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Renjie
how to understand this joke about lion? Q: What do you call a lion whose car breaks down five miles before he gets to the zoo? A: A cab. I saw it from a book called "The Big Book of Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids". However, I find no clue to understand this joke. Do you catch the meaning of the joke? Thank you.
Sep 11, 2018 12:13 AM
Answers · 6
3
It’s a play on the word “call”. “Call” can mean to name, like “you can call me Phil.” It can also mean to make a phone call, in which case it can take both a direct and an indirect object. In the joke, we think it’s the first meaning (call the lion “unlucky”), but it turns out to be the second, “call a taxicab for the lion” = “call the lion a taxicab”.
September 11, 2018
3
'call' has 2 meanings here. One meaning the name of something: "What do you call a baby fox? - A kit.' The second one is a verb meaning to summon something. "I was drunk last night at the disco club, so I called a cab instead of driving myself home." ( a cab is a taxi). The joke is that the meanings are deliberately confused.
September 11, 2018
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