New Pound Coin

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This short one sentence joke is an award winner, taking the Perrier Prize for the funniest joke of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017. The joke was created by the comedian Ken Cheng.

Personally this simple joke made me laugh the first time I heard it, but apparently most audiences groan as you can read in this BBC News article.

There may be a couple of aspects of this joke that need explaining, so if it doesn't make sense after hearing the dictation, check the notes.

They will be displayed when you see the answer and will hopefully explain everything you need to know to laugh or groan at this joke.

coin
kɔɪn Listen
Meanings
noun
  • a flat disc or piece of metal with an official stamp, used as money.
    E.g. she opened her purse and took out a coin
verb
  • make (coins) by stamping metal.
    E.g. guineas and half-guineas were coined
  • invent (a new word or phrase).
    E.g. he coined the term ‘desktop publishing’

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I'm not a fan of the new pound coin, but then again, I hate all change.

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Notes about this dictation

This joke is a play on words, as "change" can mean two things.

Firstly though, saying "I'm a fan of" or "I'm not a fan of", means that I like something or I don't like something.

The key to this joke is the fact that a selection of coins is called "loose change" or just "change". For example, you might ask a friend if they have some change for the vending machine.

So is the comedian saying he doesn't like the new coin because he hates things changing or because he hates all loose change?

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