A golden pear and a shrivelled dark plum on a white saucer against a burgundy background.

Original artwork, not a still

Groucho Marx

Well, art is art, isn't it? Still, on the other hand, water is water! And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now, uh... Now you tell me what you know.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Speaking in mock-profound circles, the speaker offers obvious truths as if they were deep wisdom, then veers into an oddly specific comparison of cranberries, prunes and rhubarb. The joke is confident nonsense: the pile of tautologies ends by demanding that the listener match this display of knowledge.

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