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Victor Xie
Can't get the joke 4 - irons.
It goes like
Boy: My mother and father are in the steel and iron business.
Friend: Really?
Boy: Yes, my father steals, and my mother irons.
While I can understand that meaning "steals" while saying "steel" is kind of funny, I was wondering what is the meaning of "irons" here which make it a joke.
Mar 13, 2013 9:33 AM
Answers · 3
1
Iron has two meaning. The first one is a chemical element with the symbol Fe. The second one is small appliance to press clothes to remove creases. To iron is to remove creases with an iron. So the mother does not mine iron from iron ore, she irons clothes.
March 13, 2013
1
This is a play on words that sound the same but mean different things. The element of steel vs to steal something and the element of iron and the word iron as in to iron clothes.
March 13, 2013
1
Boy: My mother and father are in the steel and iron business.-----iron means a kind of substance here.
and my mother irons.------My mother make a living by ironing clothes.
March 13, 2013
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Victor Xie
Language Skills
Chinese (Mandarin), English
Learning Language
English
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