“Why did the chicken cross the road?"/"To get to the other side” is a classic riddle from the 19th century. A popular joke variation is:
“I grilled a chicken for two hours yesterday...and it STILL wouldn’t tell me why it crossed the road.”
“Roasted a chicken for three hours today - STILL wouldn’t tell me why it crossed the road” was posted on Twitter on April 22, 2011.
Twitter
daiglebox
@daiglebox
I’ve used a knife, a lighter, and a hammer, but this damn chicken STILL won’t tell me why he crossed the road! Tough bird.
12:47 AM - 30 Jan 2010
Twitter
Splash.
@SplashMan
RT @neillockwood Roasted a chicken for three hours today - STILL wouldn’t tell me why it crossed the road. >> haha brilliant
4:47 PM - 22 Apr 2011
Twitter
Dave Lee
@davelee
I was grilling a chicken the other day. But after three hours, it still wouldn’t tell me why it crossed the road. (There!)
6:57 AM - 11 Jul 2011
Twitter
Feint Zebra
@feintzebra
Took me 2 hours to grill a chicken last night and the fucker still wouldn’t tell me why he crossed the road.
7:21 AM - 23 Jul 2011
Twitter
Graham Smith
@Grahamsmeeth
I grilled a chicken for two hours yesterday and the bastard still wouldn’t tell me why it crossed the road.
4:50 AM - 1 Jan 2012
The Dive Forum
Thread: Joke of the day
londonsean69
06-10-2013, 11:00 AM
(...)
I grilled a chicken last night. Total waste of time. He still wouldn’t tell me why he crossed the road.
Reddit—Jokes
I just grilled a chicken for 8 hours.
submitted November 15, 2015 by Linalg2
And it still didn’t tell me why it crossed the road.
4 December 2015, Birmingham (UK) Mail, “I’ve seen the light - these people need jobs,” pg. 17:
TOOK me two hours to grill a chicken yesterday. It still refused to tell me why it crossed the road.
Facebook
Haddins Fitness
October 17, 2016 ·
(...)
I grilled a chicken for a full hour last night…...when I got home he still didn’t tell me why he crossed the road!!!!
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:
•
Entry in progress—BP (6/4)
•
“When someone asks what my dream job is. Literally nothing. Who dreams to have a job…” (6/4)
•
Entry in progress—BP (6/4)
•
Entry in progress—BP (6/4)
•
Entry in progress—BP (6/4)
More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps.
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.
This site is edited by Barry Popik.