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Scientists Reveal Britain's Funniest Joke

Men, Women Have Different Taste In Humor

Have you heard the one about Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson on a camping trip?

Some 100,000 people have voted on Britain's favorite joke -- and here's the winner: "Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson go camping, and pitch their tent under the stars. During the night, Holmes wakes his companion and says: 'Watson, look up at the stars, and tell me what you deduce.'

Watson says: 'I see millions of stars, and even if a few of those have planets, it's quite likely there are some planets like Earth, and if there are a few planets like Earth out there, there might also be life.'

Holmes replies: 'Watson, you idiot. Somebody stole our tent'."

The joke experiment, named Laughlab, asked volunteers to log on to an Internet site, where they could rate jokes and add their own.

Scientists also looked at differences in humor among different genders and nationalities.

Big differences emerged between the jokes liked by men and women, with men favoring jokes involving aggression, putting women down and sexual innuendo.

Women preferred jokes involving word play such as: "A man walks into a bar with a piece of tarmac under his arm. He says to the bartender: 'A pint for me, and one for the road."'

Other top jokes rated as supremely funny in different countries were as follows:

France: "You're a high-priced lawyer! If I give you $500, will you answer two questions for me?"

"Absolutely! What's the second question?"

Sweden: "A guy phones the local hospital and yells, 'you've gotta send help! My wife's in labor!" The nurse says, 'calm down. Is this her first child?' He replies, 'no! This is her husband!"'

Canada: "What do you call a woman who can balance four pints of beer on her head? Beatrix."

-- Anonymous, December 20, 2001

Answers

Would someone please explain that Canada one? Or does one have to be Canadian to get it?

-- Anonymous, December 20, 2001

Beats me. Could be something to do with pronunciation--be a tricks? Huh?

-- Anonymous, December 21, 2001

The National Lampoon, some time in the 70s, had an issue devoted to the humor of different nations. The point about a Canadian joke was that Canadians simply didn't understand the humorous point of the joke.

From that issue, Canadian joke:

Lady boarding bus, been shopping: "My aspirins! My aspirins!"

Bus Driver: "Maybe you left them back in the drugstore"

(For the humor-impaired, the American version depends on a play on words - My ass burns! My ass burns!)

-- Anonymous, December 21, 2001

The way I heard that one YEARS ago, the punch line was - "Lady, if your ass burns, stick it out the window and cool it off."

-- Anonymous, December 21, 2001