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22 Movie Jokes People Admit They Didn't Understand Until Literal Years Later

"I watched Mary Poppins when I was 4, and I didn't get that joke until I was 30."

Recently, in a thread on the subreddit r/movies, redditor u/ferrous_second_vowel asked for movie lovers to name "movie jokes you didn't get until years later," and people really came through with some absolutely hilarious examples!

So, with that in mind, here are just a few of the most popular responses shared:

1. Men in Black (1997)

A man yelling "Do you see this? N.Y.P.D! That means 'I will knock your punk-ass down!'"

"I was watching the original recently just 'cause, and it got to the part where Agent J (Will Smith) catches up to a fleeing criminal. He waves his badge in the guy's face and says, 'Do you see this? NYPD! That means 'I will knock your punk-ass down!' I've watched this movie multiple times, but for whatever reason, it was only on this viewing — 25 years after its theatrical release — that I realized the joke he was making was that 'N.Y.P.D.' stands for 'I will kNock Your Punk-ass Down."

u/ferrous_second_vowel

2. Grease (1978)

Screenshots from "Grease"

"For me, it was the scene when Kenickie refers to a condom as a '25-cent insurance policy.'"

u/Magnet5150

3. Addams Family Values (1993)

A boy counting baseball cards, saying "I'm only missing Jack the Ripper and that Zodiac guy."

"When Wednesday's sort-of-boyfriend is showing her his collection of serial killer baseball cards, he says, 'I've got 'em all. I'm only missing Jack the Ripper and that Zodiac guy.' I didn't realize until later the joke was that Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac Killer were two serial killers who were never caught."

u/cerberaspeedtwelve

4. Forrest Gump (1994)

A man asking "Have you ever been on a real shrimp boat?" and another man responding "No...but I've been on a real big boat."

"When Bubba asks Forrest, 'You ever been on a shrimp boat?' and he replies, 'No, I been on a real big boat.' This one probably took me 20 years and 60 watches to get."

u/feardabear

5. The Big Lebowski (1998)

View this video on YouTube

Gramercy Pictures / Via youtube.com

"I missed the pun in The Dude listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival's 'Lookin' Out My Back Door' after getting a physical."

u/001A002B

6. Airplane! (1980)

Side by side images of a woman serving a pilot food, one from Zero Hour and one from Airplane, to show the similarities

"I had no idea Airplane! was, in parts, a shot-for-shot spoof of the movie Zero Hour! Growing up, I knew it had elements of disaster tropes, but seeing some of the scenes and plot points side-by-side makes it even better."

u/antonimbus

7. Ghostbusters (1984)

A man is locked out of his apartment in one panel, but a door flies open for him in another

"I missed the joke that Louis Tully was 'the Keymaster,' but he kept locking himself out of his own apartment."

u/VelvetGoatcheese

8. Wayne's World (1992)

A man on a TV show saying, "At Noah's Arcade, there's two of everything, so there's never a line!"

"It took me 30 years of watching this movie to realize why 'Noah's Arcade' promotes that they have 'two of every game.' Because y'know...it's like Noah's Arc."

u/billyrivers311

9. Hercules (1997)

A child under a boulder yelling "Somebody call IX-I-I!"

"When Hades is tricking Hercules to go fight the Hydra, Pain and Panic are disguised as kids looking for help, and one of them yells out, 'Someone call I X I I!' That's 9-1-1 in Roman numerals. I didn't get it as a kid, and never thought about it when I watched when I was older."

u/Kaldricus

10. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

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20th Century Fox / Via youtube.com

"When Daniel (as Mrs. Doubtfire) is talking to Stuart about Miranda, and tells him, 'She has a power tool in the bedroom. It's her own personal jackhammer; she can break sidewalk with it! I'm amazed she hasn't chipped her teeth!' I saw this movie in the theater when it came out, and I was 8 years old, so I didn't know about vibrators at the time, and didn't ask. My best guess was that he was trying to scare Stuart by saying she has some kind of weapon, like keeping a gun or baseball bat next to the bed."

u/KuhlThing

11. Dumb & Dumber (1994)

A man looking for a woman's name on a briefcase and saying "'Samsonite!' I was way off!"

"When I watched this as a kid, I never understood why people were laughing at the 'Samsonite! I was way off!' line until years later, while in a store, I noticed Samsonite was a brand of luggage and immediately got the joke."

u/SModfan

12. Back to the Future (1985)

A man ordering a Tab soda, and the waiter responding "A 'tab'? I can't give you a tab unless you order something."

"The Tab and Pepsi Free joke. I didn't know those were the names of drinks."

u/thatoneguy112358

13. Jumanji (1995)

A man brandishing a new gun while another man asks "You're not a postal worker, are you?"

"When the hunter buys the gun, and the salesman asks, 'You're not a postal worker, are you?' I think I thought he was just making fun of his clothes at the time because I had no idea what 'going postal' was."

u/mattmild27

14. Mary Poppins (1964)

A man saying "Jane says to Michael, 'I know a man with a wooden leg named Smith and Michael says, 'Really? What's the name of his other leg?"

"I watched Mary Poppins when I was 4, and didn't get that joke until I was 30."

u/square3481

15. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

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Paramount Pictures / Via youtube.com

"I saw this at age 10, so when the singing nurse says, 'I came to help restore your pluck, 'cause I'm the nurse who likes to—' It was not until I was an adult that I realized what the last word of that sentence was supposed to be."

u/InteriorEmotion

16. The Great Muppet Caper (1981)

Miss Piggy yelling at a man "You can't even sing! Your voice was dubbed!"

"After the swimming musical number, Miss Piggy says to Charles Grodin's character, 'You can’t even sing! Your voice was dubbed!' I watched this 100 times when I was a kid, and I thought she said 'dumb,' which, as a kid, I already thought was really funny. But now that I know the actual line and that he was, in fact, dubbed, it's fucking hilarious."

u/TheBeardedBeard

17. Toy Story (1995)

A toy saying "Excuse me, but I think the word you're searching for is 'Space Ranger.'" and another toy responding "The word I'm searching for I can't say because there's preschool toys present."

"Buzz: 'I think the word you’re searching for is 'Space Ranger.' Woody: 'The word I’m searching for I can’t say because there are preschool toys present.'"

u/thedelisnack

18. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

A man petting a cat and saying "What the French call a certain...I don't know what."

"When describing Austin's 'Mojo,' Dr. Evil has a line like, 'What the French call a certain...I don't know what.' I always thought the joke was that Dr. Evil was just being stupid. I didn't learn until much later in life that this is the literal definition of 'Je ne sais quoi.' Upon a recent rewatch, that was probably my favorite joke in the entire franchise."

u/Carbonauts

19. The Mask (1994)

A man goes to pull out a balloon, but instead pulls out a condom and saying "Sorry, wrong pocket."

"Just before Jim Carrey pulls out a balloon to blow up and turn into a tommy gun to fight off the goons, he pulls out a condom and says, 'Oops, wrong pocket!' When I was a kid, I just thought it was an already popped balloon, so I laughed regardless."

u/Ripper33AU

20. George of the Jungle (1997)

View this video on YouTube

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution / Via youtube.com

"During a fight scene, George says something like, 'Rubber tree, very good for clothesline!' after he clotheslines someone. I'd never watched wrestling, being Australian, and genuinely thought he was just giving laundry tips to Ursula. It only dawned on me last year at 29 when we rewatched it."

u/beartaxexpress

21. The Avengers (2012)

A man betting another man $10, and that man paying way later on in the movie

"While on the Helicarrier for the first time, Captain America hands Nick Fury $10. The way the latter takes the money, I thought it was the former giving him a 'tip' since he's some odd 1940s person. I rewatched it the other day and finally realized it's a follow-up to their exchange in the gym earlier, where Captain America says that nothing could surprise him anymore, and Fury replies with '$10 says you're wrong.'"

And finally:

22. Shrek (2001)

An ogre saying "Do you think maybe he's compensating for something?"

"All of the Lord Farquaad jokes."

u/TheAssOfSpock

All right, you've read their picks, but now it's your turn! What's a movie joke you understood entirely too late? Share in the comments below!

Some responses were edited for length and/or clarity. H/T: Reddit.