supposed to be a reference to a RecursiveTranslation of "out of sight, out of mind", but the trope page itself notes that it works very well as an insult towards the translator. |
| 286 | [[/folder]] |
| 287 | |
| 288 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 289 | * ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'': In the episode covering ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'', Super Mecha Death Christ responds to the Nerd saying "holy shit" with a shout of "watch your fucking language!" On the surface, this seems like a bit of HypocriticalHumor, but some fans interpret it as the "holy" part being what angered SMDC; under this reading of the joke, he was objecting to the Nerd's ''blasphemy'', not his use of profanity. |
| 290 | * WebVideo/BillWurtz: In "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oK2bUNgD-Q out to lunch]]", the protagonist walks into an empty room, turns to a table, and says "Hey, Gina!" He then tells the viewers that he was just kidding and "there's nobody named Gina." Does he mean that nobody named Gina is in the room, or that (apparently) nobody on the planet is named Gina? |
| 291 | * ''WebVideo/DarkSimpsons'': |
| 292 | ** In "Skinner Loves His Willie" the basic plot of the story revolves around Bart discovering Principal Skinner in an affair with Groundskeeper Willie, which angers Superintendent Chalmers. Is he upset because two staff members were making or having sex out in view of children, or he is just homophobic? |
| 293 | ** In "I'm Mr. Burns, Blah, Blah, Blah", when Homer gives Mr. Burns his report on the accounting department, irt cuts to the "It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times" scene from "Last Exit to Springfield". Was Homer so stupid that he actually thought a single, misspelled sentence would make for a good report, or did he just forget to write it and gave Mr. Burns a random paper instead? |
| 294 | ** A running joke is Michael Jackson molesting Bart. However, "Jackson" himself is represented by Leon Kompowsky. This raises the question of whether or not he really is Jackson, or just some delusional man like Kompsoki was in canon. |
| 295 | * ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory'' |
| 296 | ** "Abraham Lincoln vs. Chuck Norris" has Lincoln threaten to rip out Norris' chest hairs and put them in his mouth. This was probably meant to be a ShoutOut to ''Film/TheWayOfTheDragon'', since Creator/BruceLee's character did something very similar to Chuck's during their fight, but the perceived homoeroticism meant that some viewers saw it as a reference to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexuality_of_Abraham_Lincoln allegations from some historians]] that Lincoln was bisexual. |
| 297 | ** "The Mythbusters vs. The Ghostbusters": When addressing the Series/{{Mythbusters}}, Venkman derisively refers to somebody as "Literature/TheLorax". Is he talking about Jaime Hyneman, due to Hyneman having a mustache similar to the Lorax's? Or is he talking about Walter Peck, an EPA agent the Ghostbusters were at odds with (since the Lorax is also an environmentalist)? |
| 298 | ** At the end of the video "Romeo and Juliet vs Bonnie and Clyde", [[spoiler: Bonnie shoots Juliet, causing her to collapse. Romeo [[ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated thinks Bonnie killed her]] and poisons himself. When Juliet regains consciousness, she is horrified when she sees Romeo lying dead, and stabs herself. Bonnie and Clyde are confused at what just happened. However, when they realize they have each other at least, they are immediately shot.]] Then the battle ends, and the announcer says, "Who won? Who's next? You decide! [[TitleDrop Epic Rap Battles of History]]!" as usual. The problem is, he says the first part in a quiet voice and the second part in a loud voice. Some see the first part as mirroring [[spoiler: Bonnie and Clyde's confused reaction to Romeo and Juliet's deaths]], and the second part as [[LargeHam the announcer]] getting back into character. Others see the first part as mirroring [[spoiler: Juliet having woken up and regained consciousness]], and the second part as mirroring [[spoiler: Juliet's horrified reaction to Romeo's death]]. |
| 299 | ** "James Bond vs. Austin Powers" has [[spoiler:Connery's Bond]] brag that if ''he'' had a Mini-Me, Creator/PeterDinklage would be cast to play him, with [[spoiler:Craig's]] Bond responding "Or maybe they should cast someone who's actually English". Is he saying this in reference to the fact that Dinklage is American? Or is he mocking the fact that [[spoiler:Sean Connery]] was Scottish, not English? [[TakeAThirdOption Or]] is he [[spoiler:commenting on how Lloyd, who's playing Connery's Bond]], isn't English? |
| 300 | ** Part of Peter's CopycatMockery of Lloyd involves him standing on a box. Is this a dig at Lloyd's height via ScullyBox? Or, since Peter is accusing Lloyd of complaining too much about his problems, is he illustrating Lloyd's tendency to get up on a [[VisualPun soapbox]]? |
| 301 | ** "[[UsefulNotes/McDonalds Ronald McDonald]] vs The Burger King": The Burger King derisively says [=McDonald's=] meat 'turns [his] asshole into a drive-thru'. Is this a reference to diarrhea or (given how congested drive-thrus can get) constipation? |
| 302 | ** "Jeff Bezos vs. Mansa Musa": Musa tells Jeff that if he wants workers that don't piss, he should get some camels. Is this a reference to Creator/{{Amazon}}'s infamously draconian bathroom break policies (since camels don't need much water and therefore won't urinate as much), or does Musa mean "piss" as in complain (since camels can't talk and therefore won't be able to complain)? |
| 303 | * ''WebVideo/JonTron'' |
| 304 | ** In his episode on ''Franchise/{{Barbie}}'' games, one segment on the Platform/Commodore64 game has Jon jokingly theorize that the reason [[WelcomeToCorneria Ken keeps calling Barbie with the exact same phone call for a seemingly nonexistent date]] is because [[DelusionConclusion Ken had died and Barbie's going insane unable to accept it]], followed by a mini-skit of Ken from the beyond calling again, saying "I miss you. It's so quiet after you die. There's nothing. But the voices, they never stop. ''(beat)'' [[MoodWhiplash See you in an hour!]]" The last bit reads as just a simple MoodWhiplash gag, but some viewers think that based on the circumstances, this was actually [[YourDaysAreNumbered some kind of thinly-veiled threat or warning that Barbie's about to perish herself]]. |
| 305 | ** In his look at bootleg Disney games, there's a gag with Hitler singing a Nazi-themed parody of "[[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Hakuna Matata]]"; the song includes the line "[[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain No Jews, crips or gays]]". Does "crips" refer to disabled people, since the Nazis infamously euthanized those they considered too disabled to be worth keeping alive? Or is it a reference to [[{{gangbangers}} the Crips street gang]], since some white supremacists believe that black people are inherently inclined to criminality (a theme that came up in real-life Nazi propaganda)? Either way, it's definitely a CrossesTheLineTwice gag. |
| 306 | * Creator/LilyOrchard: "''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' Is Garbage and Here's Why" originally opened with Lily saying, "Oh, dear lord, this was a mistake?" Is the mistake ''Steven Universe'' itself, or Lily making the video? |
| 307 | * In the comments of a video titled "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGwmsaxg9Ug 'Meow' in Different Languages]]", where the Turkish part is illustrated with a viral video of a Turkish man yelling, "MEOW!", someone commented, "I am Turkish and I can truly confirm that this is how the cats sound on the streets". Is this just an absurdist joke, or are they saying the cats are very loud and exaggerating for comedic effect? |
| 308 | * ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick'': The song "Everyone's a Whore on Halloween" from her review of ''Film/TheWorstWitch'' has the lyric "Vampires are bitches/And trust me, they're not doing any witches". Is the implication that vampires are [[QueerPeopleAreFunny gay]] and wouldn't be interested in the company of women (since witches are generally assumed to be female), or that they're cowards too afraid to bite witches? |
| 309 | * ''WebVideo/TwistedTranslations'': The main joke is always that [[TranslationTrainwreck the translations are bad]], but there are some lines that could be taken in more than one way, but it's humorous either way: |
| 310 | ** One of the Music/TaylorSwift songs has Malinda in Taylor garb saying, "Gays, now we have a problem". Some people have interpreted that line as "Taylor" being a homophobe, while others have interpreted it as her wanting to tell some gay people about a problem. |
| 311 | ** The title of "All I Want for Christmas is You" turned into "All I Want for Christmas is Your Baby". Does the singer (who's a duck, we might add) want to kidnap someone's baby, or have kids with them? |
| 312 | ** In the "[[WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} Mother Knows Best]]" video, Gothel often talks as though she's going to die. Is the joke that she's an emo now, or is she [[BlackComedy actually going to die]]? |
| 313 | ** The line "Dinner and back to the bathroom" in "Google Translate Makes Dinner". Are they going to the bathroom because [[TheFoodPoisoningIncident they have food poisoning]] or because [[FunWithFlushing they want to flush the dinner down the toilet]]? Either way, it works well with the theme of a LethalChef and it's a rare example of continuity since a toilet was mentioned earlier in the video, and now they're going ''back'' to the bathroom. |
| 314 | ** In "Baby, it's Cold Outside", "Karid" mentions that he "can't kill Grandpa". Is the joke that he tried to kill his grandfather but can't, or that he was told to kill his grandfather but refused? |
| 315 | ** In "Look What You Made Me Do", one lyric is that "Bobby is not a believer". Is Bobby an atheist, or (since the singer claims she's dead at one point) does he not believe in ghosts? |
| 316 | ** "This Is Halloween" has the lyrics "I am a prostitute and I'm sorry/Flash mode does not work here" sung by a female character. Is she apologizing for being a prostitute, or for flash mode not working? |
| 317 | ** In "Total Eclipse of the Heart", the lyric "I don't know what to do when I was in school" recurs. Is the singer [[BookDumb bad at academics]] or [[NoSocialSkills socially inept]]? The fact that the video shows her looking through a textbook in confusion while singing that line indicates the former, but the video was made well after the lyrics were generated. |
| 318 | ** In "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?", Anna says to Elsa, who is in her locked bedroom, "Please, I know you're in yourself". Does Anna [[MistakenForMasturbating think Elsa is masturbating through self-penetration]], or does she think Elsa is very deep in thought (i.e. "in her own world")? |
| 319 | [[/folder]] |
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