WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PHOTOCOPIER AND THE FLU BUG? - ONE MAKES FACSIMILES THE OTHER MAKES SICK FAMILIES.
What’s so funny about this? This is not a great time to be making jokes about viruses, with Ebola wreaking havoc in Africa and causing panic in Europe and the US. But sometimes humor is all we have left to make us feel a little better. This spoonerism uses a classic formula to present the joke. That formula is to ask “what’s the difference between…?” This question immediately forces a comparison of the two items and gets your mind set up for the joke which you’re not going to see coming. The two items being compared have to be severely unrelated so that finding any kind of connection is really difficult. Here we are asked to compare and differentiate a photocopier with a virus, or flu bug, as some people call it. How do you even begin? One is an old school copying device and the other a serious disease. You might think that you can catch the flu by using the photocopier, but you’re nowhere close. The difference is in the sounds and spelling of the word “facsimile”, which is a noun meaning “copy”. So a photo copying machine makes copies. Well, duh. I guess we all know that. Here’s where the fun begins. Normally a spoonerism is made by switching the initial letter or sound, but in this case it’s the entire first syllable. First we have to break “facsimiles” into its four component syllables, FAC-SI-MIL-LIES. Next we spoonerize only the first two syllables. The result is two words, “SICK” “FAMILIES.” Remember we’re going more by sound here. Families with small children are especially prone to viral diseases the kids pick up in school from other kids. Remember kids are usually pretty dirty, which is one reason they pass on diseases so quickly and easily. You should feel proud, now you understand the joke. And THAT’s what’s so funny!
