the boy and the barber

Placez le pointeur de la souris sur les mots soulignés, sans cliquer.

A young lad enters a barber shopsalon de coiffure and the barber whispers to his customerchuchote à son client, “This is the dumbestplus stupide kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you.”

The barber puts a dollar billbillet d’un dollar in one hand and two quarterspièces de vingt-cinq cents in the other, then calls the lad over and asks, “Which do you want, lad?”

The lad takes the quarters and leaves.

“What did I tell you?” said the barber. “That kid never learns!”

Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young lad coming out of the ice cream parlourglacier.

“Hey, sonnyHé, fiston! May I ask youPuis-je te demander a question? Why did you take the quarters instead ofau lieu de the dollar bill?”

The lad lickedlécha his ice-cream cone and replied: “Because the day I take the dollar the game is overle jeu est fini!”

---

Vocabulary

barber shop: a shop where men get their hair cut

dumbest: most stupid or foolish

quarters: coins worth 25 cents each (US)

The barber shopsalon de coiffure on the high street is always busy on Saturdays.

Everyone agreed he was the dumbestplus stupide pupil in the class.

She paid with two quarterspièces de vingt-cinq cents for the parking meter.

Grammar

The joke mixes direct speech and narrative past tense, with British-style punctuation (commas and full stops inside quotation marks only when part of the spoken words).

Direct speech: “What did I tell you?” said the barber.

Past tense narration: The barber puts a dollar bill… → The barber put a dollar bill…

Synonyms & Alternatives

barber shop: hairdresser’s, salon

dumbest: silliest, most foolish

quarters: fifty-pence pieces, 25-cent coins

Mini Dialogue

Oliver (customer): Why does Timmy always pick the coins?

Harry (barber): Because he’s thick as two planks!

Oliver: Actually, he’s cleverer than both of us.

Harry: How do you reckon that?

---

© — This blog collects and shares light-hearted jokes that have been passed along by word of mouth. I do not claim ownership of any of them. You are welcome to copy, share, or tell them at weddings, dinner parties, your braai, or bar mitzvah. If you have a favourite clean joke, drop it in the comments and we may, if it's really good, feature it here. Check out our Privacy Policy.

💡 Get fresh ESL jokes straight to your inbox:

🌱 If you enjoy this blog, consider buying me a coffee.