Original joke

小话梅对妈妈说,妈妈我今天不舒服不想去上学…妈妈说那里不舒服啊?小话梅说,不知道为什么我总觉得自己浑身上下酸酸的.

Little Huamei said to her mother, “Mom, I don’t feel well today and don’t want to go to school.” Her mother asked, “Where doesn’t it feel good?” Little Huamei replied, “I don’t know why, but I always feel sore all over.”

Joke explanation

In Chinese, when we use “酸 (suān)酸的” to describe a physical state, it means “sore and weak.” However, when describing preserved plums (话梅), it means the flavor is very sour.