مرد با زنش برای مسافرت به هند میره … زن برای گردش میره بیرون و بعد از 5 ساعت ،
مهماندار هتل به مرد میگه : متاسفانه همسرتون تصادف کرده و مرده !
مرد : جدی میگین !؟
A dark-humor Persian joke about a trip to India, line by line with spoken and written forms, vocabulary, the setup explained and a quiz.
A Persian joke: a trip to India
This joke belongs to the large family of Persian husband-and-wife jokes, which usually tease married life. It is dark humor, built on bad news delivered in an oddly calm way. Read it as a language exercise: it is full of useful spoken forms, polite plural endings and travel vocabulary.
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
| Persian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| مرد با زنش برای مسافرت به هند میره. | /mard bâ zanash barâ-ye mosâferat be hend mire./ | A man goes on a trip to India with his wife. |
| زن برای گردش میره بیرون، | /zan barâ-ye gardesh mire birun,/ | The wife goes out sightseeing, |
| و بعد از پنج ساعت، مهماندار هتل به مرد میگه: | /va ba'd az panj sâ'at, mehmândâr-e hotel be mard mige:/ | and after five hours a hotel staff member tells the man: |
| متاسفانه همسرتون تصادف کرده و مرده! | /mote'assefâne hamsaretun tasâdof karde va morde!/ | "Unfortunately your wife has had an accident and has died." |
| مرد: جدی میگین؟ | /mard: jeddi migin?/ | The man: "Are you serious?" |
| مهماندار: بله، جدی میگم! | /mehmândâr: bale, jeddi migam!/ | The staff member: "Yes, I'm serious." |
| حالا همسرتون رو خاک کنیم یا بسوزونیم؟ | /hâlâ hamsaretun ro khâk konim yâ besuzunim?/ | "Now, should we bury your wife or cremate her?" |
Where the humor comes from
The joke plays on a clash between the tragic news and the practical, almost bureaucratic question that follows it. In Iran the dead are buried, while in India cremation is the common custom, so the hotel offers the visitor a choice he would never be asked at home. The listener is invited to imagine how the husband, a typical figure of the husband-and-wife joke genre, will answer. As it stands on this page, the joke ends on that question and leaves the reply to the listener.
Spoken vs written forms
| Spoken / Written | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| میره / می‌رود | /mire / miravad/ | goes |
| همسرتون / همسرتان | /hamsaretun / hamsaretân/ | your wife (polite) |
| میگین / می‌گویید | /migin / miguyid/ | you say (polite) |
| میگم / می‌گویم | /migam / miguyam/ | I say |
| بسوزونیم / بسوزانیم | /besuzunim / besuzânim/ | should we burn / cremate |
| خاک کنیم / دفن کنیم | /khâk konim / dafn konim/ | should we bury |
Grammar notes
- جدی میگین؟ (jeddi migin?), "Are you serious?", literally "Are you saying it seriously?", is a very common reaction to surprising news.
- خاک کنیم یا بسوزونیم؟ uses the subjunctive in a question to ask what someone wants done: "should we … or …?"
- In the spoken language the long vowel â often becomes u before n: بسوزانیم (besuzânim) becomes بسوزونیم (besuzunim), همسرتان becomes همسرتون.
- مهماندار (mehmândâr) usually means a flight attendant or host. With هتل it refers to a member of the hotel staff.
Glossary
| Persian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| مسافرت | /mosâferat/ | trip, travel |
| گردش | /gardesh/ | outing, sightseeing |
| تصادف کردن | /tasâdof kardan/ | to have an accident |
| متاسفانه | /mote'assefâne/ | unfortunately |
| همسر | /hamsar/ | spouse |
| خاک کردن | /khâk kardan/ | to bury (spoken) |
- Laugh and Learn Persian: all jokes
- Joke 1: Memory Loss
- Joke 2: Lazy Robbers
- Joke 3: Biology Class
- Joke 4: Snake in Love
Practice
-
How do you say "Are you serious?" in spoken Persian?
Show answer
jeddi migin? جدی میگین؟
-
Give the written form: بسوزونیم
Show answer
besuzânim بسوزانیم
-
What does "tasâdof kardan" mean? تصادف کردن
Show answer
to have an accident
-
Which formal verb means "to bury"?
Show answer
dafn kardan دفن کردن
More jokes: Laugh and Learn Persian.
مهماندار : بله جدی میگم ! حالا همسرتون رو خاک کنیم یا بسوزونیم ؟
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