Where did the joke "why did the chicken cross the road" come from?

Answer 1

somewhere that someone saw a chicken crossing a road....

Answer 2

"Why did the chicken cross the road?" is one of the most famous jokes in the English language. The original reply to the question is: "To get to the other side." It is a non-joke, since its humor value comes from the fact that it is expected to be funny. Additionally, it is rarely told on its own, but instead is referenced, modified, or parodied in a number of other jokes.

Origin

Despite the obvious meaning of the joke, various stories have been published claiming a specific origin for it in actual events.

One such story relates to the meaning of the word chicken as a cowardly person. As the story goes, the town of Shiprock, New Mexico had problems relating to poverty. Some of the poor children would get drunk and cross the road in order to show their bravery. Many times, this resulted in serious injury because of oncoming traffic, and sometimes even death. Knowing that the injured/dead person was a coward (chicken), people asked each other "Why did the chicken cross the road?" The original answer to this question was then "Because he was drunk." [1]

This story, although similar to the present-day joke, does have its validity problems. The original punch line had no resemblence to the present day punch line. Also, the word 'chicken' has multiple definitions, whereas 'coward' or other synonyms only have one. Given that, it seems much more likely that the word 'chicken' would stop being used after the event would occur. However, the original punch line was a direct answer to the question given, as is today's punch line. The difference is, today's punch line is in the form of a non-joke, but the original was not intended to be humorous. Although this is the best explanation we have for the origin, nobody truly knows.

Answer 3

Origin
Despite the obvious meaning of the joke, various stories have been published claiming a specific origin for it in actual events.

One such story relates to the meaning of the word chicken as a cowardly person. As the story goes, the town of Shiprock, New Mexico had problems relating to poverty. Some of the poor children would get drunk and cross the road in order to show their bravery. Many times, this resulted in serious injury because of oncoming traffic, and sometimes even death. Knowing that the injured/dead person was a coward (chicken), people asked each other "Why did the chicken cross the road?" The original answer to this question was then "Because he was drunk." [1]

This story, although similar to the present-day joke, does have its validity problems. The original punch line had no resemblence to the present day punch line. Also, the word 'chicken' has multiple definitions, whereas 'coward' or other synonyms only have one. Given that, it seems much more likely that the word 'chicken' would stop being used after the event would occur. However, the original punch line was a direct answer to the question given, as is today's punch line. The difference is, today's punch line is in the form of a non-joke, but the original was not intended to be humorous. Although this is the best explanation we have for the origin, nobody truly knows.

Answer 4

"Ralph Waldo Emerson:
It didn't cross the road; it transcended it."
"Oliver North:
National Security was at stake."
"Carl Jung:
The confluence of events in the cultural gestalt necessitated that individual chickens cross roads at this historical juncture, and therefore ...blah,blah,blah."
"Albert Einstein:
Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road crossed the chicken depends upon your frame of reference."
"Charles Darwin:
It was the logical next step after coming down from the trees. "
"Colonel Sanders:
To persuade the vegetarians that a chicken is just a fast plant."

I think the statement originated from a person on Yahoo who was bored and not very intelligent.

Answer 5

Three Legged Chicken
Juan was driving down a country lane in his pickup when suddenly a chicken darted into the road in front of him. He slammed on his brakes, but realized that the chicken was speeding off down the road at about 30 miles an hour.

Intrigued, he tried to follow the bird with his truck, but he couldn't catch up to the accelerating chicken. Seeing it turn into a small farm, Juan followed it.

To his astonishment, he realized that the chicken had three legs. Looking around the small farm, he noticed that ALL of the chickens had three legs.

The farmer came out of his house, and Juan said, "Three-legged chickens? That's astonishing!"

The farmer replied, "Yep. I bred 'em that way because I love drumsticks."

Juan was curious. "How does a three-legged chicken taste?"

The farmer smiled. "Dunno. Haven't been able to catch one yet."

Answer 6

whilst that query is asked you may answer like yet somebody else or as your self. examine my solutions and you will know what i mean. George Bush: Who cares shall we bomb it Martin Luther king: I actually have a dream of a international the place all chikens would be waiting to circulate roads while not having their intentions positioned to question LAPD: supply us 5 minutes with the chiken and we allow you to grasp. Robert Mugabe: i think of it belongs to a white farmer, shall we take it FBI: Why are you so in contact approximately chikens crossing roads, come right here. Whats in that bag? Tony Blair: supply me a minute, enable me call George (Bush) R. Kelly: I dont care bout the rooster, the place are the chiks this question is used to convey out people character, character or present day deeds or nature eg on the subject of LAPD whilst they have a suspect they are usual to get information out of him promptly and on the subject of Robert Mugabe he's that African chief who's taking white owned farms by using stress. Its exciting it is likewise possible to write some approximately your buddies or different celebrities. approximately the place it got here from i actual dont know , i jus know its an old English humorous tale

Answer 7

no origin has ever been proved .
one story claiming it's origin comes from shiprock,new mexico where poor people would get drunk and cross the road to prove their bravery.if they were killed and known to be a coward(chicken) people would ask "why did the chicken cross the road?" the answer was"cos they were drunk"
how sad am i looking that up!!!????

Answer 8

funny you should ask, my great grandfathers best friend wrote a book of jokes back in the day, it was not published but the chicken jokes hit the town papers and he became very rich and was known for them the rest of his life.

Answer 9

It came from the United States of America where people think stuff like that is funny and if you don't then move to the U.K. cause people over there are doo doo heads, and they talk funny too.

Answer 10

a chicken