Q: Why didn’t the girl trust the trees near her home?
A: They seemed a little shady!

Explanation: Shade is the darker, cooler area under a tree when the sun is shining on the tree.  If you want to get out of the sun, you might stand under a tree in the shade. You might stand in the shady area.

Shady also means something that doesn’t seem quite right, not honest, not trustworthy maybe illegal. If someone tries to sell you an expensive watch for very little money you might say, “No, that seems a little shady.”

This joke is funny because it plays with the word shady, like under a tree in the sun or a dishonest situation or person.

By the way, Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there, and to all people who are like a father to someone.

Here is a shady character from one of my favorite books, Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes ( it’s a bit scary):