3074. A good joke © Bruce Goodman 3 January 2025

A relief teacher, whose task was to fill in when a regular teacher took ill, was amazed at how the students in class took turns calling out numbers. In response, sometimes they would roar hysterically and other times they would quietly chuckle. Upon enquiry the relief teacher was told that each joke was allotted a number and they only had to call out the number and all would appreciate the joke. To put it to the test, the relief teacher entered the classroom and said “one hundred and seventeen”. The class went berserk. Their loud, raucous laughter could be heard in the most distant classroom. The relief teacher asked the headmaster if he knew why they found the joke “one hundred and seventeen” so funny. “Oh,” said the headmaster, “they hadn’t heard that one before.” Contact Author Back to Index Next Story Previous Story