Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?

Exploring the world's most famous joke and its many variations.

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Chicken crossing the road

About The Joke

"Why did the chicken cross the road?" is one of the oldest and most famous riddles in the English language. The joke relies on the audience expecting a complex or clever answer, but the punchline is deliberately mundane: "To get to the other side."

History

History

First appeared in print in The Knickerbocker, a New York magazine, in March 1847.

Comedy

Anti-Humor

The joke is a classic example of anti-humor, where the humor comes from a deliberately unfunny punchline.

Global

Cultural Impact

The joke has inspired countless variations and has been referenced in books, movies, and TV shows.

Famous Variations

Over the years, people have created countless variations of this classic joke.

Classic
Funny
Nerdy

The Original

To get to the other side.

142

The Philosophical

Because the grass is always greener on the other side!

87

The Motivational

To prove it wasn't chicken!

103

The Colonel Sanders

It was trying to run away from KFC!

98

The Chicken Joke

It was egg-cited to get to the other side!

76

The Dad Joke

Because it wanted to prove it wasn't a chicken!

112

The Physicist

Because it was quantum tunneling to a parallel universe where it wasn't going to be eaten.

65

The Programmer

It was executing a cross-road function with no parameters.

89

The Mathematician

It was following the shortest path between two points on a non-Euclidean surface.

54

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