Every once in a while an AskReddit thread will come up that just reaps in so much linguistic gold - this one asks for “funny ways to say yes”
Users come up with hundreds of variants. Some of my favorites:
- Is the mitochondria the powerhouse of the cell?
- Do you require more pylons?
- Are Batman’s parents dead?
- Does the pope shit in his hat?
- Does Billy Mays have more to offer?
- Does a one legged frog swim in circles
What’s interesting is how many are patently unfunny, though. One was even called out:
- Is i^2 equal to - 1? ** I do maths, but this isn’t funny. It’s like saying “is 4*3 equal to 12?”. Or “ is 10 2 in binary?”
Why are the funny ones funny and the unfunny ones not? Most of the ones I thought were funny invoked some kind of cultural meme. things that are so obvious and well known, that asking the question of it is stupid - which makes it funny. With the math one, there’s no “obvious” cultural meme aspect, it’s just a mere truism, or tautology.