Reply
Mon 7 Sep, 2009 11:31 pm
I don't understand the joke below, which seems to kid around with a double talking. Would you like to explain for me why the joke is funny
The key question: What does scotch mean in here?
===================The Joke ==================
The bartender asks the guy sitting at the bar, "What'll you have?"
The guy answers, "A scotch, please."
The bartender hands him the drink, and says, "That'll be five dollars," to which the guy replies, "What are you talking about? I don't owe you anything for this."
A lawyer, sitting nearby and overhearing the conversation, then says to the bartender, "You know, he's got you there. In the original offer, which constitutes a binding contract upon acceptance, there was no stipulation of remuneration."
The bartender was not impressed, but says to the guy, "Okay, you beat me for a drink. But don't ever let me catch you in here again."
The next day, same guy walks into the bar. Bartender says, "What the heck are you doing in here? I can't believe you've got the audacity to come back!"
The guy says, "What are you talking about? I've never been in this place in my life!"
The bartender replies, "I'm very sorry, but this is uncanny. You must have a double."
To which the guy replies, "Thank you. Make it a scotch."
@oristarA,
In the first encounter the customer twists the words of the barman into a free offer.
In the second, "double" can mean either (a)"person who looks identical" or (b)"twice the normal spirit measure in glass". The barman means (a) but the clever customer chooses (b).
@oristarA,
And "scotch" refers to Scotch Whisky, a particular kind of whiskey.
@fresco,
As an aside, it might be of interest that Wittgenstein (philosopher of language) pointed out that the ambiguity of the verb "to have" was responsible for generating
pseudoproblems in philosophy, like "How can we be sure that that Bill
has a pain ?". The
surface implication is that "has" here implies "posseses an object". The same mistake occurs with "has an idea" or "has a belief". Wittgenstein called the ensuing philosophical discussion "language on holiday" which leads nowhere.
@fresco,
Thanks.
Obviously scotch refers to scotch whisky. Why could what the man said make the barman deliver a free offer? The man said "a scotch" not "a free scotch".
@oristarA,
Wittgenstein pointed out that meaning=
contextual usage.
When a barman asks "what will you have ?" the context (of the bar with him behind the counter) disambiguates "have" as meaning "buy". Compare that context with the scenario where the customer who comes in with a friend who asks him the question . In
that case the offer is free.
Clearly the ignorant lawyer had never read Wittgenstein !
Oristar it should be pointed out that almost all Scottish jokes, or at least the typical stereotype of the Scottish, imply that they are cheap. So this joke, is another example of a Scot getting something for nothing/free.
uh, ceili, there's no mention of the customer being Scottish at all. His nationality isn't germane to the joke. He could just as easily drink bourbon, but scotch is the most popular whiskey. Can't stand either, myself, but that's the truth. I suggest you listen to "Scotch and Soda" by the Kingston Trio. It's not "Bourbon and Soda" for a reason, well, two reasons:1)euphony and song meter, 2)because Scotch and Soda is (or was) probably the most popular hard drink in the 50s.
oristar, the customer got the free drink because the lawyer, giving legal advice that probably would have been thrown out inside 30 seconds in a court of law, maintained that the bartender didn't mention any payment when he asked the customer what he wanted, i.e. that he was serving as something like the host at a party who asks a guest what he wants to drink. The lawyer's point was that the bartender would have had to have asked something like "What drink are you going to buy from me?" in order for there to be money involved in the transaction. The joke is a setup. It wouldn't happen in the real world.
@fresco,
How do you get a Highlander onto the roof?
Tell him the drinks are on the house.
Language matters...
@fresco,
Thanks.
So, what will you say to the foxlike cunning customer if you are the bartender ?
@oristarA,
It's not much of a joke--in fact, it's rather lame. I wanted to bring this to your attention, Oristar:
You wrote:I don't understand the joke below, which seems to kid around with a double talking.
First, you would say "fool around with double talk" rather than use the indefinite article and present participle. But more than that, you would not use the expression double talk. Double talk means something which is said which is intentionally false and misleading, and it is also rapidly becoming an outdated usage. Double talk can also mean an intentionally confusing patter intended to confuse someone who is to be the victim of a confidence trick, someone who is to be cheated.
The type of humor to which you refer is
double entendre--which is a French expression used often enough in English that it is become a part of the English language. The verb
entendre in French means to understand, so double entendre means something understood two ways, something with two meanings, which in English is always understood to mean humor arrived at by ambiguous meanings.
@Francis,
Francis,
I like the one with the Scotsman up in court when a still for whiskey is found on his land. The judge fines him £100 for" possession of the apparatus". The Scotsman responds with "in that case I'd better plead guilty to rape as well".
@oristarA,
oristarA,
I might say "Okay, the Scotch is free, but it costs $10 to rent the glass while you drink it."
Set is right--"double entendre" does describe it--as it does the "Gulp" sentence recdently [was that yours, or someone else like jinmin's?). However "double entendre" the way I have generally heard it used more often carries its second sense ("a word or expression used in a given context so that it can be understood in two ways, esp. when one meaning is risqué", according to dictionary.com), and neither of the senses in this joke ihas to do with sex.
So--one might say that Setanta wears his underpants to cover his head.
@Setanta,
A thousand welcomes to your comment, Setanta.
Whenever you find any improper expression in my posting, please feel free to correct them.
It is for the first time I hear the french double entendre.
And thank you all.
set very well may, spendius, but that's more our picture of you than of him.
and oristar it's more "double meaning" than "double talk". "Double talk" is speech that is nonsense but sounds superficially like it makes sense until you actually sit down and analyze it.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace