A little old lady went into the Bank of Canada one day, carrying a bag of money. She insisted that she must speak with the president of the bank to open a savings account because, “It’s a lot of money!” After much hemming and hawing, the bank staff finally ushered her into the president’s office.

  The bank president then asked her how much she would like to deposit. She replied, “$165,000!” and dumped the cash out of her bag onto his desk. The president was, of course, curious as to how she came by all this cash, so he asked her, “Ma’am, I’m surprised you’re carrying so much cash around. Where did you get this money?” The old lady replied, “I make bets.”

  The president then asked, “Bets? What kind of bets?” The old woman said, “Well, for example, I’ll bet you $25,000 that your balls are square.” “Ha!” laughed the president, “That’s a stupid bet. You can never win that kind of bet!” The old lady challenged, “So, would you like to take my bet?” “Sure,” said the president, “I’ll bet $25,000 that my balls are not square!” The little old lady then said, “Okay, but since there is a lot of money involved, may I bring my lawyer with me tomorrow at 10:00 a. m. as a witness?” “Sure!” replied the confident president.

  That night, the president got very nervous about the bet and spent a long time in front of a mirror checking his balls, turning from side to side, again and again. He thoroughly checked them out until he was sure that there was absolutely no way his balls were square and that he would win the bet.

  The next morning, at precisely 10:00 a. m., the little old lady appeared with her lawyer at the president’s office. She introduced the lawyer to the president and repeated the bet: “$25,000 says the president’s balls are square!” The president agreed with the bet again and the old lady asked him to drop his pants so they could all see. The president complied. The little old lady peered closely at his balls and then asked if she could feel them. “Well, okay,” said the president, “$25,000 is a lot of money, so I guess you should be absolutely sure.”

  Just then, he noticed that the lawyer was quietly banging his head against the wall. The president asked the old lady, “What the hell’s the matter with your lawyer?” She replied, “Nothing, except I bet him $50,000 that at 10:00 a. m. today, I’d have the president of the bank of Canada’s balls in my hand.”



*hem and haw, 이도저도 아닌 식의 말을 하다; usher in (into), 들여보내다; bet, (남과) 내기를 하다(bet, make bet, take bet 등의 용법에 유의); ball, 공모양의 것, 불알; square, (일반적으로) 네모진 것, 정사각형; get nervous, 신경이 예민해지다; pants, (미) 바지 (trousers); comply, (요구에) 응하다; feel, 만져서 조사하다; have…in my hand, …을 내 손에 넣다.



*유머를 즐기기 위해서는 감각이 필수인데, 마지막의 결론 이른바 핵심이 되는 문장 punch line을 완전히 이해할 수 있어야 합니다. 그 안에 반전이 들어있습니다.