My dad, rest in peace, was especially fond of puns; in our home, therefore, a "dad joke" usually included wordplay mixed in with the corn.
My subject today is humor. In particular, the humor that tends to cause as much of a groan as a laugh. And what better day than to toss out some “groaners.”
Is This a Time for Humor?
When times are tough, it It can be a difficult thing, even a painful thing, to try to laugh. My dad understood that to every thing, there is a season; there is a time for joking around, and a time to refrain from it.
Sometimes, when times were not just difficult but excruciatingly difficult, my dad recognized the importance of humor. Perhaps he reminded himself that Abraham Lincoln felt that laughter in difficult times is a necessity, and that even pale wit can help one to cope and to feel some relief from the sadness and tenseness in the world.
So my dad used humor, at appropriate times, to deal with the troubles of life.
Indeed, humor was a big part of my dad's upbringing (during the Depression, and during WWII). One of his gifts to me was to make humor a big part of my upbringing as well.
The funny bone I inherited is very much like my dad's.
My Dad's Dirty Jokes
A bit of personal history.
There came a time in high school where my dad had to give me the old “private talk”; not about the birds and the bees (that information having been taught years earlier in school), but about certain types of jokes that may be related in private.
Two jokes in particular stand out.
The funnies that follow are not my dad's jokes; they are the kind of jokes he liked to tell me.
Although some ribaldry (within bounds) was allowed in the family home, not everything was fair game for humor. My dad preferred not to joke about matters that were too grim for a laugh, nor did he repeat certain trite "dad jokes" that he deemed too lowbrow or lacking in cleverness. Consequently, humor such as this was not a part of his repertoire:
That said, few topics were strictly out of bounds for Dad, including himself. My dad could take a joke. For example, he knew his kids made fun of his practice of looking for a "dad space" in a parking lot…
Dad Jokes, Part 1: Politicians and Humor
Those in power have to be ready and able to be the objects of fun. Dad admired anyone who could take a joke and tell a joke, regardless of political persuasion. He considered the ability to take a joke essential to being a good politician.
Dad admired President Kennedy's ability to tell a joke, as well as take a joke.
Dad (who grew up bi-lingual) loved language, and he collected tales in which people were versed in the same language yet failed to understand one another:
Every leader had cartoonish aspects.
Rank stupidity could, with a bit of work, be made funny.
And there were puns. Oh, yes, there were puns.
With the occasional groaner...
And Royalty
Other world leaders were fair game as well. Royalty in general seemed to be a silly enterprise, and it was their royal-sounding language and their perceived station that was often fuel for fun. (I have it on good authority that Her Majesty is well-attuned to the matters of jest. As for the Prince of Wales, I can only hope.)
And there were puns. Oh, yes, there were puns. And sometimes, you had to be educated to “get” them.
Puns and Wordplay
The “workhorse” of the dad joke in general, and my dad's dad jokes in particular, is the pun, the more groan-inducing, the better. My old man was very fond of long stories that had punny punchlines, like:
- Never hatchet your counts before they’re chickened.
- That’s the beer that made Milt Famey walk us.
- I must have taken Leif off my census.
- People who live in grass houses shouldn’t stow thrones.
- "Hickory daiquiri, Doc!"
He was also fond of the puns that were short and sweet, and that took a little intellectual horsepower in order to feel their punch:
And to wind up this section:
Lame Pun Raccoon Memes
There is at least one standard meme dealing with puns. Even though Dad did not know much about this meme, he would likely have approved. Here are a few examples.
Literally vs. Figuratively
Right up there with puns and wordplay were funnies in which the laugh came from not knowing whether the punchline was intended literally or not.
Miscellaneous Dad Jokes
And then there are the jokes that are light on the wordplay, but heavy on the silliness and the corn:
My dad was hesitant to repeat old adages, in part because they might be inaccurate.
Previously
Explaining Things to the Families, Calmly and Rationally
Kicking the Ass of Nostradamus, Part 2: Strategies for an Ass-Kicking
Kicking the Ass of Nostradamus, Part 1: The Actual Ass-Kicking
Meme Adventures: Star Trek Edition
The Next Person To Bad-Mouth Joe Biden By Quoting the Bible Gets This Response
Don't Remember Richard Nixon for "I'm NOT a crook"; Remember Him for What He Said Just Before That
Meme Adventures: Abraham Lincoln Edition
Meme Adventures: Haiku Edition
Meme Adventures: Introduction
A Speech That I Hope Joe Biden Never Has to Deliver
It's "Scheisskopf" From Now On
A speech for Donald Trump