Sumerian Bar Joke

About

Sumerian Bar Joke refers to a bar joke about a dog walking into a tavern composed in Ancient Sumer circa 1800 B.C. In March 2022, the joke was posted on Twitter by the gimmick account Depths of Wikipedia where it became a subject of discussions and memes on the website and started a viral debate as to the meaning of the joke.

Origin

On March 9th, 2022, gimmick Twitter^[1] and Instagram account Depths of Wikipedia shared a screenshot of the Wikipedia article for "bar joke" in which one of the earliest examples of a bar joke, one created in Sumer circa 1894-1800 B.C., was shared. The post gained over 10,500 retweets and 96,000 likes on Twitter in two weeks (shown below).

A dog walked into a tavern and said, "I can't see a thing. I'll open this one."

At the time of the post, the Wikipedia article did not offer an explanation for the joke, with the assumption made that it may be related to the Sumer way of life.

Spread

That same day on March 9th, 2022, Twitter^[2] user @abbyfheld offered a possible explanation for the joke in a reply to Depths of Wikipedia, writing that considering Sumerian taverns were also brothels and the word meaning an "unopened eye" is similar to a word for "widow," a double entendre occurs (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 610 retweets and 4,300 likes. On March 20th, 2022, Twitter^[3] @LinManuelRwanda posted a lengthy thread in which he offered an alternative explanation of the joke (shown below, right). The tweet gained over 560 retweets and 3,200 likes.

The Wikipedia article has since been updated with @abbyfheld's explanation of the joke.

On March 12th and 16th, 2022, Depths of Wikipedia tweeted^[4][5] Funniest Shit Ever and What If You Wanted to Go to Heaven meme based on the joke, which gained over 520 retweets and 8,100 likes and 3,800 retweets and 45,800 likes, respectively (shown below, left and center). On March 17th, 2022, Twitter^[6] user @DoctorPenisBoob made a tweet comparing the joke with Loss, which gained over 14,200 retweets and 111,500 likes in five days (shown below, right).

In the following days, more users on Twitter posted memes referencing the Sumerian bar joke as it became more widely known online.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References