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Spongebob asked Patrick: is this the real life?

Patrick replies: No, this is Patrick.

What is so funny about this?? Is it Spongebob content only??

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When speaking on the phone, this is not used much (at least, not according to text books, as well as movies):

Are you John Doe?

but

Is this John Doe?

Patrick plays with the words, and instead of understanding the simple message of "is this..", it uses the meaning of asking someone about their name. As in:

Is this Real Life?

Where "Real" might be the first name of the person, and "Life" would be the family name.

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  • but it says “the real life” not “ real life “ punctuation is still carried out in proper English
    – Axel Tong
    Feb 20, 2020 at 10:24
  • Yes, that is true, but in jokes these things might not matter much (but they might matter, though, in some cases). Also, think that some people are called O'Connor. Equivalently, "The'Real" might be the first name, instead of just "Real". And then there is no confusion any more.
    – virolino
    Feb 20, 2020 at 10:27
  • Also, please note that in reality that dialogue is carried out verbally. And verbally, there is no punctuation ;)
    – virolino
    Feb 20, 2020 at 10:28
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    In UK that would sound strange. If I say on the phone "is this Wearther Vane?" the other party would think "does he not know who he is?" We say "is that Weather Vane?"
    – Weather Vane
    Feb 20, 2020 at 13:25
  • It is inaccurate to say 'one does not ask "Are you John Doe?"'. Plenty of people do ask like that.
    – Michael Harvey
    Feb 20, 2020 at 13:44
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Patrick has apparently understood

Is this the real life?

as

Is this "The Real Life"?.

Just like

Is this "The New York Times"?,
Is this "The Ritz Hotel"?

or the like. That's funny!

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  • Ok then why would spongebob ask him the above question in the first place? Is there some special meaning to it
    – Axel Tong
    Feb 20, 2020 at 11:09
  • @AxelTong I don't know the context. But there can be many reasons for asking such a question e.g. if you're not sure if, what you're experiencing, really happens. Well, yes, you could provide more context descripton.
    – Ben A.
    Feb 20, 2020 at 11:15
  • Unfortunately I have only so much available
    – Axel Tong
    Feb 20, 2020 at 11:16
  • @AxelTong In such a case, it's idle to go deeper into speculation.
    – Ben A.
    Feb 20, 2020 at 11:17
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    @AxelTong I've done your homework. The context: Patrick serves as hotline at The Krusty Krab. He, being unable to abstract himself to The Krusty Krab he is representing, answers to each caller asking "Is this the Krusty Krab" with "No, this is Patrick." That's so funny that various remakes of that scene circulate on the internet. One of those is a call where the "Bohemian Rapsody" by Queen is playing and asking "Is this the real life? (Or) is this just fantasy?" His answer stays the same.
    – Ben A.
    Feb 20, 2020 at 11:33

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