Clever Jokes

Collected in The Independent, July 13, 2013

Edited by Andy Ross

Math

A layman, a scientist, and a mathematician are driving through Wales when they spot a black sheep. Layman: "The sheep in Wales are black." Scientist: "There is one sheep in Wales which is black." Mathematician: "There is one sheep in Wales, one side of which is black."

How does a mathematician determine the shortest fence to include a herd of cattle? He draws a fence around his feet and declares "I'm outside the fence".

What do you get if you cross a zebra with a banana? Zebra banana sine theta.

Why did the inverse function cross the road? To get to the same side.

What is the longest song in the world? Aleph-null bottles of beer on the wall.

Stefan Banach and Alfred Tarski go into a pub. They order one half between them and get two pints (the barman believed in the axiom of choice). "That'll be £5", says the barman. They give him 1p and he puts £5 in the till.

What’s a good anagram of "Banach-Tarski"? "Banach-Tarski Banach-Tarski".

Physics

What did the proton say to the ever-grumpy electron? "Why do you have to be so negative all the time?"

Two atoms are walking down the street. One atom says to the other: "Hey! I think I lost an electron!" The other says: "Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm positive!"

Why are quantum physicists terrible in bed? Because when they find the position, they can't find the momentum, and when they have the momentum, they can't find the position.

A woman comes home to find her string theorist husband in bed with another woman. "But honey," he says, "I can explain everything!"

Why didn't the quantum particle cross the road? He was already on both sides.

Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And it doesn't.

A Higgs boson walks into a church. The priest says, "Get out, you blasphemer. How dare you call yourself the God particle?" The Higgs boson replies: "But I make up the mass."

Psychology

Two behaviorists meet in the street. One says to the other: "You're OK. How am I?"

The masochist said to the sadist "hit me" and the sadist said "no".

What did the nihilist Borg say? "Existence is futile."

Why is it so difficult to explain bad puns to kleptomaniacs? Because they always take things so literally.

How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? Only one, but the light bulb has to want to change.

Philosophy

Descartes walks into a bar. "Beer?" asks the barman. "I think not" replies Rene, who disappears.

Why do Marx and Engels drink herbal tea? Because proper tea is theft.

What's the difference between an etymologist, and an entomologist? An etymologist knows the difference.

How many Microsoft designers does it take to change a lightbulb? None: they just define darkness as industry standard.

Bankers

Banking Blog

1   It is amazing how fast news of a round of redundancies spreads. It's like this tidal wave of panic washes across a trading floor.

2   It's tough to take, obviously. You had to go while your colleague is still at his desk. Because he was better.

3   As long as you're good nothing bad can happen to you, and since nothing bad has happened to me, it must mean I am good and therefore safe.

4   I get paid a lot because I can do things, but if I had been born mentally handicapped I wouldn't. That's life.

5   Bankers are so smart, yet they get this thing wrong. They spend their lives in an office when the only truly valuable thing in life is time.

6   The real threat is not a bank's management hiding things from us, it's the management not knowing themselves what the risks are.

7   Investment banking is a trap, a game and an addiction. The reward is big but uncertain, which makes it exciting and keeps you coming back for more.

8   You want me to estimate a starting teacher's salary? I don't know ... Wow, it's really only £22,000? I had no idea.

9   My department's potential losses were hundreds of millions of pounds and several billions across the whole of the bank. We began to realize this could sink the bank.

10 We sell reliability, solidity and caution. We want our presentation to mirror that. And we often charge hefty fees, so we don't flash our wealth.

 

AR (:-))

 

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