“Why did the chicken cross the road?”/“To get to the other side” is a classic riddle from the 19th century. A dinosaur version is:
Q: Why did the dinosaur cross the road?
A: Because chickens hadn’t evolved yet.
The joke has been cited in print since at least 1990.
21 January 1990, Edmonton (Alberta) Journal, “Just Joking,” pg. F6:
Why did the dinosaur cross the road? (Because chickens weren’t invented yet.)
- Glen Sergy, Edmonton
5 August 1990, Newsday (Long Island, NY), “Smiles,” Kidsday:
Why did the dinosaur cross the road?
Because there were no chickens at that time.—Christopher Burke, Seaford
Google Books
Kids’ Funniest Jokes
Edited by Sheila Anne Barry
New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
1993
Pg. 80:
Why did the dinosaur cross the road?
Because the chicken hadn’t been invented yet.
JENNIFER SMITH, 8
Google Groups: rec.humor
Canonical List Of Animal Humor 1/6
Natural Korn Shellers
11/5/94
(...)
Why did the dinosaur cross the road?
Chickens hadn’t evolved yet.
Google Books
Dinosaur Detectives
By Judith Bauer Stamper
New York, NY: Scholastic
2001
Pp. 12-13:
“Why did the dinosaur cross the road?”
“I don’t know. To get to the other side?” D.A. guessed.
“No, because the chicken hadn’t evolved yet!”
Twitter
Elle Viane Sonnet
@awkwardgirl
Why did the dinosaur cross the road? ... Chickens hadn’t evolved yet.
6:27 PM - 2 Jul 2008
Twitter
keithcarberry
@keithcarberry
My sons corny Popsicle joke: Why did the dinosaur cross the road ? Because chickens hadn’t evolved yet…Crazy stuff Dads do for kids 😊
12:10 AM - 2 Aug 2008
Google Books
3000 Jokes, 2997 Laughs
By Mike Haskins
London, UK: Portico
2017
Pg. ?:
Q: Why did the dinosaur cross the road?
A: Because the chicken hadn’t evolved yet.
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
Recent entries:
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•“It’s pretty crazy how there’s an entire profession we have to make wear body cameras because they lie so much” (5/14)
•“Some call it multitasking. I call it doing something else while I try to remember what I was doing in the first place” (5/14)
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More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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