Jokes often depend on word plays that are specific to the language used, and this is particularly true of Mandarin Chinese jokes. Because of the large number of Mandarin Chinese homonyms, many Mandarin Chinese jokes are based on mixing up these homonyms. As such, they are impossible to translate into English, but intermediate to advanced students can use jokes to gain insight into the Mandarin language and Chinese culture, while expanding their vocabulary.


The following joke is presented in Chinese characters, pinyin romanization, a literal English translation, and finally an explanation. It is about a student called ??? (Dài Suí Tóng).

Traditional Characters

?????????????
??，????????????：
?????，??????????
??????，????????????????，?????：???????？?

Simplified Characters

?????????????
??，????????????：
?????，??????????
??????，????????????????，?????：???????？?

Pinyin

Mou gaozhong xuéxiào xuésheng míngjiào Dài Suí Tóng.
Mou rì, xùn dao chù mou wèi laoshi xiàng quán xiào guangbo:
“Gao èr tóngxué, Dài Suí Tóng dào xùn dao chù lái.”
Jiéguo shífen zhong hòu, xùn dao chù qián ji man le dài zháo dàxiao shuitong de tóngxué, háiyou rén zài wèn, “Yàobu yào zhuang shui a?”

Literal Translation

There was once a high school student named Dài Suí Tóng.
One day, a teacher in charge of discipline used the intercom to broadcast this message:
"Secondary High students, Dài Suí Tóng to the office of discipline."
Ten minutes later, many students appeared outside the office of discipline with water buckets. One of them asked, “Do we have to put water in the buckets?

Explanation

The name of the student ??? (Dài Suí Tóng) sounds like ??? (dài shuitong), which means “bring a water bucket”.