We all know that an oven is a closed compartment used for cooking and baking. However, the word “oven” has a different meaning. The term “oven” refers to a very hot environment. Because the compartments of the cooker used to bake or cook are extremely hot, they have been given the name oven.
During WWII, the term “oven” was popular, and by the end of the war, it had become a household word. Because of the extreme heat, a cremation or gas chamber in a Nazi concentration camp was dubbed an oven during WWII.
Various species that build arched or roofed oven-shaped nests were named oven-birds in 1825. To have something in the oven means “to be pregnant” in slang, and it dates back to 1962. Pyrex advertisements from 1916 show “dishes that can be used for cooking in an Oven.”
Why do they call it oven refers to a nonsensical copypasta where the full sentence was, “why do they call it oven when you of in the cold food of out hot eat the food”. “Of in” has a similar sound to “oven.” In the context of the joke, the word “of in” has two meanings while sounding similar to the word “oven.”
If “of in” means putting the food in, “of out” means taking it out; if “of in” means the food has heat, “of out” means the food has no heat. Here’s an example of a sentence that incorporates all of the “of in” and “of out” definitions: When food is cold, the heat from the oven is “of out” (absent from) the food.
Therefore, you “of in” (insert) the cold food into the oven, then “of out” (remove) the food once the heat from the oven is “of in” (present within) the food. The punchline of the joke is based on the origin of the apparatus’s name, the oven.
The punchline’s premise is that the word “oven” has to come from “of in.” If it is claimed that an oven is named after the act of inserting cold food into the apparatus (of in), the joke claims that this is illogical because the heat from the apparatus is not present in the food (of out).
If, on the other hand, the oven is named after the presence of heat from the apparatus within the hot food (of in), it contradicts the fact that hot food is removed from the apparatus (of out).
The punchline’s hilarity stems from the flawed logic used to deduce the origin of the word “oven.” The logic is flawed in such a way that anyone trying to figure out the etymology of “oven” will get stuck in a never-ending cycle of speculation and never find the answer they seek.
Now you know why they call it oven, in real and in the meme, you will pretty much understand any other memes related to it, or impress your teacher by telling about all the history related to this word. Just don’t mess up all the information while expressing and you are all good.
