A Roman walks into a bar and holds up two fingers.

This classic bar gag gets its laugh from a simple, brilliant bit of misdirection (Review). The setup paints a clear picture in our modern minds: a person holding up two fingers is obviously asking for two of something. The punchline hilariously shatters that assumption by revealing the character isn't just any patron; he's a Roman. That two-fingered gesture isn't a quantity, it's a symbol—the V for five in Roman numerals, perfectly formed by an index and middle finger held apart.

The joke is a fun little history lesson wrapped in a visual pun. For over a thousand years, Roman numerals (I, V, X, etc.) were the standard way to write numbers across Europe. The humor comes from dropping this ancient system into a contemporary setting where it would be completely misunderstood. It’s a perfect clash of context, where a gesture that means one thing to us means something entirely different to our thirsty, time-traveling friend from the past.