Why did the chicken cross the road?

Wow, almost an year I've made my last post... Time flies, isn't it? So busy [:d] with studies and exams, I almost forgot about the blog. Okay, no more suspense about the post title... "Why did the chicken cross the road?" is one of the oldest and most famous riddles still in use in the English language. Lately some of my friends and I got into a philosophical discussion about "What came first? the chicken or the egg?" and this riddle made it's way into the discussion and that's where the philosophy was gone to a six and the discussion got filled with subtle riddling and puzzling.

Amused by the riddle (Even though I've heard the riddle n number of times before, it's still interesting to have a fun discussion on it), I researched a bit in the net and came up with something I thought to share with you. The most common answer to the road crossing is "To get to the other side." When asked at the end of a series of other riddles, whose answers are clever, obscure, and tricky, this answer's obviousness and straight-forwardness becomes part of the humor.

There are many riddles that assume a familiarity with this well-known riddle and its answer. One class of variations enlist a creature other than the chicken to cross the road. For example,

A turkey or duck crosses "because it was the chicken's day off."

Another variant: "Why did the dinosaur cross the road?" "Because chickens weren't evolved yet."

Also include "Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?" to which the answer is "Because he had no guts," or "He had no body to cross with him."

"Why did the chicken cross the road halfway? To 'lay it on the line'."

Another class of variations for oral transmission:

• Karl Marx: "The chicken was driven by the lash of economic necessity."
• Amelia Earhart: "She could have flown."
• Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that one day chickens will be able to cross roads without having their motives called into question."
• Central Intelligence Agency: "We can neither confirm nor deny any involvement in the chicken-road-crossing incident."

The joke is reportedly codified into law in at least one municipality. A Quitman, Georgia ordinance prohibits chickens from crossing the road.

Quite funny, especially that CIA one. LOL :)

Update: Just found out that there's a website dedicated to this [:o]:
http://www.whydidthechickencrosstheroad.com/
And an article with famous people's responses: http://www.freemaninstitute.com/chicken.htm