Viral

People are shocked after finding out dark meaning behind chicken crossing the road joke

People are shocked after finding out dark meaning behind chicken crossing the road joke
Hi-vis jackets for chickens
Omlet

It’s the oldest joke there is, but people are only just discovering the 'dark meaning' behind the old gag about the chicken crossing the road.

We’ve heard it before 1,000 times – “Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side.”

But what does it mean, and where did the joke first come from? It’s actually much more alarming than you might think.

According to social media users, the gag is actually all about death.

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

A social media user wrote: "I was today years old when I realised the joke about the chicken crossing the road was not about a chicken crossing the road just to cross the road. It's about the metaphorical other side.

"Chicken suicide. I-IT WAS A PUN THE WHOLE TIME?????"


Others also claimed that there’s a hidden meaning to the deceptively simplistic gag, with the chicken meeting its end on the road after walking into traffic.

“You see the reason the chicken crossed the road wasn’t to actually get to the other side of the street, but to the other side aka the afterlife. Do you get it now? Let me explain it some more. The chicken would’ve never made it because it didn’t look both ways,” one said.

Another wrote: "Yo…some of y’all don’t know the joke 'why’d the chicken cross the road?' is a joke about suicide…like cuz no one is stopping for a chicken and the other side is well…'the other side.'"

However, there were some who claimed that the joke doesn’t actually have a hidden meaning at all. A user commended: “Thats actually not what it means, its an anti-joke (theres just no punchline) so you haven’t missed anything.”

Whatever your take on it, it’s getting people reappraising the joke like never before.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The Conversation (0)
x