I rounded them up

[güey]

Hello,

Would you please explaine to me the punchline? The way I understand it is the dog actually means "rounded them off", but said "round them up" (gathered all the sheep together) just as a joke. Am I correct?

A farmer wants to know how many sheep he has in his field, so he asks his border collie to count them. The dog runs into the field, counts them and runs back to the farmer. The farmer says, "How many?" The dog says, "40." The farmer is surprised and says, "How can there be 40 - I only bought 38!" The dog says, "I rounded them up."
(joke found online)

 

[Tarheel]

That's a funny joke!

Yes, it's based on the similarity between the two expressions.

 

[emsr2d2]

"Round something up" can be used in two ways, as it is in this joke.

Sheepdogs round up sheep.
You can round 38 up to 40.

I'm not familiar with "round off" in either context.

 

[güey]

You can round 38 up to 40.

I'm not familiar with "round off" in either context.

I didn't know "round up" is also used in that meaning. (like "round off", according to dictionaries)

 

[Barque]

It's the other way round with me. I usually hear "rounded off", used in a general sense, and only occasionally "rounded up" where the rounded number is bigger than the actual one.

 

[emsr2d2]

We use "round up" to produce a number larger than the original, and "round down" to produce a number smaller than the original.