Why don't more jokes die?
Geoffrey K. Pullum,
Language Log,
Jun 15, 2011
I'm running this item not only because of the classic facepalm moment (pictured), but also because Geoff Pullum draws out the lesson educators should note. "The joke is very simple and brief: The Dalai Lama walks into a pizza joint and says, Make me one with everything." But it fails utterly, because the Dalai Lama (right) does not understand the concept of ordering "one with everything" at a pizza joint. "How easy it is," remarks Pullum, "to underestimate the quantity of cultural and linguistic background needed if you are to reliably get the jokes that people tell." Yes, but on the other hand, I salute the audacity of a television interviewer who has the fortitude to try out a joke during his interview with the Dalai Lama. Few others would have dared.
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