Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
“Took Me 20 Years And 60 Watches”: Movie Jokes That Took People Literal Years To Understand
Honesty hour – have you ever laughed at something just because people around you were laughing? Or pretended to get the punchline of a joke at a comedy club when it made no sense in your head? No?
Well, even if you won’t admit it, I know I’m not the only one having missed the point of the joke; maybe even more than once. A bunch of people have, too, and they confessed to it in a thread on the ‘Movies’ subreddit. That’s where the user ‘ferrous_second_vowel’ asked netizens about movie jokes they didn't get until years later, and many came forward with their stories. Scroll down to find them on the list below!
Below you will also find Bored Panda’s interviews with two people who are well-familiar with jokes and humor: the CEO of Humor That Works, author, and speaker, Andrew Tarvin, and comedian, television writer, and radio/podcast host, Chris Duffy, who were kind enough to answer a few of our questions.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
There's a scene in Star Trek: Generations in which Data laughs at a joke that was told to him by Geordi LaForge in the first episode seven years earlier. When this is pointed out, Data says, "I know! I just got it! Very funny!"
Flash back to 1987 and the first time watching Spaceballs. Colonels Sandurz says, "Prepare ship for metamorphosis! Ready, Kafka?" I had no idea what that line meant, but the delivery made me laugh.
Flash forward to 1997. I'm working in a bookstore, restocking the paperback classics when I pull out a small stack of, you guessed it, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. I burst out laughing.
Then I almost immediately thought of Data's line and started laughing even harder.
It was a good day.
Jossh Nine 1 year ago
Why all the downvotes for Amanda? She didn't get the joke, and that's ok.
JoMeBee 1 year ago
BC BPers are using downvotes as agree/disagree instead of the intended acceptable/problematic...
Load More Replies...
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
Kafka wrote "The Metamorphosis", about a guy who wakes up as a giant bug. So calling the guy operating the metamorphosis circuit on the ship Kafka is funny, at least to me.
Load More Replies...
Dread Pirate Roberts 1 year ago
I didn't get the joke till high school when we had to read something by Kafka, then it clicked and made me chuckle in class 😆
Sparkle Bean 1 year ago
Very funny! I too only recently really heard that line and got it for the first time, even though I've seen Spaceballs a lot.
RELATED:
#2
Addams Family Values. When Wednesday's sort-of-boyfriend is showing her his collection of serial k*ller baseball cards, he says "I've got 'em all. I'm only missing Jack the Ripper and that Zodiac guy."
Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac were two serial k*llers who were never caught.
Luke Branwen 1 year ago
If anyone is wondering what is that mysterious censored word someone doesn't want us to see, it's "killer". A person who murders people. You're welcome.
The spooky explanation 1 year ago
🤓☝️Erm akshually, a killer kills people, a murderer murders people
Load More Replies...
Jossh Nine 1 year ago
It's great that you're last name is Gomez....so fitting for this post (sorry....I don't know how to put the accent over the O)
Load More Replies... 
Laura Gillette 1 year ago
Someone probably already did this, but if not, they should make a cut of just the summer camp/B plot scenes with the kids from this movie. That storyline was the best part of that movie!
#3
"I know a man with a wooden leg named Smith."
"What's the other one named?"
I watched Mary Poppins when I was four, and didn't get that joke until I was 30.
Always Malfunctioning 1 year ago
I watched the Mary Poppins documentary last week and actually had to look the meaning of that up. Went right over my head 🤦♀️🤦♀️
JayWantsACat 1 year ago
These types of jokes always get me, which is why I still laugh during the film Airplane.
Philly Bob 1 year ago
Airplane is one of my all time favorites! I had a actress crush on Lorna Patterson (Randi the stewardess) and named my daughter Lorna after her.
Load More Replies...
Firstname Lastname 1 year ago
I guess it's because the man is named Smith but they think the leg is what got named?
Load More Replies...“At the most basic level, a good joke follows the setup / punchline structure, where the setup creates an expectation in the audience and the punchline delivers against that expectation in a surprising way,” Andrew Tarvin, the CEO of Humor That Works—a leadership development company that teaches professionals how to use humor to achieve better business results—told Bored Panda, discussing what makes a good joke.
“To me, what makes a good joke is when you have to work ever so slightly to get it,” he added. “If it's too obvious, it's not funny. If it's too complicated, it goes over your head. But if you have to ‘figure out’ the joke, the reward is even greater when you finally do get it.” (Even if it takes years or decades, as it did for some of the people on this list.)
#4
Toy Story.
Buzz: “I think the word you’re searching for is space ranger.”
Woody: “The word I’m searching for I can’t say because there are preschool toys present.”
Brandi VanSteenwyk 1 year ago
That's one thing I adore about most of the animated feature films that have debuted over the past 25 or so years... The "subtle" adult humor that is embedded throughout. The writers definitely know who is buying the theatre tickets and DVDs.
#5
It took me 30 years watching Wayne's World to realize why Noah's Arcade promotes they have two of every game. Yknow. Like Noah's Arc.
Remi (He/Him) 1 year ago
Goes to show that sometimes your brain is on the job and sometimes it's off doing circus tricks while pretending to work
Load More Replies...Another expert in humor, comedian, television writer, and radio/podcast host Chris Duffy—who is currently hosting How to Be a Better Human—noted that a good joke is funny (adding a much-needed “duh”), but also clever and without cruelty. “You can make people laugh by saying something shocking or by being mean, but I don't think that's a good joke,” he said.
“I've talked with some scientists who study humor and one way that the science of jokes was explained to me that lines up with my experiences as a comedian is that a good joke is like a secret code where the person hearing it has the key and all of a sudden it clicks and makes them laugh. Also good jokes should be short, unlike my answer to ‘what makes a good joke?’”
#6
In “Cars” Lightning tells Mater that Doc won the Piston Cup 3 times!
Mater responds with, “He did what in his cup?!”.
Jumping Jellyfishes 1 year ago
As adult watching this with three young'uns, this line floored me. Which then called attention to line, which then made my kids catch it... oops!
Remi (He/Him) 1 year ago
Well pee and poop humor is something kids understand
Load More Replies...
LinkTheHylian 1 year ago
Drunk guy stumbles out of a bar and sees another guy examining a broken down car. "What's wrong, buddy?" the drunk yells. "Piston broke" the second guy responds. "Yeah me too!" the drunk replies.
#7
“I’m sure your job gets pretty dangerous”
“That’s why I carry a big gun.”
“Aren’t you afraid it might go off accidentally?”
“I used to have that problem”
“What did you do about it?”
“I just think about baseball”.
- The Naked Gun: Files From Police Squad!
The Darkest Timeline 1 year ago
As she’s on ladder and he’s looking up, presumably, her skirt: “Nice beaver;” “Thanks, I just had it stuffed.” *hands him an actual stuffed beaver*
LakotaWolf (she/her) 1 year ago
I was 6 when this movie came out and went to see it with my family. I laughed like a loon at that joke even though I had NO IDEA what it meant at the time, but my dad was laughing, so I laughed XD
Load More Replies...
Jossh Nine 1 year ago
Hahahahaha. It's been years since I've watched that movie and that line juT cracked me up all over again
#8
In Disney's Hercules, a little snippet of the Zero to Hero song goes:
>From appearance fees and royalties
>Our Herc had cash to burn
>Now nouveau riche and famous
>He could tell you "What's a Grecian urn?"
This is a reference to an absolutely ancient Vaudeville joke that flew miles above every kid's head in the 90s. The joke goes something like,
"My wife brought home a Grecian urn last night."
"What's a Grecian urn?"
"About $25 a week, unless he owns the restaurant."
Passerby 1 year ago
Is the joke "urn = earn"? I have never realized it was actually a joke. I thought it just meant that he was so famous that he could now set the trend of what's in and what's not.
Rinso The Red 1 year ago
Oh it's a joke. I heard it from a professor LONG before this movie came out.
Load More Replies... Ian Coghlan 1 year ago
I've got the follow up line. This is a Greek fisherman's net. What's a Greek fisherman's net? 25 drachma a week. The third is not repeatable because it's about a Rabbi and includes plus tips.
Jaya 1 year ago
"What's a Grecian urn?" sounds both like "What is a Grecian urn?" (a Greek vase that a person's ashes are stored in) and "What does a Grecian earn?" (how much money a Greek person makes).
Load More Replies... 
Andrew Tarvin seconded the idea that jokes shouldn’t be too lengthy. “You can be clever, just don't be longwinded or boring in the process. As Kevin from The Office said, ‘Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?’”
Delving deeper into the structure of jokes, the expert noted that one way to understand the setup and punchline structure is to think back to your days of learning propositional logic: “If A -> B, and B -> C, then A->C. A good joke has a setup (A) and a punchline (C). If the audience can infer what's supposed to be funny (B), they'll laugh.
“So in order to be clever, but not complicated, you have to give just enough information in the setup (A) to help the audience get B, but not so much that it's confusing or takes too long to understand,” Tarvin explained.
#9
When the hunter buys the gun in Jumanji and the salesman says "you're not a postal worker, are you?". I think I thought he was just making fun of his clothes, I had no idea what "going postal" was.
Daya Meyer 1 year ago
And now I got a deeper look into the title of the discworld book and movie. Thank you!
Nikki Gross 1 year ago (edited)
That originated from the Edmond, Oklahoma Post Office Massacre that happened on August 20, 1986. 44 year old Postal Worker Patrick Sherrill pursued and shot several co-workers killing 14 and Injuring 6 before committing suicide. It is currently the deadliest workplace shooting in US History. I live 20 minutes away from where that massacre took place and was barely 9 years old when it happened. It was a little over 2 years from losing Dad, so some memories from that time can be fuzzy. The one thing I do remember is all of the media coverage and after that Mom and my Sisters that were working said that EVERYONE was scared and looking at their co-workers wondering if that could happen to them. You have to understand, back then Postal Jobs were highly sought after, because of the pay and benefits everyone wanted to get a job there. If something like that could happen at a place that people were on waiting lists to be interviewed for a job, then how secure are employees at lower paying jobs.
Nikki Gross 1 year ago (edited)
But yes, that is where the term "Going Postal" originated from. I think that is one slang term that pretty much most in the US has heard at some point, although most don't know or understand where it originated from. That event happened almost 40 years ago and it's often used, especially by people in the workplace, to describe co-workers that may "Snap" someday. It doesn't matter what type of job you have, or place that you have worked. There is one person that pretty much everyone will say that they would be the most likely to "Snap or lose their s**t" if they are pushed hard enough. Most of the time it's said in a joking manner, when you're frustrated or pissed you say you are "Going to go Postal." Again, 99% of the people that use those words have no idea that it came from a massacre. Unless you actually look up, where and find out how that term actually became such a huge part of everyday language in the US.
Load More Replies... Beak Hookage 1 year ago
Some people think the whole "going postal" thing is why the Kevin Costner movie "The Postman" flopped so badly.
#10
It seems every time I watch Hot Fuzz I find something knew I missed like them cocking the guns everytime they run at the end. But the biggest one for me is:
‘Do you know why they’re called the Andys?’
“Because they’re both called andrew?”
“And talking to them is a bit of an uphill struggle’
Took me waaaay too many watches to catch the Andes/Andy’s difficulty hike but. I blame the immediate trash can to the face as a distraction.
Howisitmondayalready 1 year ago
I absolutely love The Cornetto Trilogy!! "He is NOT Judge Judy and executioner" - too many exchanges to list here that are just pure comedy gold 😅
Dread Pirate Roberts 1 year ago
That's what's so great about this movie; some of the humor is so subtle that you find something new that you missed with every watch! Lol I love the crossword puzzle part 😂
#11
In Monty Python and the Holy Grail when the taunting Frenchman calls the knights "keniggets" I thought it was just some obscure British insult I wasn't getting. It took me years to figure out he was pronouncing "knights" phonetically.
Dread Pirate Roberts 1 year ago
I never noticed that! Lol "I fart in your general direction!" is still one of my favorite movie insults 😂
ArchangelLoki 1 year ago
Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.
Load More Replies...
Major Harris 1 year ago
for "game of thrones" fans. when "khaleesi's" army is outside of mereen and the city sends out it's champion to challenge "daario", the mereen champion yells out to him in his own language. what he yells out you might ask? "your mother was a hamster and your father smells of elderberries" in "high valyrien"!
Stannous Flouride 1 year ago
In Middle English every letter was pronounced. Listen to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales recited in its original form https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MJzr6buuQg
Lene 1 year ago
May I just add that the dialects of the West coast of Denmark shares a whole lot with the English language. And, as an example, in some of them we have the word "knejt" which is pronounced exactly as knight with the k-sound. I think it proves that there has always been a lot of interaction between England and (Western parts of) Denmark. And it is pretty cool, imo.
Load More Replies...
Duffy suggested that the balance between a joke being clever and too complicated depends on who you're trying to make laugh. “It's going to be a very different balance if you're trying to make a classroom full of 5-year-olds laugh (you can't go wrong with a silly face) and if you're trying to make a conference of philosophy professors laugh (probably some joke about what it even means to have a face at all). There's no universal rule when it comes to comedy, it's all specific and context dependent,” he told Bored Panda, adding that knowing your audience is hugely important when it comes to humor.
“My friend, the very funny comedian Myq Kaplan, has a great joke about how comedy is one of the only art forms where the audience gets to decide what the art is. His joke is ‘If you laugh at what I say, it's a joke. If you don't laugh, it's a poem! You decide.’”
#12
Mrs. Doubtfire, when Daniel (as Doubtfire) is talking to Stuart about Miranda, "She has a power tool in the bedroom. It's her own personal jackhammer; she can break sidewalk with it! I'm amazed she hasn't chipped her teeth!"
I saw this movie in the theater when it came out, and I was 8 years old, so I didn't know about vibrators at the time and didn't ask. My best guess at the time was that he was trying to scare Stuart by saying she has some kind of weapon, like keeping a gun or baseball bat next to the bed.
Sand Ers 1 year ago
Imagine being Pierce Brosnan and having to keep a straight face for it.
Load More Replies... 
Mark Kelly 1 year ago
I got that joke as a young teen because I'm perverted but not in a bad way
Remi (He/Him) 1 year ago (edited)
Hopefully some purity aßes don't go giving this a restricted label. After all they seem to think a guy dressed up as a woman is too sexy and only for adult eyes or something
#13
In Ghostbusters, Louis Tully, the Keymaster, kept locking himself out of his apartment.
GeoffreySpaulding:
39 f**king years and I just got that.
Carteeg_Struve:
Took me forever growing to realize the Gatekeeper and Keymaster titles were literally talking about privates.
JayWantsACat 1 year ago
I got the Gatekeeper and Keymaster joke but him constantly being locked out while being the Keymaster totally went over my head until now.
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
I saw Ghostbusters when I was 14 and my brother was 11 (when it came out) and he had to explain that joke to ME!
#14
I was watching the original Men in Black just cuz, and it got to the part where Agent J (Will Smith) catches up to a fleeing criminal. He waves his badge in the guy's face and says "See this? NYPD! Means I will knock yo' punk *ss down!"
I've watched this movie multiple times, but for whatever reason it was only on this viewing, 25 years after its theatrical release, that I realized he's make a joke: "NYPD means I will kNock Yo' Punka*s Down."
GalPalAl 1 year ago
I am this many years old today as I never knew that. Also, it happens to be Friday the 13th which is irrelevant, but still funny
BeesEelsAndPups 1 year ago
I thought it was just a reference to the NYPD's history of police violence
Load More Replies... 
Tarvin, too, believes that knowing your audience is incredibly important when it comes to jokes and, according to him, there are two main reasons for that. “First, humor is predicated on an audience being able to ‘get’ the joke. If you reference something they don't understand, such as a pop culture reference or Gen Z slang, there's no chance for them to get the joke. Second, comedy often comes from breaking expectations in a surprising way. How can you break expectations if you're not even sure what they are to begin with?
“One caveat to keep in mind is that you are also part of your intended audience. Sometimes writers will put in jokes that are primarily for themselves, and if you as an audience member enjoy it as well, that's a bonus,” the expert added.
#15
“You ever been on a shrimp boat?”
… “no, I been on a real big boat”
This one probably took me 20 years and 60 watches lmao.
JackRagz:
Bubba asks Forrest if he’s ever been on “a real shrimp boat”, but Forrest thinks he’s asking if he’s ever been on a really small boat.
Daniel Atkins 1 year ago
Me too I saw it the other day and wondered why Forrest said that.
Load More Replies... Dawn Marie 1 year ago
I have watched Forrest Gump many many times and I just now got this. Slap me up side the head with a 2 X 4!!!!
Kalikima 1 year ago
A shrimp catching boat.. they put nets in the water and pull up shrimp..
Load More Replies... #16
In shawshank redemption when Red is being asked whys he called Red he quips its probably because he's Irish. In the Stephen King book Red isn't a black man but rather an Irish man w red hair so it makes sense.
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
I've read the novella and even though it describes Red, I could only still imagine Morgan Freeman.
Jossh Nine 1 year ago
I saw Shawshank (many, many times) before I read the novella and only got the joke when I read it. Great joke in the movie...especially Morgan Freeman's smirk after he delivers the line.
OhnoI’vebeencensored 1 year ago
My favourite line from Shawshank, although I got it right away so wouldn’t go on this list, is when Red describes Andy’s desire for escape as “sh*tty pipe dreams”. And well, how does Andy escape?
Doodles1983 1 year ago
Red is also a character in Orange is the New Black (a prison series) which makes it more funny. TIL
#17
Rango, when the villagers are trying to lure out the molerats/groundhogs by putting on a theatrical play.
*"What is that?"*
*"I think they're thespians."*
*"Thespians? That's illegal in seven states!"*
The joke being he misheard thespians as lesbians.
Howisitmondayalready 1 year ago
My favourite one from Rango is the tombstone engraved with "Hold my beer and watch this" 😂
glowworm2 1 year ago
That movie was surprisingly adult for an animated movie produced by Nickelodeon.
Yellow dot 1 year ago (edited)
I dont think he misheard at all. He just didnt have the word "thespian" in his limited dictionary. No, I have not seen the movie 70 times (more like 80 times). I'm overthinking it, because either way, it's funny.
Jaya 1 year ago
One of those teeny movies with James Franco has a joke bases on the same lesbians-thespians confusion.
Remi (He/Him) 1 year ago
haven't paid attention to thespian jokes. Where else does he have it? (not that I even know the original)
Load More Replies...When it comes to humor on the big screen, Chris Duffy believes that jokes make the characters relatable and likable. “But I think they also serve to release the tension, which is a huge and important tool when you're writing scripts in any genre,” he added.
According to Andrew Tarvin, there are countless uses for jokes in movies. “It could be used to release tension, break the ice, make a character likable and charismatic or cruel and vindictive,” he said, adding that humor is a universally human trait, so it can be used in nearly any manner.
“However, one of the most important things it can do is just keep the movie engaging. When a character uses a joke, not only does that develop their persona more, it also makes the movie more entertaining. And as soon as that first joke hits, you're now on the lookout for the rest of the movie for the next big laugh, making you even more engaged in the material.”
#18
The Goonies
[Chunk knocks over a miniature statue of Michaelangelo's David, breaking off the penis]
Mikey: Oh my God! That's my mom's most favourite piece!
Mouth: You wouldn't be here if it wasn't.
Kayleigh Gibson 1 year ago
And then when Chunk sticks it back on upside down and everyone tells him it's the wrong way up and he says "looks fine to me". Basically saying his regularly points that way 😂
#19
The title of South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.
It hit suddenly about a decade after the movie came out.
Rahul Pawa 1 year ago
They also made a video game called "The Fractured But Whole"
Load More Replies...
Casey Payne 1 year ago
Oh c'mon! That big of a joke? It's practically slapping you in the face with it.
TotallyNOTAFox 1 year ago (edited)
Not that subtile in german though, as they literally called it "circumsised" .The joke works because there is only on letter different to make it "uncut" (UnGeschnitten / UnBeschnitten)
veryvenasaur 1 year ago
it's a pen!s uncut is a reference to circumsision.
Load More Replies... #20
In Austin Powers 2, when describing Austin's Mojo Dr. Evil has a line like - "what the French would call: I don't know what."
Always thought the joke was that Dr. Evil was just being stupid - didn't learn until much later in life this is the literal definition of 'je ne sais quoi'
Upon a recent rewatch that was probably my favorite joke in the entire franchise.
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
I did, from watching the Canadian series "Due South" in the '90s. "She doesn't know about my je ne sais quoi!" "From the French, meaning 'I don't know what'?" "Exactly!" (Due South was awesome. Give it a watch.)
Load More Replies...“While all of these things apply to characters in movies, it also applies to you in real life,” Tarvin continued. “How and when you use jokes has a massive impact on how you're perceived by others, which is why there are over 30 benefits to learning how to effectively use humor as well.
“Also, you don't need a whole team of scriptwriters to be funny. Anyone can learn the skill of humor, and watching movies and analyzing why the jokes worked (or didn't) can be a great place to start.”
#21
In the first Shrek movie when Shrek and Donkey first get to the giant castle and Shrek says “you think he’s compensating for something?”.
The Doom Song 1 year ago
Probably coz a lot of us were kids and didn't understand the joke
Load More Replies...
Beak Hookage 1 year ago
As a kid, I thought it was referring to Lord Farquaad being really short! Also Farquaad is modelled on Will Eisner (it's INCREDIBLY obvious) because the filmmakers had a major grudge against him.
Dread Pirate Roberts 1 year ago
First saw this when I was about 9, was wondering why my dad was laughing so hard 😆 I got it a few years later though lol
#22
In the Faculty, a teacher is begging the principal for dunding for sets for the drama club. The principal responds "Can't they just reuse the set from Our Town?"
Our Town is a play typically stage without a set, which I only learned many years later.
Joseph Miller 1 year ago
Unfortunately, I had to read it a couple of times to realize it was supposed to be "funding" not "dunding". I had no idea what 'dunding' was.
Laura Gillette 1 year ago
Heeheehee, as a former drama kid, I remember seeing The Faculty when it came out in theaters and thinking "I'm probably the only one here who gets that joke."
Mark Kelly 1 year ago
Yeah that's like in the show Roseanne where she was making a costume for a play for DJ and said why can't they just do Oklahoma! Which apparently has nudity
Manana Man 1 year ago
I'm pretty sure there's no nudity in Oklahoma. Could it be that in Oklahoma they're all like country folk and farmers and just wear work clothes?
Load More Replies... #23
First Avengers film.
On the Helicarrier for the first time, and Captain America gives Nick Fury $10 - The way the latter takes the money, I thought it was the former giving him a tip, as some odd 1940s reason.
I watched it the other day, and FINALLY realized it's a follow up to the exchange in the Gym - where Captain America says that nothing could surprise him anymore, Fury replies saying $10 says you're wrong.
#24
The scene in Grease where Kenickie refers to a condom as a "25 cent insurance policy".
The Doom Song 1 year ago
I first saw grease when I was about 8. I realise now how dirty that movie is!
elmortero 1 year ago
But you DID get Rizzos comment when she sends the guys away? ("what do you guys think this is, a g*ng b*ng?")
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
The lyrics I have from a cleaned up version (or maybe the version from the musical) say "a real dragon wagon". Can't remember if they changed it for the film or what.
Load More Replies... #25
The Dude listening to Creedence's "My Back Door" after getting a physical.
ImNotThaaatDrunk:
I was today years old when I made that connection.
Mason Kronol 1 year ago
When we were first dating in 2002 I convinced my now husband this song was about a**l sex. I have a CCR cd so it was more convincing. I guess I was way ahead of my time. Oh, and he just rolled with it. Didn’t care. My ex boyfriend did not react so nicely.
keyboardtek 1 year ago
Not about a**l sex. It is about the manual rectal prostate exam a doctor performs on men.
Load More Replies... #26
Toy Story 2: Near the end, after Jessie impresses him by opening the door by leaping from the Hot Wheels loop, Buzz pops out his wings.
It's a visual boner allusion.
#27
In Forrest Gump, Lt. Dan told everyone to take care of their feet. Then he lost his.
Kelly Scott 1 year ago
Until I saw his name in print, I always thought it was Lt. Dang. Thanks, Forrest.
#28
Rick Moranis in _GhostBusters 2_ tells the baby the story of Snow White to get him to sleep. But as an accountant, he explains that the dwarfs' trading Snow's housekeeping work for room & board while not paying payroll taxes was a good deal for them, though technically illegal.
#29
“I got you flours”
-Will Ferrell, Stranger Than Fiction
He’s trying to woo a baker; he gives her various bags of flours. I always thought they were bags of flower seeds.
Me = moron.
WindySwede 1 year ago
I just thought he never had dated and missed flowers and thought flours?
#30
Not quite a joke, but I had probaby watched Shawshank Redemption a dozen times before I realized the significance of the Warden saying “salvation lies within” when he handed the Bible with the rock hammer hidden in it back to Andy.
Lost Panda 1 year ago
This one was addressed in the movie later though... Did they not pay attention?
Martin Kaine 1 year ago
......and its hiding place begins in the book of Exodus, so there's that.
#31
In The Great Muppet Caper after the swimming musical number, Miss Piggy says to the Charles Grodin’s character “you can’t even sing! Your voice was dubbed!”
I watched it 100 times when I was a kid and thought she said dumb which as a kid I thought was really funny. But now that I know the actual line and that he was in fact dubbed, it’s f*****g hilarious.
#32
Blazing Saddles had a lot of non-obvious jokes:
"They told us you was hung!"
"And they was right!"
"You'd do it for Randolph Scott!" - He was an old actor in Westerns
Governor "LePetomane" - Le Pétomane was a performer whose act was farting on stage
Younger folks might not get the Howard Johnson, Hedy Lamarr, or Marlene Dietrich references.
Mike F 1 year ago
That entire movie was double entendres and inside jokes. When you think about it, most Mel Brooks films are. If you see History of the World Pt I, you'll see the same thing, along with Young Frankenstein.
Stannous Flouride 1 year ago
Mr Brooks assumed that his target audience was smart and educated enough to get the jokes. Much unlike so much comedy being made today.
Load More Replies...
camomooey 1 year ago
I got all those except LePetomane! I just learned that one from here. Thanks!
Tabitha 1 year ago
I learned that one listening to Dr Demento back in the seventies.
Load More Replies... Major Harris 1 year ago
"history of the world part one"- "josephus" passes a blind man on the street, "hey, oedipus! you mother f---er!"
#33
In The Mask, just before he pulls out a balloon to blow up and turn into a tommy gun, to fight off the goons, he pulls out a condom and says, "Oops, wrong pocket!" When I was a kid, I thought it was a popped balloon and laughed regardless, lol.
Emma London 1 year ago
This movie had not stand time, if you thought it was funny way back when, make yourself a favor and keep the good memories.
Jossh Nine 1 year ago
I gave tou an upvote. Because why downvote an opnion?
Load More Replies... #34
In Face/Off Nicolas Cage famously says that he can “eat a peach for hours.”
Yes I genuinely thought fruit at one point.
Surly Scot 1 year ago
'Hours'. Jeeze I'm lucky if I can get a guy to even spend 5mins on it every 6months.
#35
I had no idea Airplane! is in parts a shot for shot spoof of the movie Zero Hour. I think growing up I knew it had elements of disaster tropes, but seeing some of the scenes and plot points side by side makes it even better.
Stannous Flouride 1 year ago
How about Ted Striker's "drinking problem"? Screen-Sho...57-png.jpg 
PinkNekoGirl 1 year ago
My partner and I still call it a drinking problem when we spill our drinks. (Only in private of course)
Load More Replies...
Team Jay 1 year ago
At work, a millennial asked my sister "What do you make of this?" Sis answered "You can make a hat, a brooch, a pterodactyl" and the millennial looked at her like she'd grown a second head.
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
My mother said that to me once and I had NO IDEA she ever paid attention when my brother and I were watching movies. I think I laughed more at my mom's line than the original.
Load More Replies... 
Sparkle Bean 1 year ago
"get that finger out of your ear! you don't know where that finger's been" and then he looks at it and sniffs it
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
"Or Barbara Stanwyck! (Later) Nick, Heath, Jarrod! There's a fire in the barn!"
#36
Half Baked. The joke comes in a scene where the protagonists are talking about money.
*“You said that you gave Mary Jane a pearl necklace! How much did that cost?”*
*“Obviously you missed the point of that story, Brian.”*
I too missed the point of that story. I didn’t even realize it was a joke until several years later.
#37
In cars 1 when lightning is showing off in the beginning and a few female cars go up to him and “flash” him…really Pixar or Disney.
#38
Huge Indiana Jones fan as a kid and didn't rewatch the series again until I was in my late 20s. Watches the Last Crusade:
"You're old enough to be her father."
"I'm as human as the next man."
"I WAS the next man."
Oh god, Indiana Jones and his dad are Eskimo brothers...
The Darkest Timeline 1 year ago (edited)
Dad also mentions that she talks in her sleep when they’re in Venice. Not sure which scene takes place first but it’s made pretty clear they both slept with her
Fred L. 1 year ago
The "She talks in her sleep." was first (in the castle), the above dialog later (onboard the airship).
Load More Replies...
#39
Child me was completely oblivious to this joke from the 1990 live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.
They return to their sewer hideout, bringing their ally Casey Jones for the first time. Casey gets increasingly agitated when they decide to sleep there. Donatello has a realization...
Donatello: "You're a claustrophobic!"
Casey (getting angry): "You want a fist in the mouth? I've never even looked at another man before!".
Rahul Pawa 1 year ago
He heard it as "you're a closet homo" or something? Seems like too far of a stretch. 🫤
JayWantsACat 1 year ago
No, it's not that he misheard it, it's just that doesn't even know what "claustrophobic" means and to him it sounded like someone calling him gay with a "fancy" word.
Load More Replies... 
#40
Non-Native English speaker here.
Austin Powers 1 - the “Who does Number 2 work for?” scene. I was always like “The Irish guy has his head in the toilet. Haha! Funny.”
Until years later, as a final year medical student, I spent a surgical elective in South Africa. During ward round the registrar (resident) asked the post-surgery patient how it was going with the Number 2. And it clicked…
I had to leave the room otherwise my evaluation would have suffered….
LillieMean 1 year ago (edited)
Number one is yellow and number two is brown and they usually go in the toilet bowl. The joke in that scene was partly about constipation and partly about squeezing information out of a person. Sometimes I regret watching Austin Powers. Sometimes I don't.
Load More Replies...
#41
Ace Ventura, When Nature Calls. He wasn't meditating.
JackRagz:
“If I don’t finish my meditation, I tend to get a little… Cranky…”
#42
Hercules, when Hades is tricking Hercules to go fight the Hydra. Pain and Panic are disguised as kids looking for help, and one of them yells out "call I X I I"
It's 911 in Roman numerals. I didn't get it as a kid, and never thought about it when I watched when I was older.
#43
For some reason as a kid I repeatedly watched Don’t Tell Mom, the Babysitter’s Dead. There’s a line in it where the main character’s boss tells her to do a face pack and have a bath etc with cucumber on her eyes. The character says she’s out of cucumber, and the boss replies something like “No woman over 25 should ever be without a cucumber in the house”.
I hadn’t thought about it for years and then one day it came into my mind at random and I went THAT WAS A WANKING JOKE.
#44
The joke in Guardians of the Galaxy where Quill said if you put a black light in his ship it'd look like a Jackson Polluck painting. ew lol.
#45
TMNT II
Donatello:
These nets are very effective and very well constructed.
Michaelangelo:
Yeah, remind me to drop a line to Ralph Nader!
DependentAd235:
Nadar was famous for being a consumer advocate.
This was definitely a joke for the parents.
#46
*The Parent Trap* (Lindsay Lohan version). When Nick tells Annie (pretending to be Hallie) that he wants to make Meredith "part of the family", she plays it like she thinks he's going to adopt her as a big sister. Years later I remembered that when she first meets Meredith, she asks her age, and I copped that Annie knew perfectly well that Nick was talking about marrying her and was trying to low key call him on the age difference.
And in *Mean Girls*, when Regina's mother thinks Cady is asking for alcohol and whispers "if you're gonna drink I'd rather you do it in the house". I didn't get until years later how that was meant to show the mother as irresponsible, because in Ireland the drinking age is 18 rather than 21 and it's completely socially acceptable for 16-year-olds to drink, with a lot of parents allowing their teens to have little amounts in a controlled environment so as to stop them going too mad when they inevitably try it on their own. Then eventually I found out how conservative Americans tend to be about underage drinking.
Kristal 1 year ago
Huh. See, I was raised in the US and when Regina's mother said that i thought they were trying to show that she really does care as a mother underneath all the shallowness. Underage drinking at home is safer than underage drinking at random parties where they can get physically taken advantaged of, drugged, get hurt, etc. Well, now that just makes me sad :(
Rahul Pawa 1 year ago (edited)
I dunno if the Mean Girls one was really trying to show her as a bad parent. Maybe in context of other questionable parenting choices. I agree with that statement. If my teen is going to drink, I'd rather he drink at home. Hopefully he won't get too crazy and he won't have a reason to drive after. ETA: for context about me, I'm a recovering alcoholic with 7 years sobriety. I had my first drink at 16 at a family holiday party.
Surly Scot 1 year ago
lol, at 14 I told my grandma "you can go and buy me wine and i'll drink in my room, or i'll go out, find some alcohol and sit on the street drinking it. Which do you prefer?" Grandma would buy me my alcohol from age 14-16 as long as I drank it at home where she could watch me. That's responsible parenting. Telling your kids no to alcohol just means they'll go find it somewhere else and possibly end up in a dangerous situation.
#47
I am utterly ashamed to this day how many years it took me to get the “drinking problem” joke in “Airplane”. Loved the movie and got everything else but when the main charcater would say he has a drinking problem and throw a glass of whatever on his face and everyone would bust out laughing, I just didn’t get it. Finally was watching it for the 100th time and it clicked. I was too ashamed to admit it at first.
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
It took my brother and I about 15 years to get the "It's an entirely different kind of flying altogether!" ... "It's an entirely different kind of flying!" joke. And one day we were talking to a friend who used "altogether" at the end of the sentence and we repeated what he said, together. ... He didn't get it.
Beak Hookage 1 year ago
"It's a big building full of sick people, but that's not important right now." I gotta watch that movie again; it's amazing how few of the jokes have aged.
#48
The Tab and Pepsi Free joke from Back to the Future.
Svenne O'Lotta 1 year ago
By all means, be super vague and assume that everyone remembers every single bit from every movie they've ever watched
S. Maxudov 1 year ago
He asks for a Tab (diet soda popular in the 80s, not invented in the 50s), which the server hears as tab meaning informal charge account. After that failure he asks for a Pepsi free (diet soda popular in the 80s not invented in the 50s), which the server hears as Pepsi free, meaning he doesn't want to pay for it.
Load More Replies... #49
Supertroopers. I was like 10 when I saw it there’s a scene where Ramathorn and Rodney team up and Rodney nicknames their team “Ramrod” I didn’t figure out until my late 20’s that this was a crude name for p*nis. I’d use Ramrod for so many team names in school and cringe when I think about it.
SirWriteALot 1 year ago
No, a ramrod actually means "a long, thin rod which can be used for pushing something into a narrow tube. Ramrods were used, for example, for forcing an explosive substance down the barrel of an old-fashioned gun, or for cleaning the barrel of a gun"
#50
The first Austin Powers movie. Austin has just come out of the freezing process. Austin is talking to Basil Exposition and a member from Russian intelligence. Austin says to Basil “are you mad, Russian intelligence.” Basil replies back that the Cold War is over. Then Austin replies back “finally those capitalist pigs will pay for their crimes, ehh comrades ehh? “ It wasn’t until I read a book about MI6 that I learned that a number of MI6 agents during the Cold War were actually double agents, providing intel to the KGB.
Jason Lane 1 year ago
No, that's just a joke that Austin Powers assumes Russia "won" the Cold War, so he acts like he's on their side.
JayWantsACat 1 year ago
Yup, this. Kind of hilarious that this person didn't get the joke...twice.
Load More Replies... #51
I saw Ferris Bueller at age 10, when the nurse says "I came to help restore your pluck, cause I'm the nurse who likes to-"
Not until I was an adult did I realize what the last word of that sentence was supposed to be.
#52
It’s a visual gag I didn’t notice until the this past year on my like 20th viewing of Airplane!
In the scene at Kramer’s house, he steps THROUGH the mirror when he goes to leave the house 😂.
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
I liked the part where the rear projection is SO OBVIOUSLY rear projection while they're driving that it changes to a "cowboys and Indians" movie where the Native Americans are now chasing the car. Later, when Kramer goes into the airport, an arrow hits the wall behind him!
Stephen Holleman 1 year ago
I think it just has to be seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D-n0yctyGY
Load More Replies... #53
"SUPPLIES!!!"
I don't know how many times I'd seen UHF before I was watching it and went "Oh for f***s sake.".
René Sauer 1 year ago
yeah, don´t bother explaining any further. Sc*ew the people who might not have seen the movie, right?
Ace 1 year ago
I'm guessing it might be referencing the crude chinaman joke where the word surprised is mispronounced in that way...
Load More Replies...
linda harbin 1 year ago
Someone opens a janitorial closet and a bunch of Japanese guys coming jumping out yelling “SUPPLIES!”
LillieMean 1 year ago (edited)
What is the name of the movie? I don't like unnecessary acronyms and I don't remember them either.
#54
Wayne’s World during the scene when Noah Vanderhoff’s wife says, “she just opened her mouth and out it came” when telling everyone she came up with the name for Noah’s Arcade. When Wayne’s crew member says, “wow, your husband must be one lucky man”. I didn’t get this joke until later in my teens. Hahaha.
#56
MST3K, Loves Of Hercules. In the opening it shows Mickey Hargitay's name and they say something about his original name being Mortimer. I just thought "that's weird" the first couple dozen times before I realized it was a Mickey Mouse joke.
Daniel Atkins 1 year ago
Mst3k is full of jokes that unless you know what they are talking about you miss them.
Lee Gilliland 1 year ago
MST3K is a takeoff on movies at SF conventions. Before VCRs, there were only a few ways to research a movie, all expensive, SF Cons started shooting SF movies, during which everyone made comments. The guy who "invented" MST3K recorded the comments, talked A local TV station into allowing him to "host* that movie, and used it as a script. History in the making.
Load More Replies... #57
In George of the Jungle he says something like "Rubber tree, very good for clothesline" after he clotheslines someone.
I'd never watched wrestling, being Australian, and genuinely thought he was just giving laundry tips to Ursula. It only dawned on me last year at 2-f*****g-9 when we rewatched it.
#58
Most jokes in Scary Movie. Especially the when Doofy don't want to be disturbed when he's cleaning his room with a vacuum cleaner.
#59
Hot Shots
"What do you do with an elephant with 3 balls? You walk him and pitch to the rhino."
I've been a huge baseball fan my whole life but never got that joke until someone on reddit pointed it out a few years ago.
Rahul Pawa 1 year ago
I'm trying to figure out how the rhino fits into the joke. I'm probably overthinking this.
The Darkest Timeline 1 year ago
Hard to explain but the original question was about an elephant with three testicles while the punchline was about baseball. He could have said any animal (ie: “Walk him and pitch to the Cape buffalo) so the rhino is just a stand-in for “If the hitter has three balls, just go ahead and walk him to get to the next guy.” See how unfunny it is when you have to explain?
Load More Replies... 
#60
When I was a kid and watched Dumb & Dumber I never understood why people were laughing at “Samsonite! I was way off” and years later while in a store I noticed samsonite was a brand of luggage and immediately got the joke.
#61
The "You can kiss me on the veranda" joke from the 3 amigos.
Daniel Atkins 1 year ago
The woman says this and thew male character response "The lips would be fine." Meaning he was so dumb he thought she was asking him to kiss a different body part.
Load More Replies... #62
*Caddyshack* when Danny shows up at the yacht club in his “D**k Cavett” attire, Spaulding says, “Ahoy, Polloi!”
Brilliant line, and it flew straight over my head for years.
The Other Guest 1 year ago
Ya know, if BP paid a human being to do the censoring instead of using bots, perhaps people's actual names wouldn't be half asterisks. It's OK to say "Dick Cavett" fer cryin' in a pail.
The Darkest Timeline 1 year ago
Then they’d have to pay someone to do it. You putting up your money?
Load More Replies... #63
Shrek Forever After has a line after Donkey falls into a trap where he says, “And then my donkey fell into your waffle hole”.
#64
Star Wars - At the start when C3PO is moaning about having walked so far his joints are almost frozen - You can see the escape pod in the background and he's only gone around 200 metres. This took legit 40 years to get.
#65
That one joke from Madagascar 1. “And look! Free mints!”
Really thought for YEARS that was an actual mint Melman had on his tongue.
Merrill N. Munro 1 year ago
How about "Sugar, Honey, Iced Tea", from Marty the Zebra? He said sh*t in code! To be fair, the movie is rated PG, not G, but I actually caught it, having lived in the South...
Tabitha 1 year ago (edited)
I’m 64, and we used to say “sugar honey iced tea” when I was a kid to avoid being punished by our parents for cussing. What I’m saying is that one’s so old it’s got whiskers.
Load More Replies... Rahul Pawa 1 year ago
I found the clip on YouTube. For anyone like me who doesn't remember, it was a urinal cake.
What do you think ?
Nikole 1 year ago (edited)
Besides Prince Valium being a pill in Spaceballs, I think the only other joke I didn’t get when I was an actual child is the “What number are we thinking of?” one from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Edit - Oh and this one from Predator: “The other day, I was going down on my girlfriend. I said to her, "Jeez you got a big pussy. Jeez you got a big pussy." She said, "Why did you say that twice?" I said, "I didn't."
Chris Dyre 1 year ago
The echo insult is pretty brutal but I've got another one, talking about the woman instead of to her: it was like kicking a hot dog down a dark alley. Credit to Kev R
Load More Replies...
B Jones 1 year ago
I have one. Not really a joke. But I was watching the movie Hackers again last weekend (us I like it). And one of the hackers they work with is Lord Nikon. Anyway I never connected that he had that name because he had photographic memory. I always just accepted it as his nick name.
Kristal 1 year ago
My biggest mind blowing realization wasn't from a movie but Spice Girl's song 'Wannabe'. I only recently figured out "zig-a-zig-ah" is "orgasm". The entire song is about sex. Still catchy though.
Mason Kronol 1 year ago
Wait until you hear about Cyndi Lauper´s She Bop from the 80’s!
Load More Replies...
Chris Landrum 1 year ago
I know it is not a movie but in the Mandalorian, there Is a scene when they are in a factory and trying to fit in. at one point someone mentions a the TRS80 report. TRS80 report is from the movie Office Space
Fred L. 1 year ago
How much time, would you say, do you spend each week dealing with those TPS-reports?
Load More Replies... Mark Kelly 1 year ago
In an episode of made with children l is looking for a job and he says he wants a job where he gets to play with Hooters all day and the employment agency person says that would be an anesthesiologist. You kind of have to go to a dark place cuz I assume she means the anesthesiologist molests a patient while I'm doing
Jason 1 year ago
Peewee is a great example of this. Watching kid things as an adult is awesome. When my kids were little I would bust out laughing at all the dirty jokes and when they asked what was funny I just had to say you'll get it when you're older. Now they are older and always point out the jokes I didn't explain. Great fun.
Tommy DePaul 1 year ago
PeeWee: You know what they say about men with big feet? Cowboy Curtis: They wear big boots?
Load More Replies... Livingwithcfs 1 year ago
I love rewatching movies to catch all the bits I missed thefirst time. But one of the funnest movies I've ever seen (and you do need to rewatch it to catch all the jokes) is 1936 film 'My Man Godfrey'
Nikole 1 year ago (edited)
Besides Prince Valium being a pill in Spaceballs, I think the only other joke I didn’t get when I was an actual child is the “What number are we thinking of?” one from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Edit - Oh and this one from Predator: “The other day, I was going down on my girlfriend. I said to her, "Jeez you got a big pussy. Jeez you got a big pussy." She said, "Why did you say that twice?" I said, "I didn't."
Chris Dyre 1 year ago
The echo insult is pretty brutal but I've got another one, talking about the woman instead of to her: it was like kicking a hot dog down a dark alley. Credit to Kev R
Load More Replies... B Jones 1 year ago
I have one. Not really a joke. But I was watching the movie Hackers again last weekend (us I like it). And one of the hackers they work with is Lord Nikon. Anyway I never connected that he had that name because he had photographic memory. I always just accepted it as his nick name.
Kristal 1 year ago
My biggest mind blowing realization wasn't from a movie but Spice Girl's song 'Wannabe'. I only recently figured out "zig-a-zig-ah" is "orgasm". The entire song is about sex. Still catchy though.
Mason Kronol 1 year ago
Wait until you hear about Cyndi Lauper´s She Bop from the 80’s!
Load More Replies... Chris Landrum 1 year ago
I know it is not a movie but in the Mandalorian, there Is a scene when they are in a factory and trying to fit in. at one point someone mentions a the TRS80 report. TRS80 report is from the movie Office Space
Fred L. 1 year ago
How much time, would you say, do you spend each week dealing with those TPS-reports?
Load More Replies... Mark Kelly 1 year ago
In an episode of made with children l is looking for a job and he says he wants a job where he gets to play with Hooters all day and the employment agency person says that would be an anesthesiologist. You kind of have to go to a dark place cuz I assume she means the anesthesiologist molests a patient while I'm doing
Jason 1 year ago
Peewee is a great example of this. Watching kid things as an adult is awesome. When my kids were little I would bust out laughing at all the dirty jokes and when they asked what was funny I just had to say you'll get it when you're older. Now they are older and always point out the jokes I didn't explain. Great fun.
Tommy DePaul 1 year ago
PeeWee: You know what they say about men with big feet? Cowboy Curtis: They wear big boots?
Load More Replies... Livingwithcfs 1 year ago
I love rewatching movies to catch all the bits I missed thefirst time. But one of the funnest movies I've ever seen (and you do need to rewatch it to catch all the jokes) is 1936 film 'My Man Godfrey'
You May Like "What Happened To All The Faces?": Woman Sparks Debate Over Hollywood Actresses Starting To Look Identical 45 Film Crew Members Reveal Which Stars Were Absolute Nightmares On Set
Analice Couto
Rugilė Žemaitytė
Related on Bored Panda
