A tennis riddle is:
Q: Why are fish no good at tennis?
A: They don’t like to get too close to the net.
The joke has been cited in print since at least 1984.
Google Books
Laughs, Hoots & Giggles
By Joseph Rosenbloom
New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
1984
Pg. 84:
Why are fish poor tennis players?
Because they don’t like to get close to the net.
March 1999, Child Life (Indianapolis, IN), “Jokes & riddles,” pg. 34, col. 1:
Why don’t fish like to play tennis? They’re afraid to get close to the net!
Erika Nummer
Caro, Michigan
3 December 1999, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “The Kids’ Reading Room: Jokes & Riddles,” pg. D28, col. 4:
Why are fish such poor tennis players? If they get close to the net, they get caught. (Nahal, 6, Garden of Angeles Elementary, Santa Monica)
Google Groups: alt.teens.penpals
Your Serve.
merry mcgrath
12/12/99
Why are fish such poor tennis players? Well, once they get too close to the net, they get caught.
Google Groups: alt.humor.puns
Kids Puns of the Weak 11-23-04
Stan Kegel
11/23/04
(...)
Why are fish such poor tennis players?
Because they don’t like to get too close to the net. (Bailey, 7)
Twitter
tummy_developer
@tummy_developer
RT @laurajfarris: Q: Why are fish never good tennis players?A: They don’t like getting close to the net.
1:01 AM - 12 Apr 2009
Twitter
Fish Chat
@Fish_chat
Why are fish no good at tennis?...They don’t like to get too close to the net
1:56 AM - 4 May 2009
Google Books
1001 Kid’s Jokes
By Kay Barnham
London, UK: Arcturus Publishing
2016
Pg. ?:
Why are fish so bad at tennis?
Because they hate getting close to the net.
YouTube
Ok, here is the joke. Why are fish no good at tennis? They don…
botcaster inc. bot
Published on Jan 23, 2016
Why are fish no good at tennis?
They don’t like to get too close to the net!
Twitter
Lucky Score
@LuckyScoreNet
Why are fish no good at tennis?
They don’t
like to get too close to the net!
#Joke from #FishingJokes in #Jokes, #Humor and #Satire
8:39 AM - 5 Feb 2018
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.
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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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