At an international conference, a Spanish man and a Swedish lady are staying in hotel rooms next to each other. Around eleven at night the man knocks on her door with a bottle of wine and flowers in his hands.
– Who’s there? The woman says.
The Spanish man lifts his head up proudly and replies
– Juan Carlos Emmanuel De Silva
After a slight pause, the woman answers
– Ok, come in, but one at a time…
Joke Poo: The Code Review
At a remote software development retreat in Iceland, a senior Java developer and a young Python coder are assigned adjacent yurts. Around 2 AM, the Java dev knocks on the Python coder’s yurt door, holding a massive printout of code and a red pen.
- Who’s there? asks the Python coder groggily.
The Java developer puffs out his chest and replies, with booming authority,
- ClassUtilsInterfaceFactorySingletonImplementationDecorator!
After a long, heavy silence, the Python coder mumbles,
- Okay, come in… but keep it under eighty characters per line.
Alright, let’s break down this joke and then build something funnier on top of it.
Joke Dissection:
- Setup: An international conference, creating a premise of cultural differences and potential misunderstandings. Two people in adjacent hotel rooms, setting the stage for a possible romantic encounter.
- Punchline Trigger: The Spanish man’s ridiculously long name ("Juan Carlos Emmanuel De Silva"). The length and formality of the name are inherently funny, contrasting with the expected casualness of a late-night visit.
- Punchline: The woman’s witty response ("Ok, come in, but one at a time…"). This plays on two levels:
- She acknowledges the absurdity of the long name by treating it as multiple people.
- She introduces a humorous layer of sexual innuendo, suggesting a willingness to entertain multiple "people" (represented by name segments).
Key Elements to Exploit:
- Long Spanish Names: Spanish naming conventions often involve multiple given names and surnames from both parents, potentially leading to impressively lengthy monikers.
- Cultural Expectations: The joke hinges on the assumed difference in approach between the Spanish man (romantic, forward) and the Swedish woman (reserved, witty).
- Sexual Innuendo: The double entendre adds a playful layer to the humor.
Comedic Enrichment:
Option 1: A "Did You Know?" Enhancement:
"Did you know that in Spain, it’s perfectly legal to change your last names’ order when you turn 18? So technically, Juan Carlos Emmanuel De Silva could have legally renamed himself ‘De Silva Emmanuel Juan Carlos’, effectively creating four new potential suitors for the Swedish lady, each with a distinct legal identity! Now that’s international relations!"
Why it’s funny: This takes the premise of the joke and twists it with a real fact about Spanish naming culture. It enhances the absurdity of the situation by suggesting even more potential "people" hidden within the name.
Option 2: A Witty Observation:
"That Spanish guy thought he was being romantic by giving his full name. Little did he know, in Sweden, listing your full name on a dating app is seen as a sign of impending tax evasion charges."
Why it’s funny: This contrasts the perceived cultural approaches to romance with a slightly cynical observation. The unexpected leap to tax evasion adds a layer of dark humor.
Option 3: A New Joke Format (based on the original)
At a linguistic conference, a German and a Brazilian are standing in line for the coffee machine. The Brazilian turns to the German and says, with a wide grin, "So, you know Portuguese?"
The German scoffs and replies, "Of course! I know everything!"
The Brazilian says, "Okay, spell saudade."
The German pauses, sweating, then mutters, "…okay, come back in five years. I need to complete several graduate degrees!"
Why it’s funny: The Brazilian’s "saudade" (a complex and somewhat untranslatable Portuguese word expressing longing or nostalgia) operates as the long name in the first joke, subverting the expectation. The German person’s hubris is punctured, with the joke pivoting on how the word carries so much meaning and emotion that you need to learn about the culture to truly get it, let alone spell it.