Can you explain what this joke means please?
“I did a gig in a fertility clinic. I got a standing ovulation.”
Tim Vine: Timtiminee Timtiminee Tim Tim to You
(Pleasance Courtyard, One)
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2Play on words: standing ovation (applauding audience on their feet). – TimR Sep 02 '15 at 22:11
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1The line underneath is a great play on words too... I never expected the Edinburgh Festival to appear in ell.se, but perhaps its an annual occurrence... – Brian Tompsett - 汤莱恩 Sep 02 '15 at 22:18
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I love play on words. – kyle Sep 02 '15 at 22:25
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2An additional play on words: "Gig" can mean a performance, or a temporary job. – Golden Cuy Sep 02 '15 at 22:41
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2To be fair, it's a crap joke. – Alec Teal Sep 03 '15 at 11:33
1 Answers
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A "standing ovation" is when people stand up and applaud after a performance (concert, comedy, opera, et cetera) to show their support.
An ovulation is when a woman produces an egg cell - when she is fertile.
Deusovi
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2That's not quite right -- egg cells aren't produced during ovulation -- "all of them are present at birth in mammals and mature via oogenesis" (see Wikipedia). – joriki Sep 03 '15 at 11:55
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2@joriki: To produce can also mean "to bring forth/to provide", without having to include its creation at that time. (Definition 3 in the provided link) – Flater Sep 03 '15 at 12:50
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@Flater: The way I understand that meaning of "produce", that might work if a) the woman brings forth the egg cell, i.e. it ends up outside of her body, or b) if it said "an ovary produces an egg cell" (and the egg cell ends up outside of the ovary), but I don't think someone can "bring forth" something within their own body. – joriki Sep 03 '15 at 12:53
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@joriki: "a woman produces an egg cell" => Depending on how deep you define "a woman", that statement can easily be inclusive of all her cells and internal organs. – Flater Sep 03 '15 at 12:55
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@Flater: Yes, of course, but that doesn't mean the statement can have the same meaning as if the subject were one of her organs. In "a woman speaks", the woman of course includes her larynx; nevertheless, "her larynx speaks" is not a meaningful sentence; and vice versa, "her sinoatrial node regulates her heartbeat" has a completely different meaning from "she regulates her heartbeat". – joriki Sep 03 '15 at 12:57
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If "her larynx speaks" isn't a meaningful sentence, why did you suggest "an ovary produces an egg cell"? Same principle. You're arguing semantics in a question for explaining a joke that hinges on a pun. – Flater Sep 03 '15 at 12:59
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2Well, because ovaries bring forth egg cells and larynxes don't speak. There are more subtleties in language than appear to be dreamt of in your philosophy. – joriki Sep 03 '15 at 13:01