Q: What happened when the ship ran aground while transporting red paint and black paint? A: The crew was marooned!\nWhat do you think is the punchline of the above joke?
Explanation: A bit of transportation humor this week. To run aground means that the ship was not floating, but the bottom of the ship was touching the ocean floor (the ground under the water). If a ship runs aground it is like a car hitting something and a big mess can occur. The ship in the joke was carrying red paint and black paint, so all all of the paint probably spilled and mixed together creating the color maroon.
If a ship runs aground in a place where there are no people we say that the ship is marooned, that is, stuck in a place where it cannot leave.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word maroon, a color, and marooned, to be stranded or stuck.
Of course you can be marooned in space like in this 1969 film:
Or marooned on a deserted island: