this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2025
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Greentext

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 15 minutes ago

I gonna explain the the joke in the picture.

The German joke is "Treffen sich zwei Jäger, beide Tot."

THW important word is "treffen". It can mean "meet" and "hit"(with a weapon). depending on the context

[–] [email protected] 8 points 39 minutes ago

Two Bulgarians are driving through the countryside when they are pulled over by an officer. "Sorry to bother you", says the officer, "but I'm looking for two child molesters."

The Bulgarians look at each other for a moment, turn to the officer, and with a solemn nod say

"We'll do it."

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 hour ago

One translated from Norwegian:

"Once upon a time... But now it's a corridor"

I'll supply the original and an explanation:

"Det var en gang... Men nå er det en korridor"

"Det var en gang" is literally "It was a time/an instance", and it's the main way every fairytale starts in Norwegian. But "gang" could also mean hallway.

[–] brotundspiele 4 points 3 hours ago

It's a bit like the shortest joke: A woman comes at the doctor....

Or in German: Kommt 'ne Frau beim Arzt...

This one works well in German and English, but I assume it's untranslatable in many other languages.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 hours ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago

Oh my LEEEEERD!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 hours ago

AWWKKWAAARD.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 8 hours ago (3 children)

I used to work with a couple Czech dudes. One day my coworkers and I were badgering the one dude to tell us a Czech joke. He was pretty reluctant because he said he could only really think of one joke but wasn't sure it would translate well. When he finally told us the joke he got us with this masterpiece.

Two balloons are floating along, one says to the other and hey look a cactus.

All of us were confused by this, he told us it was much funnier in Czech because balloon and cactus sound similar so it's a pun. So we had him tell us the joke untranslated in Czech and balloon and cactus sound nothing alike.

I'm still not sure if this dude was fucking with us.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

It's a silly joke for little kids of preschool age and it only makes sense if you include the right sound effects. It's supposed to go like this: Two balloons are floating along, one says to the other: - Hey look a cactussssssssssss! - Where isssssssssss it?

[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

One that works in English:

A superconductor came to a bar and ordered a beer. The barman said - I'm not giving you a beer! Get the fuck out of my bar! The superconductor left without any resistance.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

An argon atom walks into a bar. The barman says: "We don't serve your kind here. get out". The argon atom doesn't react.

[–] brotundspiele 7 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

A neutron walks into a bar and asks: "How much for a beer?" The barman says: "For you, no charge".

[–] Thelie 2 points 26 minutes ago

Oh hey the German version of this joke is also one that doesn't translate! "A neutron walks into a bar. The bartender says: Sorry, only invited guests." In German, "geladen" means both "invited" and "charged".

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

What's the Czech word that's being use for the "issss?" Since "cactus" ends with an "s" sound in both English and Czech, the joke might translate directly.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 hour ago

I'm Czech. The Czech version of the joke is indeed no funnier than the English translation (unless you count the bit of variety in the degassing sounds) and it's a preschool classic. Here is the most common version (they’re all basically the same anyway) and a literal translation:

Letí dva balónky po poušti. Jeden říká: „Pozor, kaktusssss!“ — „Kde ho vidíšššššš?“

Two balloons are flying across a desert. One says: “Watch out, a cactusssss!” — “Where do you see it? shhhhh...”

I think your colleagues had a very dark or offensive joke, as these are common in Czechia. Not wanting to get into trouble, they quickly replied with the first one that came into their mind and then made up excuses for laughing so hard.

[–] TriflingToad 15 points 7 hours ago

the fact that you don't know if he's fucking around makes it even funnier lmao

[–] sugar_in_your_tea 16 points 8 hours ago

One of my favorite Filipino jokes:

Why didn't the priest go swimming in the ocean? Because it's salt water.

"Salt water" in Tagalog can be translated as "tubig asin," which sounds like the English "too big a sin." Many Filipino jokes rely on Tagalog and English like that.

Here's another (putting original Tagalog because it's kind of relevant):

May joke ako tungkol sa airport kaso NAIA ako eh hehe.

English:

I have a joke about the airport, but I am NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) hehe.

NAIA sounds like "nahiya," which means "shy," so it would sort of translate to "... but I was shy."

[–] [email protected] 31 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Translated Hungarian joke:

The Székely and his son go into the forest to cut trees. When cutting a tree, the son says:

"Goodbye, my beloved father."

"Why are you saying a farewell to me?", asks the Székely.

"Because the tree is falling on you."

[–] [email protected] 13 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

What's the joke? Are there slow falling trees in Hungary?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 hours ago

This reply made me laugh more than that joke ever did.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Québécois and a French learning Ontarian having a chat. The Ontarians goes - o look a fly, Québécois corrects him- A fly. O - wow you have good eyesight. Wregarde, un mouche- -Non, une mouche

[–] [email protected] 17 points 7 hours ago

For anyone who doesn't get it: The joke relies on understanding how Latin languages gender words (Un v. Une, Masculine/Feminine form).So it literally doesn't work in English. It's also a common translation error non native speakers have because you only know the "gender" of a word by... Knowing if it's masculine or feminine through experience.

Best way to carry the joke is:

"Oh look, a/un(male) fly."

"No, it's a/une(feminine) fly."

"Wow, you have good eyes/Wow, you can see it's genitals from here?"

Certainly clunky but hilarious if you speak French.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 10 hours ago (9 children)

Oh I can do German-style comedy too, but as an American.

A Democrat and a Republican walk into a bar. They fight and both die in the hospital. Their families have to each pay $80,000 for medical expenses, then both families sue the bar. The bar closes, the owner divorces, spirals into alcoholism, and commits suicide. Then the funeral director buys a new house.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 hours ago

You said comedy, not children stories!

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[–] [email protected] 145 points 14 hours ago (5 children)

In case people are wondering: it's indeed a german joke.

It's a pun. "meet" and "hit" are using the same word in german

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

So it's a misstranslated joke then. With that information it's kinda funny or at least it makes sense.

[–] rhombus 16 points 8 hours ago

More like untranslatable, as the context just doesn’t work in English. You either have something that doesn’t make sense or - if you use the other meaning - a statement with no humor. The pun is completely dependent on the German phrasing.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (1 children)

That joke used to work in English.

By c. 1300, of things, "to come into physical contact with, join by touching or uniting with;" also, of persons, "come together by approaching from the opposite direction; come into collision with, combat."

https://www.etymonline.com/word/meet

It still can mean collision or fight, but the context needs to be very clear. Two armies meeting on the battlefield, for example. Or two hunters met in combat.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

That's why translation can be so hard, especially for poems, songs, comedy etc. Double meanings, metaphors, rhymes etc are often lost when translated.

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[–] [email protected] 53 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

Come to think of it, that's a thing in Swedish as well - we could make the pun work there as well:

Två jägare träffades. Båda dog.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (4 children)

Båda dog! Båda dog! No Treåt

(I know å is pronounced like "eu" like in Blåhaj. Couldn't help myself tho)

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[–] [email protected] 154 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (2 children)

Another one from Saxony.

A man drives his car to the junkyard, looking for replacement parts. He greets the owner and asks:
"Windshield wiper for a Trabant?"
The junkyard owner thinks for a moment, then replies:
"Sure, sounds like a fair exchange."

[–] [email protected] 49 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

The Wikipedia page on East German jokes has a few Trabant jokes.

  • What's the best feature of a Trabant? – There's a heater at the back to keep your hands warm when you're pushing it.

  • A new Trabi has been launched with two exhaust pipes – so you can use it as a wheelbarrow.

  • How do you double the value of a Trabant? – Fill it with gas.

  • The back page of the Trabant manual contains the local bus schedule.

  • Four men were seen carrying a Trabant. Somebody asks them why? Was it broken? They reply: "No, nothing wrong with it, we’re just in a hurry."

  • How do you catch a Trabi? – Place a piece of chewing gum on the road.

[–] brbposting 3 points 5 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 hours ago

The pot is lauging because the boiler is black.

[–] [email protected] 44 points 13 hours ago

The farmer and the farmhand are out in the field working. Suddenly the sky closes in and it looks like rain. The farmhand says to the farmer: "If we don't hurry now, we'll get soaked here." The farmer says to the farmhand: "Then go into the house and get my wellies!" The farmhand says: "Why me? Why don't you get your wellies yourself?" The farmer looks at the farmhand angrily and asks: "Who’s the farmer? Who’s the Farmhand?"

The farmhand goes into the house in a rage. The farmer's wife and her pretty daughter are sitting at the kitchen table. The farmhand says to the two of them: "The farmer said you two should get naked so I can fuck you." The two women look at each other. The farmer's wife is surprised: "No, I don't believe that. The farmer would never say something like that, would he?" "Yes, he would," says the farmhand. "But I can ask again just in case." He goes to the kitchen window and opens it. The farmer's wife has followed him and is standing next to it. The farmhand shouts out into the field: "Farmer, both of them?" The farmer looks at the window and shouts back: "Both of course, you idiot!"

[–] merc 21 points 12 hours ago

An angry Ontarian calls a radio show, and complains about all the Newfies coming to Ontario to take the good jobs. "We aughta build a wall to keep them Newfies out!"

Next call to the radio show is a newfie: "Owshegettinonb’y? Ye by's be havin' any jobs bildin tha' wall or wha'?"

(How are you doing? You guys have any jobs building that wall, or what?)

[–] [email protected] 64 points 14 hours ago (3 children)

To explain the joke, as is tradition in Germany. "To meet" translates to "treffen" in German. Which can also mean "to hit something or somebody".

Once had a multicultural family gathering where we translated the same joke into several languages.

A man knocks at a door. A woman opens and he says: "Hello, my name is Toulouse. I'm here to fuck your daughter." The woman screams: "To what?!?" He answers calmly: "Toulouse."

[–] [email protected] 46 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (3 children)

„Hallo, mein~~meine~~ Name ist Umberto und ich bin hier um Ihre Tochter zu ficken“

„UM WAS???“

„Umberto.“

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