El chiste es ....
I heard this phrase three times tonight on the same TV show. It's a 'how to' show for arts and crafts and such, and as the person was describing the craft she was beginning to work on, she would say "el chiste es ..... " and it would be something that described the purpose of the craft. From the context of the sentence I know she was not talking about a joke, but about a 'purpose' for the craft. So, is this common to use chiste this way, or is it only used regionally? The only reference I could find in this usage was from Wiki, which gave the following.
chiste m (plural chistes)
- joke (told joke)
- essence, importance, matter or purpose of something:
- example: El chiste es conseguir trabajo, = "the matter or purpose is to get job"
In our dictionary here on SD doesn't even mention this usage of chiste, so I'm wondering just how 'regional' it is. Thanks.
4 Answers
El chiste es conseguir trabajo. Think of the use in this case as "The idea is to get a job." This is how it is being used on the show you are watching.
I don´t know if this is a regionalism or not, but it´s very common in Mexico.
I think the RAE usually identifies regional usage.
Well, my "region" is the southwestern US and what I glean from the way the phrase is being used above, is they are not attempting to elict any laughter when they introduce a new thought or idea, but are essentially saying, "the following is so easy or so obvious that..." - in English we tend to use something similar as when we say, "don't laugh but..." "or you're not going to believe me but..." all the while keeping a straight face and good intentions. So, your second definition is more than likely on point in referring to "essence, matter, etc"... just hope that sheds some light on how some may perceive the above usage. 
Good question - the only other use I've come across for chiste - is 'to complain' - 'hágalo sin chistar', do it without complaining but I haven't used it that way myself so I'm not sure if it's correct or also perhaps just regional?
