By far the most common craving of pregnant women is not to be pregnant.

In this one-liner, Phyllis Diller uses reversal to puncture sentimental clichés about pregnancy “cravings.” Instead of pickles or ice cream, she proposes the most universal desire is simply for the condition to end—an exaggeration that turns discomfort, anxiety, and bodily upheaval into a comic truth. The joke depends on Diller’s broader comedic persona: a frank, domestic satirist who mined marriage, motherhood, and female expectations for punchlines. Read as humor rather than literal claim, it acknowledges the ambivalence that can accompany pregnancy and offers relief through candor, suggesting that what is often idealized can also be endured.