A Western business executive visits his dear Chinese friend in hospital. "Li kai yang qi guan," says the ill man feebly. The Westerner desperately wants to help him, but he doesn't speak Mandarin. "Li kai yang qi guan!" says the patient, as he draws his last breath.

Later that year, the executive is in Shanghai on business when he finally learns the meaning of Li kai yang qi guan: "Get off my oxygen tube."


(source: Reader's Digest article, "The World's Funniest Jokes")