“Why did the chicken cross the road?”/“To get to the other side” is a classic riddle from the 19th century. A jocular variation is:
Q: Why did the chicken stop in the middle of the road?
A: To get to the other side.
That is, the chicken stopped in the middle of the road to get killed and reach the “other side” (afterlife). “Q: Why did the chicken stop in the middle of the road? A: He wanted to `cross over to the other side’” was posted on the newsgroup comp.lang.scheme on November 19, 2004. “Why did the suicidal chicken stop in the middle of the road? to get to the other side” was posted on Twitter on November 12, 2010. The joke has been printed on an image.
“Why did the chicken stop in the middle of the road?”/“She wanted to lay it on the line” is a similar joke with a different punchline.
Google Groups: comp.lang.scheme
C++ to Scheme compiler
Joe Marshall
11/19/04
(...)
Q: Why did the chicken stop in the middle of the road?
A: He wanted to `cross over to the other side’.
Twitter
Bud Light Platinum
@joeyoga
why did the suicidal chicken stop in the middle of the road? to get to the other side.
2:24 PM - 12 Nov 2010
Twitter
leighann turner ツ
@AYE_leigh_ann
Why did the chicken stop in the middle of the road? he committed suicide. wanted to get to the other side
10:55 AM - 2 Sep 2012
Twitter
Very Fishy News!
@HaddockNews
Why did the chicken stop in the middle of the road therefore committing suicide? ...To get to the other side! #chickenjokes
8:39 AM - 27 Apr 2014
Twitter
Desiree Menken
@DesireeMenken
@NickSwardson Why did the chicken stop in the middle of the road?
To get to the “other side”
12:47 AM - 3 Mar 2015
Reddit—Jokes
Why did the depressed chicken stop in the middle of the road?
submitted August 11, 2017 by Monechetti
To get to the Other Side
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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