Thread: American play on words, in Russian

I'm studying Russian, and one of my classmates came up with a little joke. We thought it was cute, nothing spectacular, though. All of our native Russian-speaking teachers, on the other hand, either don't get it or don't think it's funny. Here's the basic joke, I'll let you guys decide:

Отец сказал сыну, "повтори за мной, 'я буду хорошо водить себя'."
Сын шёл за отца и сказал "я буду хорошо водить себя."

So, is this just not funny in Russian?

It could be funny if the father said his phrase correct: «Повторяй за мной: я буду хорошо вести себя». In such a case the kid doesn't get the expression all right and derives another sense.

Originally Posted by Ultracity

I'm studying Russian, and one of my classmates came up with a little joke. We thought it was cute, nothing spectacular, though. All of our native Russian-speaking teachers, on the other hand, either don't get it or don't think it's funny. Here's the basic joke, I'll let you guys decide:

Отец сказал сыну, "повтори за мной, 'я буду хорошо водить себя'."
Сын шёл за отца и сказал "я буду хорошо водить себя."

So, is this just not funny in Russian?

You should have post the original. This way we would probably be able to do something to make it funnier.

Сын пошел за отца, и повторил «я буду хорошо водить себя». No, nobody gets it.

Should be вести себя. Jokes never translate well.

Originally Posted by chaika

Сын пошел за отца, и повторил «я буду хорошо водить себя». No, nobody gets it.

Should be вести себя. Jokes never translate well.

They do sometimes, but never literally.

Originally Posted by Rtyom

It could be funny if the father said his phrase correct

Heh, I apologize, that was my fault. Originally it was gramatically correct. The father said something else though, I think something about doing what his father says (which should arguably make it funnier).