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Anonymous Posted 9 years ago
Vocabulary

A joke

Waiter, do you serve crabs?
Sit down, sir. We serve anybody.

What is supposed to make me laugh in the joke above?
  

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5 Answers
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The verb 'serve' has two meanings,

The restaurant serves food, eg crabs,
The restaurant serves customers ('a crab;' means a difficult customer.)
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CliveThe verb 'serve' has two meanings,The restaurant serves food, eg crabs,The restaurant serves customers ('a crab;' means a difficult customer.)
Thank you for the reply.

Isn't it that crabs (the cooked animals, not difficult customers) are among those that are "anybody", thus grammatically being the indirect object in that joke?
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Waiter, do you serve crabs?


The waiter thinks the customer is asking 'Do you serve difficult customers?'
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CliveWaiter, do you serve crabs? The waiter thinks the customer is asking 'Do you serve difficult customers?'
I see. Thank you for the reply.
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Conversation A:
Customer: Waiter, do you serve crabs?
Waiter: Yes sir, we don't discriminate. We serve anybody as long as they are not wearing T shirts and sandals.

Conversation B:
Customer: Waiter, do you serve crabs?
Waiter: Yes sir, we specialize in seafood and crabs are in season.

The customer thought he was in conversation B, but the waiter thought he was
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