<p>Why this joke is not funny? Because it doesn't have any twist and turn. And the so call wordplay is too straight forward to be called wordplay</p>

<p>The man's wife in the countryside is named Yiku (忆苦 - remembering hardship) and the man's other wife in the city is named Sitian (思甜 - think of the sweet (life))</p>

<p>Most people would deduct that a couple named their daughter 忆苦 to remind her the hard life they endured as a family when she was young. And can't help but sympathize with her. </p>

<p>In short, the joke is stating 'country life is tough, city life is sweet'</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-19T01:56:37.410Z
2020-05-19T02:33:13.310Z
2020-05-19T02:33:13.310Z
Tang Ho
<p>I ran into the following wordplay: </p>

<pre><code>That's your dad! [...] I heard he has two wives, one back in the countryside,
and a new one. Why do you think one's called Sitian and the other is called Yiku?
</code></pre>

<p>I did some research on Google and found this idiom: 忆苦思甜。I thought this was somewhat relevant here, but I'm still having a hard time understanding the joke. How would you render it in English?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-18T23:15:24.450Z
it is not a funny joke in any language
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-18T23:18:40.867Z
@TangHo: The reaction to this is that the friends of the guy who says this are laughing. I'm assuming that he's making a joke related to that idiom with the wives names (?)
Baffo rasta
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-19T00:34:17.310Z
It's a pretty lame joke. Take it literally: remembering bitter (past), thinking of sweet (present). Now imagine two wives, one in the past (he ran from), one in the present. Is it making more sense now?
Kasey Chang
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-19T03:04:34.813Z
Quote:- "...the friends of the guy who says this are laughing" Laughing because it implies that the person saying it is thinking of getting a second wife or remarrying.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-21T03:06:55.143Z
I think it's dark humor
wada
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-23T15:24:50.587Z
"忆苦思甜" is a ritual in China mainland like decades ago. In the ritual, you eat some very bad food as if in the bad old days, especially the days before and during the World War II. The point is like saying "see, if there were not the government, this is what you would eat everyday. Be grateful to the Gov." It is not performed any more.
River
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-21T09:00:33.880Z
not at all, as native raised Chinese in P. R. C. mainland, I found nothing relevant joke or funny
http8086
<translation><meaning><meaning-in-context>
A joke involving 忆苦思甜
# A joke involving 忆苦思甜

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-05-18)

I ran into the following wordplay: 
That's your dad! [...] I heard he has two wives, one back in the countryside,
and a new one. Why do you think one's called Sitian and the other is called Yiku?

I did some research on Google and found this idiom: 忆苦思甜。I thought this was somewhat relevant here, but I'm still having a hard time understanding the joke. How would you render it in English?

**Tags:** translation, meaning, meaning-in-context
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: it is not a funny joke in any language  
> **username_0**: @TangHo: The reaction to this is that the friends of the guy who says this are laughing. I'm assuming that he's making a joke related to that idiom with the wives names (?)  
> **username_2**: It's a pretty lame joke. Take it literally: remembering bitter (past), thinking of sweet (present). Now imagine two wives, one in the past (he ran from), one in the present. Is it making more sense now?  
> **username_3**: Quote:- "...the friends of the guy who says this are laughing" Laughing because it implies that the person saying it is thinking of getting a second wife or remarrying.  
> **username_4**: I think it's dark humor  
> **username_5**: "忆苦思甜" is a ritual in China mainland like decades ago. In the ritual, you eat some very bad food as if in the bad old days, especially the days before and during the World War II. The point is like saying "see, if there were not the government, this is what you would eat everyday. Be grateful to the Gov." It is not performed any more.  
> **username_6**: not at all, as native raised Chinese in P. R. C. mainland, I found nothing relevant joke or funny  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-05-19. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

Why this joke is not funny? Because it doesn't have any twist and turn. And the so call wordplay is too straight forward to be called wordplay

The man's wife in the countryside is named Yiku (忆苦 - remembering hardship) and the man's other wife in the city is named Sitian (思甜 - think of the sweet (life))

Most people would deduct that a couple named their daughter 忆苦 to remind her the hard life they endured as a family when she was young. And can't help but sympathize with her.

In short, the joke is stating 'country life is tough, city life is sweet'


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