A woman shared her surprise after apparently ‘finding out’ the meaning behind one of the world’s most famous jokes.
Taking to social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), author and podcaster Kate Lister posted her revelation about the gag that goes: “Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side”.
The post read: “Hang on a second. You’re telling me that the chicken who crossed the road was KILLED and went to ‘the other side??’ THATS THE JOKE? All these years I thought that little f***** was just crossing the road (sic.)”
Kate, along with quite a few others, hadn’t realised ‘the other side’ was perhaps a reference to the afterlife.
Her realisation started a debate in the replies section, with the post’s audience divided on whether they had been left enlightened, mind-blown or still doubtful about the joke’s alleged new meaning.
One user shared: “I’m in my 60s and just learned this about a year ago. It may have ruined the joke for me”. Another wrote: “No way! Stop it. Okay breathe… So right now I don’t know whether to be sad, cry, confused, impressed, or feel really stupid for thinking that d*** chicken was just on a mission to get to the other side of the freak’n road. Like he was just on his way home from work or something”.
Others confessed to making the same discovery later in life: “I also only realised this a couple of years ago when explaining it to my child and then…”
Another was happy to finally understand the joke, even with its darker meaning: “I must admit, I kind of appreciate the closure on this whole chicken crossing the road business.”
Still, not everyone was convinced by the apparent revelation. One user pointed out: “No, it’s another meaning that people have imposed on the joke retrospectively, and has gained some traction on social media in recent years. The original point of it is just that it’s an anti-joke that subverts your expectations. He is just crossing the road.”
A user lamented: “What? I’ve only just got over the little piggy who went to market”, referring to a nursery rhyme that also seems to have a more profound layer, which reads: “This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home, this little piggy had roast beef, this little piggy had none, this little piggy cried “Wee! Wee! Wee!” all the way home”.
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