There's only two kinds of jokes in this world, kid: dad jokes, and bad jokes
The Dubious Art of the Dad Joke
71–80 of 122 posts
Re: The Dubious Art of the Dad Joke
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd never heard the term until a few years ago. They were just bad puns before that.
A bad pun is a good pun.
I entered many of my best dad jokes into a magazine contest. I was sure at least a couple would make the cut to be published but no pun in ten did.
Re: The Dubious Art of the Dad Joke
#73My take on the Dad joke: A “Dad” joke is usually characterized by relying heavily on dumb puns and wordplay. I now believe that this is not because Dads inherently like puns but rather that two aspects of child development happen to coincide, namely: -Between ages 2 and 6 or so children often develop the ability to giggle uncontrollably in a way that is so utterly endearing that it practically takes your breathe away…
Dad here, I agree with all of the above with a caveat... my kids are now 9 and 11.
After a long road trip when they're farking around in the back of the car I'll start throwing down some dad jokes. They soon plead for me to stop.
There's something agonizing about processing a good Dad joke, it's now become torture for them. The deeper and more twisted the pun the better.
Maybe I'm about to reach Peak Dad?
Re: The Dubious Art of the Dad Joke
#74Re: The Dubious Art of the Dad Joke
#75My current torture device: Someone glued my deck of cards together and I just can’t deal with it!
I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went, then it dawned on me!
Re: The Dubious Art of the Dad Joke
#76My take on the Dad joke: A “Dad” joke is usually characterized by relying heavily on dumb puns and wordplay. I now believe that this is not because Dads inherently like puns but rather that two aspects of child development happen to coincide, namely: -Between ages 2 and 6 or so children often develop the ability to giggle uncontrollably in a way that is so utterly endearing that it practically takes your breathe away…
Dad here, I agree with all of the above with a caveat... my kids are now 9 and 11. After a long road trip when they're farking around in the back of the car I'll start throwing down some dad jokes. They soon plead for me to stop. There's something agonizing about processing a good Dad joke, it's now become torture for them. The deeper and more twisted the pun the better. Maybe I'm about to reach Peak Dad?
100%. Once they've grown up a little bit, they recognize what you're doing; the game now changes from "how can I make this kid giggle" to "how can I make this (pre-)teenager roll their eyes" with the same joke?
Re: The Dubious Art of the Dad Joke
#77I literally told that brown and sticky joke to my 3 year old this morning and he loved it!
Re: The Dubious Art of the Dad Joke
#78My unfounded theory: As with most miscommunication and conflict, the 'conflict' between 'dad' joke tellers and youthful audience is because the two parties are using the same thing (jokes) for different purposes. To describe people very, very generally: 'Youth' are displaying their social capacity - their humor, their communication ability, their ability to navigate social situations, their ability to play, etc. They…
I can only speak for myself, but I tell dad jokes 100% for the "Oh, my god, that's so embarrassing!" response, and really no other reason. The bigger the sigh / groan / more exaggerated the eye-roll, the better.
I'm not supposed to say this on HN, but you're a troll! ;)
Re: The Dubious Art of the Dad Joke
#79My unfounded theory: As with most miscommunication and conflict, the 'conflict' between 'dad' joke tellers and youthful audience is because the two parties are using the same thing (jokes) for different purposes. To describe people very, very generally: 'Youth' are displaying their social capacity - their humor, their communication ability, their ability to navigate social situations, their ability to play, etc. They…
This sounds quite familiar to my experience with my 3 year old. He tells jokes back to me that are just as absurd and we try to one up each other. Since he’s learned a good deal of vocabulary and matching and opposites, he finds things that unexpectedly clash hilarious knock knock … porcupine who? Porcupine bulldozer - makes no sense why those things belong together and that’s what makes it funny. Then we’ll laugh an…
> I’m also a serious adult. I don’t joke around with my friends like I did in my youth. My hangout sessions with friends are all calendared weeks/months ahead. I have friends, we joke, but it’s different and not side splitting type jokes; more like chuckles.
I see adults do that, but I don't understand it. To me, 'serious' means having consequential responsibilities, prioritizing them, and reliably delivering on them. That doesn't rule out side-splitting laughs when it doesn't interfere with the responsibilities, does it?
Re: The Dubious Art of the Dad Joke
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wow, just how long have you been hanging onto that one?
Maybe 2 or 3 years? It's just a bummer I heard it after becoming a dad, because I've had an unending love for bad humor as long as I can remember.
I have enjoyed that one for a while. My wife and I are expecting that I will give up that joke in a few weeks for the same reason.