You ruined the punchline.

It's seriously dated, but this is one of my favorite jokes. How dated, you ask? Operation Desert Storm. And, obviously, the joke illustrates the futility of UN sanctions, but that's beside the point.

So, anyway, joke goes:

Saddam Hussein (RIP) was in his command center in Iraq, when the phone rings. It's the US President.

POTUS: If you don't surrender, I will send a thousand of my army to Iraq!

Saddam: A thousand? Don't make me laugh!

Saddam hangs up.

Then the British PM calls.

BPM: If you don't surrender, I will send ten thousand of my marines to Iraq!

Saddam: Ten thousand? That doesn't scare me!

Saddam hangs up.

Then the Japanese PM calls.

JPM: If you don't surrender, I will send five of my best pilots to Iraq!

Saddam: Only five? That's an insult!

Saddam hangs up. Then he goes out of his command center, and examines the border.

By land, he can see the coming US forces, and shrugs.

By sea, he can see the British forces, and still doesn't get scared.

He looks up, then he gets scared.

Why?

You know what? That doesn't quite do it justice. Let's see the whole thing.

My favorite memory with this joke is telling it to my HS classmates, and the next day, Logs was excited to share the response of her busmates to the joke.

L: J, you remember your joke yesterday? The Voltes V one?

J: Yes...?

L: I told my friends yesterday. Except...

(J, P and D wait patiently)

P: She ruined the punchline.

L: (accusingly) Did Jade tell you?

(J, P and D laugh) L: Wait. So I was telling the joke. Then, when I got to the joke, I was.. (silent, holding her hand up in the air, ala flying formation) I forgot how the song went!

P: How can anyone forget how the song went?

L: Ano ba. I did, OK?

J: So you ruined the joke.

L: They still thought it was funny!