Persian Joke: Memory Loss (Colloquial Farsi Explained)

Read a short Persian joke about memory loss line by line, learn spoken vs written Farsi forms, the key words, why it is funny, and test yourself.

A Persian joke about memory loss

This short joke is told in everyday spoken Persian, the way people in Tehran actually talk. A man named Mozaffar visits a doctor and complains that he has a memory problem. The punchline comes from his own answer. Below you will find the joke line by line, the spoken forms with their written equivalents, a short glossary and an explanation of the humor.

How to study a joke: read the Persian line by line with the pronunciation, then cover the English and retell the joke aloud in your own words. A joke is a good test of listening, because if you understand the punchline, you understood the grammar too.

The joke, line by line

Why it is funny

The doctor asks a routine question, but Mozaffar has already forgotten the complaint he made a few seconds earlier. His answer, کدوم بیماری؟ (kodum bimâri?), "which illness?", proves his problem better than any description could. The humor is in the timing: the shortest line of the joke is the punchline, and it turns the patient into living evidence of his own illness.

On the site's index page the same joke is told with the name غضنفر (ghazanfar) in the last line. Ghazanfar is a name that often appears as the main character of Persian jokes, so you may hear this joke with either name.

Spoken vs written forms

Each pair shows the spoken form first and the written (formal) form second.

Notice میره دکتر (mire doktor), "goes to the doctor". In speech the preposition به (be), "to", is usually dropped after verbs of motion. In writing you would say نزد دکتر می‌رود (nazd-e doktor miravad) or به دکتر مراجعه می‌کند (be doktor morâje'e mikonad). The joke also mixes registers: گرفته‌ام is the written present perfect, while in casual speech most people simply say گرفتم (gereftam).

Grammar note: how long have you had it?

English uses the present perfect for "How long have you had this illness?", but Persian uses the simple present with چند وقته (chand vaghte), literally "how much time is it": چند وقته این بیماری رو دارین؟. The same pattern works for many questions: چند وقته فارسی می‌خونی؟ (chand vaghte fârsi mikhuni?), "How long have you been studying Persian?"

Glossary

• Laugh and Learn Persian: all jokes
• Joke 2: Lazy Robbers
• Joke 3: Biology Class
• Joke 4: Snake in Love
• Joke 5: Let's Pray

Practice

1. What does Mozaffar complain about?

   Show answer

   He says he has a memory-loss illness. بیماری فراموشی

2. Give the written form of this spoken word: میگه

   Show answer

   miguyad, "says" می‌گوید

3. Translate into Persian: "How long have you had this illness?" (spoken)

   Show answer

   chand vaghte in bimâri ro dârin? چند وقته این بیماری رو دارین؟

4. Why is the answer "kodum bimâri?" funny? کدوم بیماری؟

   Show answer

   Because he has already forgotten his own complaint, which proves he really has memory loss.

More jokes and stories: Laugh and Learn Persian.