alt Hacker NewsA newly convicted criminal arrived in prison, and on the first night he was puzzled to hear his fellow inmates yelling numbers to each other. "36!" one would yell, and the rest would chuckle. "19!" went another, to uproarious laughter. "50," remarked a third wryly, which provoked groans and ironic cheers. Eventually his cellmate sat up and cried out "114" and it brought the house down.
In a lull, he asked his cellmate what on earth was going on? The cellmate explained that most of them had been in prison so long that they already knew all the jokes, so to save time they just referred to them by number. "Oh," says the man, "that makes sense. Can I try?"
His cellmate encouraged him to go ahead, so he stood up and went to the bars and shouted as loud as he could "95!"
Absolutely no reaction. His cellmate looked at him and shook his head. "You didn't tell it right."
And some time later, someone shouts “72!” Everyone chuckles except from the one in the corner cell, who laughs so loud and for so long people think he'll have a heart attack. When eventually he stops laughing, someone yells: “Hey Fred, why did you laugh so much?” “I'd never heard that one!”