Why did the chicken cross the road?

Why did the chicken cross the road?" is one of the most famous jokes in the English language. The original reply to the question is: "To get to the other side." It is a non-joke, since its humor value comes from the fact that it is expected to be funny. Additionally, it is rarely told on its own, but instead is referenced, modified, or parodied in a number of other jokes.

Despite the obvious meaning of the joke, various stories have been published claiming a specific origin for it in actual events.
One such story relates to the meaning of the word chicken as a cowardly person. As the story goes, the town of Shiprock, New Mexico had problems relating to poverty. Some of the poor children would get drunk and cross the road in order to show their bravery. Many times, this resulted in serious injury because of oncoming traffic, and sometimes even death. Knowing that the injured/dead person was a coward (chicken), people asked each other "Why did the chicken cross the road?" The original answer to this question was then "Because he was drunk." [1]
This story, although similar to the present-day joke, does have its validity problems. The original punch line had no resemblance to the present day punch line. Also, the word 'chicken' has multiple definitions, whereas 'coward' or other synonyms only have one. Given that, it seems much more likely that the word 'chicken' would stop being used after the event would occur. However, the original punch line was a direct answer to the question given, as is today's punch line. The difference is, today's punch line is in the form of a non-joke, but the original was not intended to be humorous. Although this is the best explanation we have for the origin, nobody truly knows.
An early reference to the joke in print is from Writing for Vaudeville by Brett Page (1915) which suggests by then it was already dated.[1]
Variations include having a turkey or duck cross the road "because the chicken was on vacation." Another variation is "Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?" to which the answer is "because he had no guts."
Despite being best known as a 'non-joke', there is a subtle level of actual humour in the joke. "The Other Side" is often used as a euphemism for death; it is implied that the chicken will die trying to cross the road.