...the downside of French/English translation

I want to tell you about two words, "Platypus" in English and "ornithorynque" in French which designate the same thing in two different ways.

This is a funny example because scientific words from the same linguistic origin are usually the same in French and in English.

In fact, both words come from ancient Greek :
"Bird beak" in French (from ornithos, the bird and rhunkhos, the beak) et "Platypus" or "Duckbill platypus" "Large paw with a duck beak" in English (from platus, large and pous, foot/paw).

I recently found a book, innocently sitting on a shelf in a well-known megastore dedicated to culture : "Plato and a platypus walk into a bar". And the base-line is : "Understanding philosophy through jokes". So you can immediately imagine what the subject of the book is.
Despite the fact that "Platypus" is easier to write in English than "ornithorynque" in French, the French translation of the title is not so evident : "Platon et son ornithorynque entrent dans un bar".
The pun is obvious in English, because of the sound correspondence between Plato and a platypus, but the correspondence in French between Platon et Ornithorynque seems to be meaningless.

Furthermore, in the States, jokes often begin by "A man walks into a bar..." but this doesn't exist in French, where we would say "C'est l'histoire d'un mec..." (which in English could be translated by "This is the story about a guy who...")

The French translation of the title could be : "This is the story of Plato and his Platypus who are walking into a bar". I guess it's difficult for French people to figure out why Plato is with a platypus in the first place, and why they are walking into a bar?

It's also hard to imagine how difficult it is for the translator who has to traduce an English pun whith a homophone into French.

For exemple :
Three tomatoes are walking down the street, Pa Tomato, Ma Yomato, and baby Tomato. Baby Tomato is lagging behind pa and ma Tomato. Pa Tomato gets mad, goes over to baby Tomato, stamps on him and says: catch up...
...is most often translated in French by :
C'est un petit citron qui entre dans une banque pour commettre un hold-up et qui dit : "Haut les mains, plus un zeste, suis pressé"*... which is only an equivalent story which has absolutely nothing to do with the English version!

* This is the story of a small lemon who robs a bank and says: "hands-up, don't move, I'm in a hurry. (Joke between "zeste"-zest of a lemon, and "geste"-movement; and and a reference to a french drink whith lemon, sugar and water called "Citron Pressé"-squeezed lemon or lemonade).

Thanks to Carly for her participation.