Why did the chicken cross the street

Ask anyone why did the chicken cross the road? and they will, normal childhood allowing, immediately answer to get to the other side.

It's one of the first jokes most of us ever learn, a staple of schoolyards since it first appeared in a New York City magazine called The Knickerbocker in 1847.

The assumption - in this office at least - was always that it was an anti-joke, an early introduction to the concept of irony. The chicken is simply trying to get where he is going. Why did you expect a punchline, moron? It's the first joke you learn that feels clever rather than silly.

That is until some guy called Nick popped up on Twitter to ruin a tiny piece of our shared childhoods forever.

Nick's contention - and presumably that of the 165,000 people (and counting) who have endorsed him - is that the joke is actually about suicide.

In Nick's reading your road-bound chicken is not simply going about his everyday, earthly business of getting from A to B but making a fatalistic bid for the 'other side' of the poultry afterlife.

The chicken in Nick's joke is standing there by the side of a busy motorway, peering unsteadily into a blur of killer steel, the roar of the engines filling his tiny chicken ears, his little red chicken claw scratching the tarmac in mounting courage, thinking about his chicken wife and chicken chicks who were taken off to the slaughterhouse not hours before.

Nick's chicken is closing his beady chicken eyes now and propelling himself forward, crap wings flapping, into the welcome embrace of a 70-miles-per-hour Ford Escort. Nick's chicken is slopped across the road, guts and feathers everywhere, his little chicken soul floating up to 'the other side', one less chicken in a cruel chicken-hating world.

So yeah. Thanks for that, Nick.

Basically, Reddit user l3mon_aid is saying that the joke is actually about the chicken killing himself.

OR IS IT? Other commenters argued that the joke is not anywhere near as morbid as all that. That it's just a dumb non-joke: The chicken crossed the road to get to the other side. Of the road. The same reason anyone would cross a road.

But now I can't stop thinking about the dark and depressing chicken-crossing-the-road joke. What if that's actually what the joke is really about?

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Hey mom, “Why did the chicken cross the road?” “I don’t know why?” “I don’t know I asked you!” Insert hysterical laughing from your kids! All kids love a good joke especially a why did the chicken cross the road joke

There is something about the chicken that makes kids want to tell these jokes over and over again. But do you find that it is always the same one or two why did the chicken cross the road jokes? 

They can get so tiring after a while. Well, I am helping all you moms out today because we are sharing the best why did the chicken cross the road jokes, 50 of them in fact so you no longer have to hear the same one over and over again! 

So next time your child says, “hey mom why did the chicken cross the road?” You can have a joke in your head ready to tell them! 

Here are 50 of the best why did the chicken cross the road jokes!

Q. Why did the rubber chicken cross the road?

A. She wanted to stretch her legs.

Q. Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road?

A. Because he didn’t have the guts

Q. Why did the redneck cross the road?

A. To eat the run over chicken.

Q. Why didn’t the chicken cross the road?

A. Because there was a KFC on the other side.

Q. Why did the chicken family cross the road?

A. They thought it was an egg-cellent idea

Q. Why did the Roman chicken cross the road?

A. She was afraid someone would Caesar!

Q. Why did the chicken cross the road?

A. Because the road was too long to walk around it.

Q. Why did the duck cross the road?

A. Because it thought it was a chicken

Q. Why did the dinosaur cross the road?

A. The chicken wasn’t around yet

Q. Why did the chicken cross the playground ?

A. To get to the other slide.

Q. Why didn’t the flamingo cross the road?

A. Because he’s not a chicken.

Q. Why did the monkey cross the road?

A. Because the chicken retired

Q. Why did the rooster cross the road?

A. To cockadoodle dooo something.

Q. Why did the cow cross the road?

A. Because the chicken was on holiday

Q. Why did the chicken cross the road to KFC?

A. To visit the family.

Q. Why did the gum cross the road?

A. It was stuck to the chicken’s foot

Q. Why did the dinosaur cross the road?

A. Because chickens hadn’t evolved yet.

Q. Why did the chicken cross the road?

A. Because it was free range.

Q. Why did the baby chick cross the road?

A. It was take-your-child-to-work day

Q. Why did the robot cross the road?

A. Because the chicken was out of order

Q. Why did the turtle cross the road?

A. To get to the shell station.

Q. Why did the rubber chicken cross the road?

A. Just needed to stretch its legs.

Q. Why did the goldfish cross the road?

A. Because the chicken was on holiday

Q. Why did the dog cross the road twice?

A. He was trying to fetch a boomerang

Q. Why did the horse cross the road?

A. Because the chicken needed a day off.

Q. Why didn’t the ghost cross the road?

A. It had no body to go with.

Q. Why did the potato run across the road?

A. So it wouldn’t get mashed

Q. Why did the fish cross the ocean?

A. To get to the other tide

Q. Why did the cat cross the road?

A. Because her owner told her not to do it.

Q. Why did the duck cross the road?

A. To prove he wasn’t chicken!

Q. Why was everyone mad at the pig crossing the road?

A. Because he was a road hog

Q. Why did the spider cross the road?

A. To get to his web site

Q. Why did the chicken run on the soccer field?

A. Cause the referee whistled for a fowl.

Q. Why did the cow cross the road?

A. To get to the udder side!

Q. Why did the man with no hands cross the road?

A. To get to the Second Hand shop

Q. Why did the chickens cross the road?

A. They thought it was an egg-cellent idea!

Q. What happened when the elephant crossed the road?

A. It stepped on the chicken!

Q. Why did the skeleton cross the road?

A. Because it had to go to the Body Shop

Q. Why did the cactus cross the road?

A. Because he was stuck to the chicken’s back.

Q. Why did the cow cross the road?

A. To get to the udder side

Q. Why did the fish cross the road?

A. To get to its school

Q. Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road?

A. Because he didn’t have the guts.

Q. Why did the dog cross the road?

A. Because he was chasing the chicken

Q. Why did the chicken stop crossing the road?

A. It got tired of everyone making so many jokes!

Q. Why did the sheep cross the road?

A. To get to the Baa Baa Shop for a haircut

Q. Why did the elephant cross the road?

A. The chicken couldn’t be bothered anymore

Q. Why did the nose cross the road?

A. Because he was tired of getting picked on

Q. Why did the pillow cross the road?

A. It was picking up the chicken’s feathers

Q. Why couldn’t the chicken cross the road?

A. Because she was chicken.

Q. Why didn’t the bicycle cross the road?

A. Because it was two tired!

Q. Why did the chicken cross the road?

A. It wanted to find out what those jokes were about

Q. What do you call a chicken crossing the road?

A. Poultry in motion

Q. Why did the chicken cross the road?

A. To avoid this lame and outdated joke

Q. Why did the toddler toddle across the road?

A. He wanted to pat the chicken

Q. Why did the reindeer cross the road?

A. Because he was tied to a chicken!

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