Q: Why did the thief wash his clothes after the robbery? A: He wanted to make a clean getaway!\nWhat do you think is the punchline of the above joke?
Explanation: A thief is a robber, someone who steals things. Washing your clothes, well, you already know, will make your clothes clean. A robbery is the moment when something was stolen. If you want to get technical, the law in the United States differentiates between burglary, robbery, and theft, but people do not usually make that difference when they speak.
A clean getaway is an idiom meaning that you escape without anyone noticing or without getting caught.
This joke is funny because it plays with the words clean getaway: escaping without getting caught and getting away while being clean.
Maybe if you want to make a clean getaway, it’s time for a cool change…