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There was a rich king of a south sea island (maybe not too far from Trid). He was so rich that he had a two-story grass hut/house. He also had an expensive hobby; he collected thrones and would often buy them from kings on neighboring islands. He stored his thrones on the second floor of his grass house. One day he came home from one of his throne-collecting trips to find that his house had collapsed.
The moral of the story: People who live in grass houses should not stow thrones.
It (along with many others) are here.
ggurman asked: Is there a term for the kind of joke that ends in a play on a well-known expression?
I believe it's just another form of "pun" ... that's what I'd call all these examples anyway. So here's my contribution:
A golfer was warned by his doctor that his heart was too weak to continue playing the game, but he refused to give up his favorite sport. Sure enough, next time he played, he suffered a heart attack and ended up in the hospital. When his doctor saw him again, he admonished the guy, saying "What did I tell you? You should have put the heart before the course!"
Heimhenge said
ggurman asked: Is there a term for the kind of joke that ends in a play on a well-known expression?
I believe it's just another form of "pun" ... that's what I'd call all these examples anyway. So here's my contribution:
A golfer was warned by his doctor that his heart was too weak to continue playing the game, but he refused to give up his favorite sport. Sure enough, next time he played, he suffered a heart attack and ended up in the hospital. When his doctor saw him again, he admonished the guy, saying "What did I tell you? You should have put the heart before the course!"
Some of the word play almost become Spoonerisms, but, Spoonerisms transposed word sounds without trying to make real words. The Pee Little Thrigs and Rindercella are retelling of classics completely full of Spoonerisms.
By contrast, many of these puns given in this topic use real words to transpose word sounds.
EmmettRedd said
There was a rich king of a south sea island (maybe not too far from Trid). He was so rich that he had a two-story grass hut/house. He also had an expensive hobby; he collected thrones and would often buy them from kings on neighboring islands. He stored his thrones on the second floor of his grass house. One day he came home from one of his throne-collecting trips to find that his house had collapsed.The moral of the story: People who live in grass houses should not stow thrones.
It (along with many others) are here.
This one of the ones I used to know but couldn't remember. In fact, I remembered the punchline but not the joke. But I remember it as "shouldn't *stow* thrones," which matches the original slightly better. Anyway, thanks for sharing this (and the link).
Benny Shapiro worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He used to tell his friends that he was the curator, although his primary job was to keep the exhibits clean and polished. One day he happened to be dusting around the Arabian exhibit, and he noticed an ancient urn that needed some cleaning. He got out his dust rag and began polishing. Lo and behold, an enormous Genie appeared before him.
"Master," the Genie began, "I am the Genie of the urn. I can grant you three wishes, but there is one condition I will put on you: You must never shave or cut your beard for the rest of your life, or you will be forced to take my place inside the urn forever."
Benny thought about it for a bit, and decided it was a fair condition for three wishes. So Benny wished to own Microsoft which was promptly granted. Then he wished for the most beautiful woman in the world as his wife, and lo and behold, she was. Finally, he wished for fame and fortune and he instantly became a worldwide celebrity.
Over the years, Benny's beard became longer and longer until it almost reached the floor. As it grew longer, it began to itch. He tried to ignore it, but the itch became more and more irritating, while the memory of the Genie's warning faded.
Finally he decided he had to get rid of the beard and he shaved it off. Instantly he was trapped in the urn, to stay there forever.
The moral of the story: A Benny shaved is a Benny urned.
This is one from Fractured Fairy Tales part of the Rocky and Bulwinkle show.
Jay Ward was a comic genius. I liked fractured fairy tails, but fractured flickers was even better. My little brother used to have a sweat shirt of Dudley Do-Right for president, and the "Kirwood Derby" was possibly the greatest spoonerism ever.
If only Jay Ward had teamed up with Bob (Beany and Cecil) Clampett, they could have driven Walt Disney into bankruptcy.
deaconB said: Jay Ward was a comic genius.
Totally agree. I loved his stuff. B&C was also great. Another fav was Schoolhouse Rock, done by David McCall. You gotta put him up there with the best of them.
Just occurred to me that in those days there was no computer animation. They did it the traditional way, hand-drawing one frame at a time. I'm pretty sure Ward and McCall and Clampett weren't the actual animators, but whoever did it, those animations looked pretty good. Even by today's (2D) standards.
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