in portuguese, i just came across “por que o vírus da gripe não tem amigos? porque ele é uma má influenza”
translation: “why does the flu virus have no friends? because it’s a bad influenza!”(Influence)
i think it could work in english but sounds better in portuguese.
“5 neden 6’dan korkdu? Çünkü 6 7 8”
Why was 5 afraid of 6? Because 6 7 8.“7” in Turkish is a homonym for “eaten”. That’s right, same as the english joke minus 1.
Hah! That’s interesting! I wonder if that’s purely by coincidence, or if there is some etymological reason for this.
I’m betting more on pure coincidence – especially since the number 7 (yedi) derives from the proto-Turkic “*jëtï” and the past tense verb of “having eaten” (yedi) is an eclectic mix of the word for food (yemek) and eating (yermek) with a past second-person suffix (-di) tacked on. I’d wager the universe just rolled snake-eyes on this one!
Thanks for sharing 👍
Treffen sich zwei Jäger. Beide tot.
Two hunters meet. Both dead.
“Treffen” translates both to “meet with someone” or “hit something”, however the second case is used much less.
How about if we mix up the original you posted?
“Why does the flu virus have no followers? Because it’s a bad influencer”
In my limited knowledge of Portuguese, it should still work, but the English version will sound better.
i like that!
It’s a bad influenz-er
I’m sure there’s a better example in Ukrainian, but
Як як? Ну як як? Як як як…
Not really a pun and not translateable as a joke, but same word that can repeat to form a sentence.
Joke is a guy went to the zoo and friend is asking him how was yak. He replies with yak was like yak.
In English we have
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
Which means:
Bison who are bullied by bison do themselves intimidate or bully bison (at least in the city of Buffalo – implicitly, Buffalo, New York)
Yeah, verb is kind of a stretch though.
Also relevant: Americans think Bison and Buffalo are the same type of animal.
Something similar in Finnish;
Kokoo koko kokko kokoon. Koko kokkoko kokoon? Koko kokko kokoon.
Which translates to
Put together the whole bonfire. The whole bonfire together? The whole bonfire together.
Danish has: Far får får får? Nej, får får ikke får, får får lam.
This translates to: Dad, does sheep get (give birth to) sheep? No, sheep don’t get sheep, sheep get lambs.
Similarly, Swedish has
- ”Farfar, får får får?” (Grandpa, do sheep have sheep?)
- ”Nej, får får inte får, får får lamm”. (No, sheep don’t have sheep, sheep have lambs)
Or slightly different:
Får får får? Får får ej får, for får får lam.
There are several versions of these kinds of puns in German, one version:
Wenn Grillen Grillen grillen, grillen Grillen Grillen.
When crickets barbecue crickets, then crickets are barbecuing crickets.
A joke in Spanish and English, but the punchline is different in each, despite being the same joke. (My Spanish may well be rusty as it’s been a while)
De donde se van los gatos cuando mueren? Purgatorio (focus on gato)
Where do cats do when they die? Purrgatory (focus on purr)
i love when jokes work in both languages :)
These ones work in German and English:
Warum gehen Gottesanbeterinnen nicht in die Kirche? Weil sie in Sekten sind.
Why do praying mantisses not go to church?
Because they’re in sects.Ich lass mir von nem Freund ein neues Dach bauen, das geht aufs Haus.
I’m getting a new roof built by a friend, it’s on the house.
This one doesn’t:
“Heiße Würstchen” — “Angenehm, heiße Maier”“Hot sausages!” — “Nice to meet you, my name is Maier.”
(“Heiße Würstchen” can also mean “My name is Little Sausage”, which is a slur for men, like “little bitch”)– Γιατί πίνει ο ακέφαλος καβαλάρης;
– Για να κάνει κεφάλι.
– Why does the headless horseman drink?
– To make (a) head
“Making head” in Greek would mean getting drunk to the point where you first start feeling dizzy