The Old Joel on Software Forum: Part 4 (of 5)

Riddle in Philadelphia

So long as we don't have an "anything goes" forum, I'll take the liberty of some indiscretion. You'd appreciate we are a community and we collectively acknowledge an emotional bonding amoungst ourselves. We have an urge to share ideas with our friends, and since you are all my friends, I am going to ask.

Even though it be beside software sometimes, we must be allowed, Joel. This one riddle beats me to date.

I've watched Philadelphia (1993, *ing Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington and Antonio Bandares), my all-time favourite movie, a couple of times and have read its script too. But there's this riddle in the movie I didn't quite catch.

At the climax, Andrew Becket (Tom Hanks) poses this riddle to Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), his lawyer who's paying a visit to the hospital to congratulate Andy for his legal victory. Andy asks, "So, what do you call a thousand lawyers chained together at the bottom of the ocean?" When Joe gives up, Andy divulges, "A good start!"

I just didn't get it. Would someone explain this to me; like I were a six old :-)?

Some poster elsewhere replied saying it was a vindictive statement expressing the general loathing for lawyers that the masses have. But then, they were both playing lawyers. Why must they smite at their own creed?

Don't flame me, please. I am just too sensitive today.

Sathyaish Chakravarthy
Monday, February 23, 2004

This is a fairly popular lawyer joke. It means that society would probably be better off without lawyers. Seems like your friend explained it properly.

Joe Blandy
Monday, February 23, 2004

Thank you, chum.

Sathyaish Chakravarthy
Monday, February 23, 2004

Basically, the point is this:

Q: What's better than 1000 lawyers at the bottom of the sea?

A: 2000.

Hence the "good start".

anon
Monday, February 23, 2004

In Canada and U.S. at least, it seems to be fairly common for identifiable groups to make jokes at their own expense. That is, lawyers telling anti-lawyer jokes. For example, I come from a Ukrainian background and have found that I hear far more Ukrainian jokes when I'm at a family reunion than at any other time.

Ron Porter
Monday, February 23, 2004

Aha! I dig that now. Like here, some surdarjis (vernacular for sikhs) make surdarji jokes.

Sathyaish Chakravarthy
Monday, February 23, 2004