In a psychiatrist’s waiting room two patients are having a conversation.
One says to the other, "Why are you here?"
The second answers, "I’m Napoleon, so the doctor told me to come here."
The first is curious and asks, "How do you know that you’re Napoleon?"
The second responds, "God told me I was."
At this point, a patient on the other side of the room shouts, "NO I DIDN’T!"
- —prep. - near, beside (sit by me; path by the river).
- through the agency or means of (by proxy; poem by donne; by bus; by cheating; divide by two; killed by robbers).
- not later than (by next week).
- a past, beyond (drove by the church). B through; via (went by paris).
- during (by day; by daylight).
- to the extent of (missed by a foot; better by far).
- according to; using as a standard or unit (judge by appearances; paid by the hour).
- with the succession of (worse by the minute; day by day).
- concerning; in respect of (did our duty by them; smith by name). 10 used in mild oaths (by god). 11 expressing dimensions of an area etc. (three feet by two). 12 avoiding, ignoring (passed us by). 13 inclining to (north by north-west). —adv. - near (sat by).
- aside; in reserve (put £5 by).
- past (marched by). —n. (pl. Byes) = *bye1. by and by before long; eventually. By and large on the whole. By the by (or bye) incidentally. By oneself 1 a unaided. B unprompted.
