“What did the monkey say after he got his tail in a revolving door?”/“It won’t be long now.”
A revolving door riddle is:
Q: What did the monkey say after he got his tail caught in a revolving door?
A: “It won’t be long now.”
“What did the monkey say when he caught his tail in the revolving door? It won’t be long now” was posted on Twitter on August 31, 2009.
Variations of the monkey and its tail joke are cited much earlier. “‘That ends my tale,’ said the monkey as he backed into the lawnmower” was printed in the Binghamton (NY) Press and Leader on March 14, 1922.
“‘It won’t be long now,” the monkey said, as he caught his tail in the lawn mower” was printed in the Dayton (OH) Herald on December 15, 1926, “‘It won’t be long now,’ said the monkey as he caught his tail in the lawn mower” was printed in the San Francisco (CA) Chronicle on January 16, 1927. “‘It can’t be long now,’ as the monkey chirped when he got his tail caught in the old family lawn mower” was printed in the Bluefield (WV) Daily Telegraph on September 13, 1931.
14 March 1922, Binghamton (NY) Press and Leader, “The Baker Boy Says,” pg. 24, col. 3:
“That ends my tale,” said the monkey as he backed into the lawnmower. “I thank you.”
THE BAKER BOY
Google Books
May 1922, Southern Pacific Bulletin, pg. 28, col. 1:
Sad
“That ends my tale,” said the monkey as he backed into the lawnmower.
15 December 1926, Dayton (OH) Herald, “Old Santa Himself Will Be At Herald Birthday Party,” pg. 32, col. 5:
“It won’t be long now,” the monkey said, as he caught his tail in the lawn mower.
16 January 1927, San Francisco (CA) Chronicle, “A Laugh Improves Sunday Breakfast,” pg. 8C, col. 5:
“It won’t be long now,” said the monkey as he caught his tail in the lawn mower.
8 June 1927, Austin (TX) Statesman, pg. 11, col. 7 a:
You Know What
The Monkey Said to
The Lawn Mower When It
Cut His Tail Off—
WELL—IT WON’T BE LONG NOW
(Capitol Chevrolet Co.—ed.)
13 September 1931, Bluefield (WV) Daily Telegraph, “Archery Fad Hits Bluefield” by Stubby Currence, second sec., pg. 1, col. 1:
Bluefield hasn’t been hit hard by the bow and arrow craze yet, but “it can’t be long now,” as the monkey chirped when he got his tail caught in the old family lawn mower.
Google Books
Come Back on Tuesday.
BY Ruth Hunter
New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons
1945
Pg. 143:
“It won’t be long now,” we said. Kathy and Jack used to have a joke, “It won’t be long now said the monkey as he backed into the lawn mower.”
Google Books
Western Folklore
Volume 6
1947
Pg. 357
XIII. Sentences With Direct Discourse (Wellerisms).
(...)
It won’t be long now, said the monkey as the lawnmower lopped off his tail.
Google Books
Journal of American Folklore
Volumes 69-70
1956
Pg. 120:
A. “Can’t be long now,” said the monkey after he backed into the lawn mower. (Hickman Co., Ky.)
B.(1) “It won’t be long now!” as the monkey said when (var. — said the monkey as) he backed into the lawn mower. (Caldwell Co., Ky.; Clay Co., Ark.); (2) “It won’t be long now,” said the monkey when he caught his tail in (var. — when he got his tail cut off in) the lawn mower. (Dyer Co., Tenn.; Crockett Co., , Tenn.); (3) The monkey said when he got his tail caught in the lawn mower, “It won’t be long now.” (Crockett Co., Tenn.)
C. “It won’t be long now,” said the monkey when he cut off his tail (vars. — when he cut his tail off; when he got his tail cut off; when they cut off his tail.) (Obion Co, Tenn,; all vars. from Crockett Co., Tenn.)
Google Groups: eunet.jokes
brian b inglis
Aengus Lawlor
2/28/90
(...)
It won’t be long now, said the monkey as he laid his tail on the railway track.
Google Groups: rec.humor
Lame jokes…
Elaine Murray
9/15/92
(...)
What did the monkey say when he put his tail on the railroad tracks?
It won’t be long now!
Google Groups: alt.humor.puns
“Puns of the Weak” 9/1/00
Stan Kegel
9/2/00
(...)
What did the monkey say when he put his tail on the Railroad tracks? It won’t be long now! (Bill Stebbens)
Google Groups: alt.humor.puns
Puns of the Weak 10/5/01
Stan Kegel
10/5/01
(...)
As the cat said when its tail got caught in a lawn mower. “It won’t be long now.” (Richard Lederer and James Ertner)
Twitter
Gloson Teh
@Gloson
What did the monkey say when he caught his tail in the revolving door?
It won’t be long now
4:05 AM - 31 Aug 2009
Twitter
Patrick Maxwell
@PastorMaxwell
Just like the monkey who lost his tail in the revolving door. He said “it won’t be long now”. Go Gators!
5:25 PM - 19 Sep 2009
Reddit—Dad Jokes
Dad’s favorite roadtrip joke. (self.dadjokes)
submitted August 8, 2013 by iwrestledasharkonce
Dad tells us this one whenever we get close to the destination or home on long roadtrips.
What did the monkey say when the train ran over his tail?
“Well, it won’t be long now…”
Reddit—Jokes
What did the monkey say when he caught his tail in the revolving door?
submitted December 17, 2013 by GooLuster
It won’t be long now…
Twitter
Laffy Taffy Jokes
@Laffy_TaffyJoke
What did the monkey say when he caught his tail in the revolving door?
It won’t be long now
4:18 PM - 3 Jan 2014
Yahoo! Answers (August 11, 2014)
I don’t understand this joke, please help?
What did the monkey say when he caught his tail in the revolving door?
It won’t be long now.
Answers
stevesmitty79
That’s a variation of this joke: What did the monkey say when his tail got cut off? It won’t be long now! It’s a joke concerning waiting for something, like the end of the work day. You should look at your wrist like you’re looking at a watch when you say the punch line.
Reddit—Jokes
What did the monkey say when he put his tail on the railroad tracks?
submitted January 13, 2015 by quitlol
It’s won’t be long now!
Reddit—Jokes
what did the depressed monkey say when his tail went through the lawnmower?
submitted July 2, 2015 by Yustyn
It won’t be long now…
Houston (TX) CHronicle—Texas Sports Nation
Anonymous Gambler: LeBron watch to spice up summer
By Anonymous Gambler
June 8, 2018 Updated: June 8, 2018 12:06pm
(...)
After it is down 0-3, their thinking is like that of the monkey in the old joke “What did the monkey say after he got his tail caught in a revolving door?” ... “It won’t be long now.”