1

In the pod Every Little Thing, they often play with words making jokes with intricate references. Recently, I heard an exchange where a person made a joke about the former president Ronald Reagan being the president of the planet Mars. I simply do not get it. Even the host admitted it was deep.

A: Did you want to hear a space joke?
B: I would love to.
A: Um so, it's a little out there...that's the first part...you didn't get it...the space joke is "out there".
B: I love it!
A: But here is the actual joke. "Who is the president of Mars?".
B: "Who's the president of Mars?...Hmmm...Tell me.
A: Ronald Reagan.

Source at time "16:40

That's it. No explanation, no nothing. I'm not even sure if the first part before the pause is an independent joke (space joke - it's out there) or if it's a build-up for the main part. Is it the actual former president they refer to? The program was about space junk so I assume that Mars actually refers to the red planet but I'm unsure about that too.

James K
  • 217,650
  • 16
  • 258
  • 452
Konrad Viltersten
  • 4,367
  • 10
  • 38
  • 72
  • Was the whole last line spoken by the same person? So that Ronald Reagan is a guess? – Michael Harvey Aug 13 '21 at 19:31
  • I think you mean podcast, not just pod. – stangdon Aug 13 '21 at 20:31
  • Do you have a link to the podcast (episode and approximate timing) Jokes sometimes depend on subtle intonations and don't work when transcribed to text. – James K Aug 13 '21 at 21:09
  • Okay I've found it. I've corrected the transcript. In this case it doesn't matter, the joke isn't affected, but it might be. Especially with jokes, you have to be very precise on the wording, because it might matter. – James K Aug 13 '21 at 21:33
  • @MichaelHarvey No. The askee couldn't provide a guess. It's the asker that provides the correct answer to their own question. – Konrad Viltersten Aug 14 '21 at 03:30
  • @stangdon Yes, I meant podcast*. However, I can't see the difference. Googling suggests that pod* is an alternative (if yet not formal) name for it. Am I missing something? What is a pod as opposed to a podcast in the current context (other than the alternative meanings of such, that is)? – Konrad Viltersten Aug 14 '21 at 03:39
  • @JamesK Yes, I do. It's right there in the question. Hard to miss. Especially by someone who put it there. (BTW, thanks for the edit. I wasn't sure if I quoted it correctly and I didn't know how to dig up that information. And you're perfectly right - sometimes a joke is based on the time between certain words or tone of voice.) – Konrad Viltersten Aug 14 '21 at 03:41
  • @KonradViltersten I am not extremely familiar with podcasting culture, but I have never heard anyone just call it a "pod". The pod part comes from the name of the Apple iPod: "Podcast" is a portmanteau, a combination of "iPod" and "broadcast". "Pod" in the word "podcast" doesn't really mean anything by itself. – stangdon Aug 14 '21 at 16:42
  • @stangdon Admittedly, it might be my Swedishness shining through improperly translating a word we seemingly borrowed from English (although we apparently didn't). However, I always thought it was an abbreviation of portable on demand and had nothing to do with products related to fruit that was munched on. But I might be misinformed. At any rate , you did react, so it's probably better to you the cast-suffixed version, anyway. – Konrad Viltersten Aug 14 '21 at 21:06
  • @KonradViltersten "portable on demand" is what's called a backronym, which is an expansion of a word made up later as though the word were an acronym, when it was never originally one. For example, "Scuba" actually comes from "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", but "posh" did not come from "port out, starboard home", that's something that people made up later as a false etymology. Same thing with pod meaning portable on demand. – stangdon Aug 16 '21 at 11:29
  • 1
    @stangdon I had no idea such a thing existed. We do have a word for that in Swedish (i.e. efterhandskonstruktion which roughly translates to construction after the occurrence) but that's only applicable to the BS someone fits to discovered facts, once they're caught. Not sure if I like the idea behind the backronym. In the end, one won't be able to trust anything as original... – Konrad Viltersten Aug 16 '21 at 15:37

1 Answers1

8

The joke is a play on the pronunciation of his last name. In the U.S. his name is pronounced Ronald Ray Gun. Get it? Ray Gun? Bzzzaappp!

Take me to your litre.

EllieK
  • 9,196
  • 1
  • 23
  • 53
  • 3
    I don't pronounce it that way but I think this is probably right. It's a pun. – JimmyJames Aug 13 '21 at 19:36
  • 2
    That makes sense. A straight line is the shortest distance between two puns. "As Mozart once remarked to Schubert: 'Take me to your lieder'" -Tom Lerher. – David Siegel Aug 13 '21 at 19:36
  • 2
    This is the joke, and it is very clear when you hear the podcast that the speaker says "Ray gun" There is a "meta joke" in that this is a particularly bad joke. So we can laugh at the person who is telling it. – James K Aug 13 '21 at 21:35
  • 2
    Probably the correct answer, but this is literally the worst joke/pun I've ever heard... and I have kids. – TypeIA Aug 13 '21 at 21:43
  • So the joke has nothing to do with Mars specifically? I don't see how a ray gun relates to that planet (or any celestial body or even outer space). Is it a reference to the star wars program which was Reagan administration's way to drive Soviet to bankcrupcy by pretending they were developing weapons usable in space? – Konrad Viltersten Aug 14 '21 at 03:47
  • 1
    @KonradViltersten - Mars, and ray-guns, were notable features of early science fiction. – Michael Harvey Aug 14 '21 at 06:12