Elephant joke facts for kids
An elephant joke is a type of joke that became very popular in the 1960s. These jokes are almost always silly riddles or puzzles, often in a series, and they always involve an elephant. People made up tons of these jokes back then, following a simple pattern. Sometimes they even make fun of other jokes or use puns (words that sound alike but have different meanings).
Here are some examples of elephant jokes:
- Q: Why did the elephant paint its toenails red?
- A: So it could hide in a cherry tree.
- Q: How can you tell that an elephant is in the bathtub with you?
- A: By the smell of peanuts on its breath.
- Q: Why does an elephant have round flat feet?
- A: So that it can walk across lily pads.
How Elephant Jokes Work
Elephant jokes are funny because they are so silly and don't make sense. They play with what we normally know about elephants. For example, how would you know an elephant is in your bathtub? The joke says it's by the smell of peanuts! Or how would you know one is in your fridge? By footprints in the butter!
The trick to these jokes is that the answers actually make a little bit of sense, but only if you ignore how totally impossible the question is. If elephants could climb trees, then painting their toenails red would be a good way to hide in a cherry tree. If an elephant sitting on your fence broke it, then it would be time to build a new fence. The humor comes from the answer being "right" in a very silly, twisted way.
Elephant Riddles
Many elephant jokes are like silly versions of regular children's riddles. Think about this common riddle:
- Q: What is black and white and red all over?
- A: A newspaper.
This riddle works because "red" sounds like "read." If you "read" a newspaper, it makes sense. But elephant jokes turn this idea upside down:
- Q: What is black and white and red all over?
- A': An elephant dressed as a nun suffering from sunburn.
This answer is super silly! You'd probably never guess it on your own. But if you ignore how crazy it is for an elephant to wear a nun costume, then it would be black and white, and a sunburn would make it red. The humor comes from how unexpected and wild the answer is, even though it technically fits.
There's also a joke that flips the story of the "Blind men and an elephant". In this joke, four blind elephants feel a human. The first elephant says humans are flat, and the others agree!
Series of Elephant Jokes
Sometimes, elephant jokes come in a series. Each joke builds on the silliness of the one before it, making the whole thing even more absurd. For example:
- Q: How do you shoot a blue elephant?
- A: With a blue elephant gun.
- Q: How do you shoot a yellow elephant?
- A: Have you ever seen a yellow elephant?
- Q: How do you shoot a red elephant?
- A: Hold his trunk shut until he turns blue, and then shoot him with the blue elephant gun.
- Q: How do you shoot a purple elephant?
- A: Paint him red, hold his trunk shut until he turns blue, and then shoot him with the blue elephant gun.
The first joke sets up a silly rule. The next jokes keep adding to that silly rule, making it funnier and funnier.
Here's another example that plays with animal features:
- Q: Why do ducks have flat feet?
- A: To stamp out burning fires.
- Q: Why do elephants have flat feet?
- A: To stamp out burning ducks.
And a famous series about fitting elephants into cars:
- Q: How many elephants will fit into a Mini?
- A: Four: Two in the front, two in the back.
- Q: How can you fit five elephants into a Mini?
- A: Don't be silly; there isn't room for five elephants in a Mini.
- Q: Well, can you fit five elephants into a Volkswagen Beetle?
- A: Sure: Two in front, two in the back, one in the glove box, and pack the trunks in the boot (that's what they call the trunk of a car in British English).
- Q: How many giraffes will fit into a Mini?
- A: None. It's full of elephants.
This series then moves to elephants in a refrigerator:
- Q: How do you know there is an elephant in your refrigerator?
- A: There are footprints in the butter.
- Q: How do you know there are two elephants in your refrigerator?
- A: You can hear giggling when you close the door.
- Q: How do you know there are three elephants in your refrigerator?
- A: You can't close the door.
- Q: How do you know there are four elephants in your refrigerator?
- A: There's an empty Mini parked outside.
Elephant jokes are so silly, they even make fun of themselves! Sometimes, an elephant joke might not even involve elephants, or it might have a very simple, logical answer, just to surprise you.
- Q: What do elephants have that nothing else has?
- A: Baby elephants.
- Q: What is gray, has four legs, and a trunk?
- A: A mouse going on vacation.
- Q: What is brown, has four legs, and a trunk?
- A: A mouse coming back from vacation.
- Q: What has eight legs, two trunks, four eyes, and two tails?
- A: Two elephants.
Some jokes can be a bit cheeky:
- Q: Why is an elephant big, grey and wrinkly?
- A: Because if it were small, white and smooth it would be an aspirin.
- Q: Why are golf balls small and white?
- A: Because if they were big and grey they would be elephants.
A comedian named Mike Elephant was known for this joke:
- Q: What's the difference between an elephant and a plum?
- A: Their color.
- Q: What did Tarzan say to Jane when he saw the elephants coming?
- A: Here come the elephants.
- Q: What did Jane say to Tarzan when she saw the elephants coming?
- A: Here come the plums; she was color blind.
Some elephant jokes are about specific places or events. For example, one joke from the 1960s was about a time when President Kennedy was deciding whether to help a group of people who wanted to take over Cuba.
- Q: How do you get 2,000 elephants to invade Cuba?
- A: Promise them air support!
This joke was funny because it made fun of a promise of help that didn't happen.
