Why couldn't the board become a fireman?
He was afraid of drills.
In 1-2 sentences, identify the figure of speech being used and explain the deeper meaning.
3 answers
The figure of speech being used is a pun. The deeper meaning is that the board, being an inanimate object, cannot physically become a fireman, but the pun plays on the word "drills" which can refer to both firefighting drills and woodworking tools used on a board.
this joke makes no sense to me
I apologize the joke wasn't clear for you. The joke hinges on a play on words and relies on the reader to make a connection between two different meanings of the word "drills". In this case, "drills" can refer to both firefighting drills and woodworking tools used on a board. The pun is that the board, being an inanimate object, cannot physically become a fireman, but the use of the word "drills" makes the joke work by connecting the two different contexts. If you are not familiar with these two meanings of "drills", the joke may not make sense.