Funny prank or sly trick

When does a joke cross the line?

Wanted for playing sly tricks!

The thing with tricks and pranks is that different people draw the line at different points, so what one person considers a funny prank might be regarded as a totally sly trick by someone else. So to investigate where the majority of people would draw the line, I've compiled a 'funny prank or sly trick' quiz.

Basically it's all about when does a good natured prank go too far and become a sly trick? Some of the following scenarios are fairly tame whereas others are more harsh...

1) Misleading translations

To set the scene for this first example, a few years ago my mate used to have a soft spot for a Japanese girl he used to work with. For the purposes of the scenario we'll call her Mavis, but that wasn't her real name. (Actually, you probably already realised that, seeing as how Mavis isn't a very common girl's name in Japan.)

Anyway, one night on a works night out my mate wanted to impress 'Mavis' and he remembered that I knew a few Japanese words from when I visited Japan a few years earlier. He therefore asked me how to say, 'Hi, how are you?' in Japanese. I told him it was 'bempi shimasu' so my mate went across to 'Mavis' and with a confident nod of the head remarked 'bempi shimasu'.

However, in actual fact 'bempi shimasu' doesn't mean 'Hi, how are you?' at all and it actually means, 'I have constipation.'

Funny prank or sly trick?

2) Bungee jump shenanigans

"Wait! Don't jump yet!"

At a certain bungee jump in Australia, the attendant at the top would wait until the person was just about to jump and then just as they were leaving the platform he would frantically scream, "Wait! No! Not yet!" To make matters worse, his accomplice would then throw a loose rope over the edge so that it looked like the real bungee rope hadn't been attached properly.

So then all the way down the person on the bungee jump would be panicking to themselves thinking, "Oh no! The rope isn't attached!" and worrying that they were going to crash into the water. However, in actual fact there was nothing wrong at all and the bungee dude was simply playing a quite extreme trick on them.

Footnote:  For informational purposes, please note that the bungee jump shown in the photo is operated by a reputable bungee jump company and not by the funny prank playing/sly trick playing (delete as appropriate) company referred to in the above scenario.

Funny prank or sly trick?

3) Mischievous bus driver

Edinburgh. The fictitious destination
of a hypothetical mischievous bus driver.

The last time I got a coach from Newcastle to London we were ten minutes into the journey when the driver announced, "Welcome to the Newcastle to London coach service..."  I remember thinking, 'Imagine if you'd foolishly got on the wrong coach by mistake.' It would be a bit late telling you ten minutes into the journey that you were on your way to London if you were actually only meaning to go to Carlisle.

My immediate thought was, 'That would be an excellent opportunity for a prank if you were a coach driver!' For example, if you were going to London, you could wait until ten minutes into the journey, and then announce, 'Welcome to this coach service to Edinburgh. As this is a direct Edinburgh service, the coach will now not be stopping until we arrive at our destination...' and everyone on the coach would suddenly be in a total panic thinking, 'Oh, no! I thought this was the London coach! I've foolishly got on the wrong coach by mistake!'

Then about ten minutes later you could then come clean and admit, "Ha, ha! I was just joking! We're not really going to Edinburgh. That was just a daft bluff for a funny trick."

But would that be going too far? Would tricking the passengers qualify as a funny prank or a sly trick?

Funny prank or sly trick?

A prank themed Google search.

4) Sitting next to a pyscho?

If you're ever at an internet cafe and the dude or dudette next to you is being a bit nosey and keeps having a sly look at your computer screen, mess with their head by going to Google and searching for, "How to get blood out of a Freddy Krueger costume without the police finding out."

Funny prank or sly trick?

5) Waterproof iPods ... or not

An iPhone and water.
Two things which definitely don't mix.

When Apple released their iOS7 update a spoof advert did the rounds claiming that the new software update made iPhones waterproof. This is the claim featured in the fake advert...

"Update to iOS 7 and become waterproof. In an emergency, a smart-switch will shut off the phone’s power supply and corresponding components to prevent any damage to your iPhone’s delicate circuitry.”

However, the advert had nothing to do with Apple and was just a sly hoax. Unfortunately several iPhone owners believed the advert was genuine and tested their new 'waterproof' iPhones only to discover that it wasn't waterproof after all and they had just ruined their expensive iPhones.

Funny prank or sly trick?

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Footnote: If you want to check out an example of the bungee jump funny prank / sly trick (delete as appropriate), then you can find a YouTube clip below:
Evil bungee jump trick

You can find more prank related tomfoolery below:
Another daft office prank
Daft office Pranks