Can anybody explain this joke to me?

[Claudius]

Man walking along a road in the countryside comes across a shepherd and a huge flock of sheep. Tells the shepherd, "I will bet you $100 against one of your sheep that I can tell you the exact number in this flock." The shepherd thinks it over; it's a big flock so he takes the bet. "973," says the man. The shepherd is astonished, because that is exactly right. Says "OK, I'm a man of my word, take an animal." Man picks one up and begins to walk away.

"Wait," cries the shepherd, "Let me have a chance to get even. Double or nothing that I can guess your exact occupation." Man says sure. "You are an economist for a government think tank," says the shepherd. "Amazing!" responds the man, "You are exactly right! But tell me, how did you deduce that?"

"Well," says the shepherd, "put down my dog and I will tell you."

 

[statto]

The economist can accurately assess the size of the flock despite not knowing how to differentiate the sheepdog from the sheep.

i.e. Brilliant with numbers but not enough common sense to exist in the real world.

Here's a better one on a similar theme:

Irishman walking down the road with a sack. Man says to him "What's in the sack?" Irishman says "Chickens." Man says "If I guess how many are in there can I have one of them?" Irishman says "If you can guess how many are in here you can have both."

Ba-dum Tish.

 

[snoopy]

Ha ha ha Irish ppl are so stupid!

Interesting, I wonder if ppl in England tell Irish jokes like we tell Polish jokes in America.


Did you hear about the Polish guy who thought his wife was trying to kill him? He found a bottle "Polish Remover" on her dresser.


Ironically, I went to a grammar school named after a very smart Polish dude and the valedictorian of my highschool was a Polish immigrant.

 

[nfor304]

That joke doesn't make any sense.

If the economist thinks the guys dog is a sheep than wouldn't he have included the dog in his count when he counted all the sheep?

And if he did that... then he would have guessed the wrong number

 

[Dedans Penthouse]

Ha ha ha Irish ppl are so stupid!

Interesting, I wonder if ppl in England tell Irish jokes like we tell Polish jokes in America.


Did you hear about the Polish guy who thought his wife was trying to kill him? He found a bottle "Polish Remover" on her dresser.


Ironically, I went to a grammar school named after a very smart Polish dude and the valedictorian of my highschool was a Polish immigrant.

hahaha. just curious, what ethnicity are you?

 

[mozzer]

We tell Polish jokes too.

How many Polaks does it take to change a light bulb? 1,000,001.
1 to hold the light bulb and 1,000,000 to turn the house.

 

[BetterAtDoubles]

That joke doesn't make any sense.

If the economist thinks the guys dog is a sheep than wouldn't he have included the dog in his count when he counted all the sheep?

And if he did that... then he would have guessed the wrong number

Good catch!

 

[snoopy]

hahaha. just curious, what ethnicity are you?

I'm not Irish or Polish enough to answer that question..

 

[jmnk]

We tell Polish jokes too.

How many Polaks does it take to change a light bulb? 1,000,001.
1 to hold the light bulb and 1,000,000 to turn the house.

well, judging from the number of Polish handyman in England, indicating Englishman can't do anything around the house by themselves, one would think the joke is the other way around, no? And to think of it I believe they do tell the very same joke in Poland about English people.

 

[Dedans Penthouse]

I'm not Irish or Polish enough to answer that question..

Or man enough? :?:

Dude, why should such an innocuous question appear threatening to you snoopy? It's only an anonymous tennis board--it's all good.

So, what's your ethnicity snoop?

 

[hollywood9826]

How do you get a one armed polack down from a tree?

Wave to him

 

[AAAA]

Noting the key facts in the 'joke' we learn the economist is excellent at counting but can't tell a sheep from a dog.

Is that the joke, economists can count no problem but don't know Jack from Jill?

 

[TenniseaWilliams]

It means that no matter how many impressive and amazing things city people can do, you still shouldn't trust them with your sheep.

 

[snoopy]

Or man enough? :?:

Dude, why should such an innocuous question appear threatening to you snoopy? It's only an anonymous tennis board--it's all good.

So, what's your ethnicity snoop?

Honestly, I usually just identify myself as American or if I must hyphenate, European-American since im a mishmash of various european nationalities, none of which I particularly identify with. But if I must receive some comeuppance for my behavior feel free to take it out on my Germanic roots.

As a result of this thread I learned something new, Marie Curie is actually Polish.