Discussion » Questions » Language » Do you have a favorite language or linguistic joke?
Benedict Arnold

Do you have a favorite language or linguistic joke?

Maybe Randy knows some.

Here's one that I heard in college:

A linguistics professor says to his class: "In English, a double negative becomes a positive. There are some languages, like French, where a double negative is still a negative. But there are no languages were a double positive is a negative." A student replies: "Yeah. Right."

Posted - April 27, 2018
Tags : None

Responses


  • 13277
    Limericks are the best of those, such as:

    A canner, exceedingly canny,
    One morning remarked to his granny.
    A canner can can,
    Anything that he can,
    But a canner can't can a can, can he?

    or...
    A bather whose clothing was strewed
    By winds that left her quite nude
    Saw a man come along
    And unless we are wrong
    You expected this line to be lewd.
      April 27, 2018 11:31 AM MDT
    3

  • 5835
    It happens that today's news is about bus tours to Chernobyl, where an excessive amount of radioactive dust was found on a lady's pants and she had to return without them.
    https://englishrussia.com/2018/04/26/chernobyl-nuclear-power-station-thirty-two-years-later-how-is-it-inside-now-photosstory/ (Remove the 'S', of course.)
      April 27, 2018 12:13 PM MDT
    2

  • 5835
    There is a joke that I learned in the early days of high school French: "Ce qui passe pour range ne se range pas." That means "A driver who passes for sane doesn't get on his own side of the road."
      April 27, 2018 12:17 PM MDT
    4

  • 22891
    no
      May 28, 2018 5:59 PM MDT
    0