My first date asked me what my sign was.

This joke expertly uses wordplay and a clever subversion of expectations to land its punchline. The setup immediately leads listeners down a familiar path: the query "what's your sign?" is a classic, if sometimes cheesy, icebreaker on a first date, almost universally understood to be a question about one's astrological zodiac sign. Dates often use this to playfully assess personality traits or potential compatibility based on horoscopes.

The humor then comes from the abrupt and literal twist. Instead of responding with a celestial body or an animal, the speaker offers a mundane, yet highly recognizable, road sign. This sudden shift from the romantic and astrological to the practical and vehicular creates an instant moment of absurdity and surprise, playing on the two very different meanings of the word "sign."

Beyond the initial wordplay, the chosen road sign, "Caution: Slippery When Wet," also carries a suggestive double entendre. In a dating context, this phrase hints at a more risqué, personal interpretation of the speaker's "conditions," adding another layer of unexpected, cheeky humor. It's this combination of clever misdirection (Review), unexpected imagery, and a subtle wink that makes the joke so effective and amusing.