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September 10, 2017
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“An acid and a base walk into a bar…” (bar joke)

"A guy walks into a bar..." is a typical form of what has been called the "bar joke." A chemistry version is: "An acid and a base walk into a bar. The police later arrested…

October 26, 2016
Work/Businesses

“An acre of performance is worth a whole world of promise”

"An acre of performance is worth a whole world of promise" is an old English proverb. English Elizabethan pamphleteer Thomas Nashe (1567-1601) wrote in 1596: "One acre of…

September 19, 2014
Exercise/Running/Health Clubs

“An active mind cannot exist in an inactive body”

"An active mind cannot exist in an inactive body" is a quotation that is usually attributed to U.S. General George S. Patton (1885-1945). It is not known with any certainty that Patton…

December 14, 2012
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“An actor without a playwright is like a hole without a doughnut”

American drama critic and author George Jean Nathan (1882-1958) wrote in Encyclopædia of the Theatre (1940): "An actor without a playwright is like a hole without a doughnut." In other…

December 5, 2010
Banking/Finance/Insurance

“An actuary is a someone who wanted to be an accountant, but didn’t have the personality for it”

"An actuary is a someone who wanted to be an accountant, but didn't have the personality for it" is an old joke about the actuarial profession. The reverse is also told: "An…

November 5, 2012
Work/Businesses

“An advertising agency is 85 per cent confusion and 15 per cent commission”

Comedian Fred Allen (1894-1956) wrote in Treadmill to Oblivion (1954): "To me, an advertising agency is 85 per cent confusion and 15 per cent commission." The quotation has been…

August 5, 2022
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“An after-dinner speech—‘Check, please’”

"Check, please!" is what a restaurant diner tells a waiter or waitress. The diner is finished eating and wants to pay for the meal. "Check, please" was printed in The…

May 1, 2023
Buildings/Housing/Parks

“An air mattress is great when you want to sleep on the floor, but not right away”

Some people find that sleeping on an air mattress is not much better than sleeping on the floor. This was posted on Twitter by cap’n watsisname on July 25, 2021, and received about 75,000 likes:…

February 25, 2013
Transportation

“An airplane doesn’t make money sitting on the ground” (airline adage)

"An airplane doesn't make money sitting on the ground" is an adage of the airline industry. A plane might stop at the JFK or LaGuardia airports, but the sooner it's back in the…

August 24, 2013
Food/Drink

“An alcoholic is someone who drinks more than his doctor”

"An alcoholic is someone who drinks more than his doctor" is an old joke; to many, however, the drinking habit of doctors is no laughing matter. Dr. Joyce Brothers wrote in 1965: "At…

February 23, 2020
Food/Drink

“An alcoholic is someone you don’t like who drinks as much as you do”

"An alcoholic is someone you don't like who drinks as much as you do" is a drinking saying that has been printed on many images. Authorship is unknown. "LATEST DEFINITION of an…

June 1, 2018
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“An allusion walks into a bar…” (bar joke)

"A guy walks into a bar..." is a typical form of what has been called the "bar joke." An allusion version is: "An allusion walks into a bar, despite the fact that alcohol…

May 2, 2020
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“An alpaca had a parasite removed from around its mouth. It was alpaca lip tick”

"Apocalyptic" shouldn't be confused with "alpaca lip tick," but there are jokes. "—Have you seen that film about what happened after the alpaca had a parasite…

October 2, 2013
Media/Newspapers/Magazines/Internet

“An amateur photographer worries about equipment…” (photography aphorism)

Entry in progress -- B.P, photo.netWhat do you worry about the most?Robert McCurley , Apr 08, 2005; 09:44 a.m.This quote was posted by a fellow member in my camera club's forum ...The Amateur…

February 23, 2016
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“An amnesiac walks into a bar…” (bar joke)

"A guy walks into a bar..." is a typical form of what has been called the "bar joke." A popular version includes a variation of a classic pick-up line: "An amnesiac walks…

June 30, 2020
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“An anagramist walks into a bar…” (bar joke)

"A guy walks into a bar..." is a typical form of what has been called the "bar joke." A anagramist version is: "An anagramist walks into a bar, and the bartender says,…

June 14, 2020
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“An anteater walks into a bar…” (bar joke)

"A guy walks into a bar..." is a typical form of what has been called the "bar joke." Anteaters have long noses, and there are three joke versions. "Also...an anteater…

March 15, 2019
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“An anti-Semite is someone who hates Jews more than is strictly necessary”

A Jewish "joke" is that everyone hates the Jews, but that an anti-Semite is someone who hate the Jews more than is absolutely necessary. The saying was printed in the essay "What Can…

November 10, 2019
Work/Businesses

“An apology is a promise to do things differently next time, and to keep the promise”

"An apology is a promise to do things differently next time, and to keep the promise" is a saying that has been printed on several images. The apology saying comes from Hunter × Hunter,…

October 22, 2016
Restaurants/Bars/Coffeehouses/Food Stores

“An aposiopesis walks into a—” (bar joke)

"A guy walks into a bar..." is a typical form of what has been called the "bar joke." An aposiopesis version is: "So, an aposiopesis walks into a——but I’d best not…

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BARRY POPIK is a contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary, Dictionary of American Regional English, Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Yale Book of Quotations and Dictionary of Modern Proverbs. Since 1990 he has also been a regular contributor to Gerald Cohen's Comments on Etymology.

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