Unfortunately he observed an astoundingly high mortality of brown snakes due to car strikes as the snakes attempted to cross the roads surrounding RUEP. Oftentimes, population ecology of herpetofauna is overlooked in the existing body of literature due to their elusive and secretive nature. Photo of Dekay’s brown snake trying to cross the road; by Tianqi Huang, PhD student Rutgers Ecology & Evolution Program My best attempt was about 103 feet—roughly 12 short of Gürcü’s record. I’d found the right chicken, the right mechanics.
Not ideal, especially since records this niche are won on the margins, through clever manipulations of one’s conditions. My warmup throws, aided by a trusty onshore breeze, were promising. By sheer chance, the surveyors I’d found—a father–daughter duo—had both been competitive throwers themselves. In addition to measuring each throw’s distance, they had to ensure that the surface was completely level. He and his friend had been watching me the whole time, despite my efforts at subterfuge. My best throw that day—around 116 feet—was undoubtedly wind-assisted.
Some variants are both puns and references to the original, such as “Why did the duck cross the road? To prove he’s no chicken”. For example, a duck (or turkey) crosses “because it was the chicken’s day off”, and a dinosaur crosses “because chickens didn’t exist yet”. One class of variations enlists a creature other than the chicken to cross the road, in order to refer back to the original riddle. Why should not a chicken cross the road? According to music critic Gary Giddins in the Ken Burns documentary Jazz, the joke was spread through the United States by minstrel shows beginning in the 1840s as one of the first national jokes. For example (in the map below), there is a hotspot of snake mortality where snakes are crossing Ave E from the RUEP to the stormwater management basin (to the north).
Jesus told a story about a rich man who could see Heaven from Hell (Luke
The first rubber chicken I ever threw didn’t go very far. Depending on the brand and specifications, a rubber chicken might twirl like a football in flight, or strafe on the breeze, or let out a long, braying whine. Perhaps the chickens can use the overhead bridge next time, as another suggested. Netizens praised the motorists for ensuring the chickens’ safety and joked that the animals should be fined for jaywalking. If we do not, or cannot, then our children will rightfully ask us the question, ‘So why did the chicken cross the road?
- But the question “why did the chicken cross the road?” had been used as a comedic setup for many years before that.
- In the first decades of the twentieth century there are many signs that the chicken joke was as familiar to readers as it is to us.
- Note that at this date there is no sense that it was commonly known, at least not to the Knickerbocker’s long-suffering joke editor (what a hellish job).
- As the chicken was approached by one of the soldiers involved, it was seen to make a threatening movement and action was taken to nullify that action.
Dimensions-wise, the rubber chicken I’d settled on was a near match to the one Gürcü had recommended, though there were key sartorial differences. The chicken I was throwing was not the same model Gürcü had used. He instructed me to grasp my rubber chicken by the neck and plant my back foot.
Because of the Guinness rules forbidding a participant from gripping the chicken by the head or neck, I had tweaked my approach to more closely resemble a javelin toss. ” In the immediate term, though, I had just a few weeks to break this record. “Don’t think you’re running out of time,” Lachman told me. “Realize you have a lot of time left. Meanwhile, as Trump-era cronyism runs unchecked, the country’s trust in government is nearing an all-time low. More than other age groups captured in another recent study, we’re burning through our paid time off to simply lie down and sleep.
Q: Can I make up my own punchline?
There are many riddles that assume a familiarity with this well-known riddle and its answer.
Why Did the Rubber Chicken Cross the Road?
Here are 10 of our favorite versions of the joke. The question first appeared in The Knickerbocker, a New York City magazine. So how did this wisecrack about a flightless fowl crossing a paved thoroughfare come about? You know the classic punchline—“to get to the other side”—but we won’t be the first to say this answer is pretty capital-L Lame.
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Normal to experience angst and uncertainty during this time of life; normal to have doubts and take stock. If you want the more honest reason, it’s because I recently sank into a midlife crisis. Like a living chicken, it tends to land gracelessly.
Variations
“Why did the chicken cross the road?” We’re sure you know the question – but have you ever questioned why that question is, well, a question? You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who said that their favorite joke was a “why did the chicken cross the road” gag, but yet the format persists against all odds. Some jokes are timeless … while others inexplicably survive year after year. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who said that their favorite joke was a “why did the chicken cross the road” gag, but yet the format persists against all…
Bill Maher Goes Scorched Earth on Zohran Mamdani During ‘Real Time’: “He’s a Straight-Up Communist”
And why not a rubber chicken, America’s trusty totem of self-parody? The rubber chicken idea came one summer evening while my wife clipped the kids’ toenails. The vessel propelling my rubber chicken into the air was the right arm of a 38-year-old male body.
I had been nervous to tell Gürcü I was coming for his record. Instead, I had to invite two witnesses to film the throw, as well as a professional surveyor to measure the distance and slope of the terrain. It was late at night in Turkey, but he was full of energy—thrilled that someone in the U.S. had taken an interest in his record setting. After about half an hour of watching me throw, Mellion took out his phone and tapped open its measurement app.
- Photo of Dekay’s brown snake trying to cross the road; by Tianqi Huang, PhD student Rutgers Ecology & Evolution Program
- Desperate times called for farcical measures.
- The question first appeared in The Knickerbocker, a New York City magazine.
- For example, a duck (or turkey) crosses “because it was the chicken’s day off”, and a dinosaur crosses “because chickens didn’t exist yet”.
Slow down, chickens crossing: Motorists give way to hen and chicks, guide them to safety
His throwing technique involved a sort of javelin-style stutter step, followed by a primal scream. One morning last spring, I woke up unemployed and profoundly depressed, questioning whether the time and care I’d poured into my career had been worth anything at all. From there, it’s a question of how far this force can take them in defiance of gravity’s pull. We think of chickens as flightless birds, but they’re not. Unfortunately, these chickens did not get to the other side, as noted by a few viewers. The video has since garnered 418,400 views and 22,400 likes, with netizens praising the motorists for ensuring the chickens’ safety and joking that the animals should be fined for jaywalking.
“I must admit, I kind of appreciate the closure on this whole chicken crossing the road business.” ” — the answer being, “To get to the other side” — is more than just an anti-joke, turns out. The iconic one-liner, “Why did the chicken cross the road? It’s also a light-hearted reminder not to overthink things—and that sometimes the simplest answer is the most delightful.
Someone kept ringing doorbells on our street at 2 a.m. We thought it was a prank—until we compared n
By 1907 a British newspaper, the Western Daily News, can play with the joke using it for the title of piece on a chicken that ran into a bike. In the first decades of the twentieth century there are many signs that the chicken joke was as familiar to readers as it is to us. In 1867 we get ‘Why is a chicken a crossing the road like a burglary? This shows us that (i) our ancestors were just as foolish as us; and (ii) the ‘cross the road’ joke must have been very well established because otherwise the following would fall flat.
The original “why did the chicken cross the road” joke? The joke has become iconic as an exemplary generic joke to which most people know the answer, and has been repeated and changed numerous times over the course of history. The first time I broke the record, unofficially and by myself, was on a breezy November day. As we finished our conversation, Gürcü urged me to stay in touch with questions about technique or chicken dimensions. He was the first (and only) throwing coach to respond to my inquiries, and I could hear his bewilderment as we spoke over the phone.
A three-pound dog named Button has captured hearts at Sandy Paws Rescue Inc., a foster-based dog rescue in Massachusetts. The foster-based rescue organization is hoping to connect this “perfect-sized” dog with his forever family. Instead, I saw a terrifying post from the next street over. As the chicken was approached by one of the soldiers involved, it was seen to make a threatening movement and action was taken to nullify that action. Anyone who tries to deny the chicken his rights to walk on the road will find the road blocked at both ends until the chicken is allowed to walk in a dignified and non-threatening manner, without accompanying bands if need be. Sinn Fein and the chicken are not part of the same organisation, although we share some ideals in common.
One admitted they understood it after reading a joke to their children once. “All these years, I thought that little f—er was just crossing the road,” she added in a viral commentary peppered chicken road game with fowl language. ” one X user posted in December.