NURSE: BE CAREFUL, DOCTOR…
DOCTOR: YES, THE CANDLE WITH HAIR WE MUST HANDLE WITH CARE
What’s so funny about this? Yep, we’ve got another spoonerism. This time, we can’t do a comparison because we’re not comparing parallel parts of speech, such as nouns to nouns or verbs to verbs. In the first part, we have two nouns and the other, a verb and an adverb. But it’s still a spoonerism and it’s still funny so let’s look at it. The object described is somewhat absurd - a “candle with hair”. Why anyone would want to mix hair with candle wax is beyond me. But spoonerisms don’t require logic, just grammatical and syntactical correctness. In the picture, in fact, someone has put a toupee or wig on top of the burning candle. Perhaps the candle originally had a face carved into it and, much like a doll, the carver decided to add hair to make it appear more realistic. In this case the candle is burning. Fire can always be dangerous especially if the hair starts to burn, then it’s possible, depending on how the candle is handled, that the fire could spread to other candles or any other combustible or burnable object. In the end the entire building could burn down. That is why the end of the spoonerism is an admonition, a warning, that a candle with hair must be handled with care, especially when you switch the initial letters. That the whole thing is taking place in an operating room, just shows what a tricky operation this whole procedure is. I think that the nut who put the hair on the candle is who should be in the operating room, getting a lobotomy, getting his brains removed. And THAT’s what’s so funny!
This joke came from Funny Spoonerisms on Twitter.com
