• i_stole_ur_taco@lemmy.ca
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    2 days ago

    Captain Picard usually tells the replicator “Tea. Earl grey. Hot.” At which point the replicator produces a cup of hot earl grey tea.

    However, in this meme, Captain Picard says “bees” instead of “tea”. Bees are a swarming, flying insect. As a result, instead of tea appearing in the replicator, a swarm of bees appears.

    The humour lies in the fact that a minor substitution in the language of the request drastically changed the resulting situation.

      • acockworkorange@mander.xyz
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        2 days ago

        Humor is usually, but not always, derived from a surprise from contrasting an expected follow-up with an unexpected situation. Once the joke has been exposed, there is no explanation that would restitute the surprise, hence it’s impossible both explain a joke and maintain its humor at the same time, unless the explanation itself is unexpected and therefore part of the joke.

        I hope this helps in your journey to understand humans, Data.