A Chinese Joke中国笑话：Why the Airplane Won’t Crash into a Star?为什么飞机不会撞到星星呢？

Simplified Chinese:

学生问老师：老师，为什么飞机在天上飞，却从不会撞到星星呢？

老师回答：因为星星会闪。

Pinyin Romanization

Xué shēng wèn lǎo shī : lǎo shī , wèi shén me fēi jī zài tiān shàng fēi ,què cóng bú huì zhuàng dào xīng xing nē ?

lǎo shī huí dá: yīn wèi xīng xing huì shǎn.

English Translation

The student asks the teacher: Teacher, why the planes never run into the stars when flying in the sky?

The teacher answer: Beacuse the stars can dodge.

Explanation:

To get the joke, you need to know the double takes on the meanings of the word 闪 shǎn.

In Chinese, 闪 can mean “a sudden flash of light.” It can also mean “to dodge” ( 闪避 shǎn bì , to dodge quickly).

Vocabulary

ID	Chinese	Trad.	Pinyin	English Definition
ID	Chinese	Trad.	Pinyin	English Definition
1	学生	學生	xuésheng	student; schoolchild
2	问	問	wèn	to ask
3	老师	老師	lǎo shī	teacher; Classifiers: 个
4	为什么	為什麼	wèi shénme	why?; for what reason?
5	飞机	飛機	fēi jī	airplane; Classifiers: 架
6	在		zài	(located) at; (to be) in; to exist; in the middle of doing sth; (indicating an action in progress)
7	天上		tiānshàng	in the sky, celestial; heavenly
8	飞	飛	fēi	to fly
9	却	卻	què	old variant of 却 ; but; yet; however; while; to go back; to decline; to retreat; nevertheless; even though
10	从不	從不	cóng bù	never
11	会	會	huì	can; to be possible; to be able to; will; to be likely to; to be sure to; to assemble; to meet; to gather; to see; union; group; association; Classifiers: 个 )
12	撞		zhuàng	to hit; to strike; to meet by accident; to run into; to bump against; to bump into
13	到		dào	to (a place); until (a time); up to; to go; to arrive; (verb complement denoting completion or result of an action)
14	星星		xīng xing	star in the sky
15	呢		ne	particle indicating that a previously asked question is to be applied to the preceding word (“What about …?”, “And …?”); particle for inquiring about location (“Where is …?”); particle signaling a pause, to emphasize the preceding words and allow the listener time to take them on board (“ok?”, “are you with me?”);
16	回答		huí dá	to reply; to answer; the answer; Classifiers: 个
17	因为	因為	yīn wèi	because; owing to; on account of
18	闪	閃	shǎn	to dodge; to duck out of the way; to beat it; shaken (by a fall); to sprain; to pull a muscle; lightning; spark; a flash; to flash (across one’s mind); to leave behind