Q: What did the fish say when he swam into the concrete wall?
A: Dam!

Explanation: As a language learner, it is important to know the swear words, the bad words, the words you probably shouldn’t say.

Dam is not a swear word, but it sounds like one.  A dam is a structure built on a river to keep the water from flowing.  Beavers make dams (see the video on that link to learn more about beavers and their dams) and humans do too.  To see a dam, you might visit the Hoover Dam in Nevada.  If a fish ran into a concrete wall while swimming in a river, it is probably a dam.

Dam sounds just like damn; many people consider damn to be a swear word.  Damn comes from the Latin word ‘damnare’ which means to condemn.  Lots of people use the word damn when something goes wrong or hurts.  If you were to bump into a concrete wall it would hurt and you might say, “Damn,”  just like the fish in the joke.  If you are creative, you can probably find better words to express your pain.

This joke is funny because the words damn and dam sound the same.

I like this video about beaver dams and the calm voice of the speaker, Richard Attenborough.