People only just realising dark meaning behind ‘why did the chicken cross the road’ joke
One of the oldest jokes in the book has a pretty sinister backstory
The classic 'why did the chicken cross the road' joke is one of the oldest around, but did you know it actually has a pretty dark backstory?
The basic one-liner goes something along the lines of: "Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side."
But, there are a number of variations.
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Most of us are under the assumption that the chicken is simply getting to where she's going, right?
But if you thought the chicken crossing the road was simply a dull gag, you'd be wrong.
The joke actually has another meaning.
In fact, it's widely accepted that the punchline - which you may not have heard about - is that if a chicken did cross the road and into oncoming traffic, there's a chance it could be hit by a car, therefore reaching 'the other side' is essentially referring to the afterlife.
People were pretty alarmed after realising, with one person writing on Twitter: "Hang on a damn second. You’re telling me that the chicken who crossed the road was KILLED and went to 'the other side??' THATS THE JOKE? All these years I thought that little f****r was just crossing the road."
Another added: "I'm in my 60s and just learned this about a year ago. It may have ruined the joke for me."
A third wrote: "No way! Stop it. Okay breath... so right now I don’t know whether to be sad, cry, confused, impressed, or feel really stupid for thinking that damn chicken was just on a mission to get to the other side of the freak’n road.
"Like he was just on his away home from work or something."
"Ooh. That puts a different perspective on things. This dark world is now a little darker," said a third.
And another wrote: "Everything I thought I knew is a lie."
Others were so upset that they wondered why they 'had to see this' after stumbling upon the post online.
Many jokes and nursery rhymes have sinister meanings that you may not be aware of.
For example, Ring a Ring o Roses could have a far darker meaning than you ever thought.
If you need a reminder, this is how it goes: "Ring-a-ring o' roses/A pocket full of posies/A-tishoo! A-tishoo!/We all fall down!"
Modern interpretations of the catchy tune suggests that the popular nursery rhyme has often been associated with the Great Plague, which happened in England in 1665 to 1666.
It is believed that over 100,000 Brits died during that period, as London lost about 15 percent of its entire population.
So when the song refers to people falling down one by one in a circle, it's thought to be referencing multiple deaths from the disease.
Lucy Devine