why the long face?
Ret's ESL Jokes
Ben the post carrier is in love with a nun. He knows it is wrong to even think it, but he can’t help himself.
One particular day, as he boards a bus, Martha, the not-so-good-looking bus driver but his friend, asks him, “Why the long face, Ben?”
“I’m in love with Sister Margaret even though I know she can’t even look at me. But I can’t stop thinking about her,” Ben moans. “I dream of making love to her.”
Martha, the bus driver, thinks for a while and says to Ben, “I know how you can solve your problem.”
“What do you mean?” Ben asks.
“Well,” Martha the bus driver says, “everyone knows that on Tuesday nights at midnight Sister Margaret goes to the cemetery to pray. Tomorrow is Tuesday. Why don’t you dress up as God and, while she’s praying, jump from behind a tombstone and say… ‘I am God, and I want to make love to you!’”
Ben thinks it’s a brilliant idea.
The next evening at 10 pm he’s all dressed up as God and crouching behind a tombstone near the centre of the graveyard when, sure enough, at exactly midnight, Sister Margaret appears in the moonlight and starts praying.
Ben springs out in his heavenly costume and booms, “I am God, and I want to make love to you!” And they begin making passionate love.
While they’re together, Ben removes his mask and yells, “Aha! I am Ben, the post carrier!”
And the nun removes her mask and yells, “Aha! I’m Martha, the bus driver!”
Vocabulary
Why the long face: an idiom meaning “Why do you look sad?”
Dress up: to wear a costume or disguise.Martha asked Ben, “Why the long face?”
She suggested he dress up as someone else.
Grammar Focus
The joke mixes narrative past with present simple in dialogue.
Past simple (narration): Ben boarded the bus and explained his problem.
Present simple (general truth): Everyone knows she goes to the cemetery on Tuesdays.
Synonyms & Alternatives
Why the long face: why do you look so sad?
Dress up: disguise yourself.
Mini Dialogue
Oliver: Why the long face, James?
James: I forgot about the fancy-dress party tonight.
Oliver: Just dress up as a pirate.
James: Good idea! That might save the evening.