22 Words

7 Responses

1. 1
   Sarah H says:

   February 25, 2008 at 5:02 pm

   Groan…

   Reply
2. 2
   Philosophical Humor « A Brick in the Valley says:

   February 28, 2008 at 7:50 am

   [...] Here you go.  (And, this post is only ten [...]

   Reply
3. 3
   Worship Leader Ron says:

   February 28, 2008 at 8:24 am

   I love it!

   Reply
4. 4
   David Wickiser says:

   February 28, 2008 at 10:50 am

   I love that joke… too bad so few of my friends do…

   Reply
5. 5
   craig b says:

   February 29, 2008 at 5:20 am

   As I think therefore I am; therefore what ever is truth, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy think about such things.

   Reply
6. 6
   Gordon Cheng says:

   February 29, 2008 at 5:32 am

   The only trouble with putting that Descartes joke into 22 words is that it really works better if instead of Descartes saying “I don’t think I am” [which is five words], Descartes says “I think … not“.

   The original phrase, after all, is “I think therefore I am.” So if there is a slight pause after “I think”, the hearer expects the usual continuation, but is surprised by the word “not” (which is funny, and requires a bit of comic timing), and then the disappearance of Descartes is a double surprise, which increases the long term enjoyment as you think back on why the joke works so well.

   All of which is to say, I think both the joke and your competition would be improved, and less verbose (unlike this comment) if it was limited to 19 words.

   Reply
7. 7
   Adam says:

   March 23, 2008 at 10:34 pm

   Here’s another one (in 22 words, no less):

   What did the hyper-Calvinist say when he fell awkwardly down the stairs?
   “Whew. I’m glad I got that out of the way.”

   Just discovered your blog and I love it.

   Reply