Carlene Karukoski

Haha I remember this from grade school! The punchline is pure wordplay. The humor comes from giving human emotions and reactions to a vegetable (well fruit technically). The tomato "turning red" is what tomatoes naturally do when they ripen but in the joke it's because it's blushing from embarrassment or surprise.

Think of it like this: if you were about to be put in a salad and someone was pouring oil and vinegar on you you might blush too! It's an example of an "anti-joke" in a way—the setup makes you think there might be some scientific or clever answer but it's just a silly pun. These jokes are less about "getting" a logical explanation and more about enjoying the absurd mental image. My dad still tells this one followed by "Why did the banana go to the doctor? Because it wasn't peeling well!" Same kind of thing.