J/K!!
June 12, 2015 9:07 PM Subscribe
Americans ruin their jokes with two simple letters. Miserable twits. I can’t abide “just kidding.” It’s an exculpatory waiver, a spoiler alert, which bludgeons spontaneity. It regulates humour, robbing us of the joy of discovering it ourselves. Surely we can discern shades of seriousness, unaided.
I mean it!
posted by Drinky Die at 9:14 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Drinky Die at 9:14 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
JK is at least more literate than LOL, LMAO or ROFL.
And don't get me started with ¯\(ツ)/¯.
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:16 PM on June 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
And don't get me started with ¯\(ツ)/¯.
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:16 PM on June 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
Americans ruin their jokes with two simple letters. Miserable twits. I can’t abide “just kidding.” It’s an exculpatory waiver, a spoiler alert, which bludgeons spontaneity. It regulates humour, robbing us of the joy of discovering it ourselves. Surely we can discern shades of seriousness, unaided.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:17 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:17 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
Except for when you use any of these phrases artfully, when they can all be hilarious.
Let's save the rage for when the yanks try to pretend that "I could care less" is sarcastic usage, like they'd recognise sarcasm if it had been punching them in the face for several months.
posted by ominous_paws at 9:20 PM on June 12, 2015 [6 favorites]
Let's save the rage for when the yanks try to pretend that "I could care less" is sarcastic usage, like they'd recognise sarcasm if it had been punching them in the face for several months.
posted by ominous_paws at 9:20 PM on June 12, 2015 [6 favorites]
When former British Prime Minister, John Major, declared in his victory speech “I will create a classless society,” I wanted to ROTFLMAO. “Nice one John!” I thought. How many beers have you had to drink?” But I voted for him anyway.
Someone bragging about voting for John Major, so many levels of irony there, like an onion...
posted by betweenthebars at 9:21 PM on June 12, 2015 [14 favorites]
Someone bragging about voting for John Major, so many levels of irony there, like an onion...
posted by betweenthebars at 9:21 PM on June 12, 2015 [14 favorites]
You don't want to know how long it took after "Poe's law" passed into common usage before I realised that people thought it was a bad thing.
posted by topynate at 9:23 PM on June 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by topynate at 9:23 PM on June 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
You know who is the worst for this? That Harry Potter author.
posted by mazola at 9:26 PM on June 12, 2015 [27 favorites]
posted by mazola at 9:26 PM on June 12, 2015 [27 favorites]
I've tried to manage my communication via this quote from Kahlil Gibran*: "Half of what I say is meaningless but I say it so that the other half may reach you. "
Still, Poe's Law is good, as are Betteridge's Law, Murphy's Law and all of Clarke's Laws, but my favorite is still Cole's Law. Seriously.
*only 75% sure of attribution, based on my recent Googling... I originally heard it from a lesser-known media personality who was known for quoting some of the best without adequately attributing.
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:27 PM on June 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
Still, Poe's Law is good, as are Betteridge's Law, Murphy's Law and all of Clarke's Laws, but my favorite is still Cole's Law. Seriously.
*only 75% sure of attribution, based on my recent Googling... I originally heard it from a lesser-known media personality who was known for quoting some of the best without adequately attributing.
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:27 PM on June 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
Not really. You're just kidding.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 9:28 PM on June 12, 2015
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 9:28 PM on June 12, 2015
Americans still do that?
posted by escape from the potato planet at 9:28 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by escape from the potato planet at 9:28 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
;)
posted by ominous_paws at 9:28 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ominous_paws at 9:28 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh, and if you really want to confuse instead of amuse, do what I've done too many times... START by saying NOT "But seriously folks," or "All kidding aside," but rather "All seriousness aside..."
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:32 PM on June 12, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:32 PM on June 12, 2015 [10 favorites]
Huh. I assumed jk meant it was something John Kennedy said.
posted by srboisvert at 9:35 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 9:35 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
I've always taken "jk" as a sign of nerves, sort of like when people post "lol" at the end of their own jokes in a text chat. But I'm more of a winkiecon kind of gal on the few occasions when I need to clarify my humor in text anyway.
posted by immlass at 9:37 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by immlass at 9:37 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
Look up street fight videos, as I sometimes do, when feeling depressed and cynical. Russians all try to kick each other senseless before moving in with the fists. Americans either bull forward and wreck house with superior size and strength and padding, which for some reason is unthinkable for other cultures with big, fat guys that aren't Japan, or they do tricky shit with leverage and holds and stances and over-practiced strikes that completely ruin the other guy's day.
This is nothing new. Abraham Lincoln once challenged all-comers at a wrestling match out on the frontier, where eye-gouging was perfected to an eye-string pulling art. Do you see a glass eye in his presidential photos? I sure don't. He copied the speeches of Cicero and the equations of Newton on that coal-shovel in that log-cabin, and he studied how to hurt people just as hard.
Now, if you can't fight, in most states, you can buy a handgun, rifle or shotgun, today! Instant rage-abater, right there - pull the trigger and the source of your humiliation and rage simply ceases.
JK
posted by Slap*Happy at 9:40 PM on June 12, 2015 [8 favorites]
This is nothing new. Abraham Lincoln once challenged all-comers at a wrestling match out on the frontier, where eye-gouging was perfected to an eye-string pulling art. Do you see a glass eye in his presidential photos? I sure don't. He copied the speeches of Cicero and the equations of Newton on that coal-shovel in that log-cabin, and he studied how to hurt people just as hard.
Now, if you can't fight, in most states, you can buy a handgun, rifle or shotgun, today! Instant rage-abater, right there - pull the trigger and the source of your humiliation and rage simply ceases.
JK
posted by Slap*Happy at 9:40 PM on June 12, 2015 [8 favorites]
Because people have never used an addendum to a sentence to reveal it should be interpreted to have a reversed meaning...Not!
posted by fings at 9:42 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by fings at 9:42 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
The thing I've found, moving around America, is that sarcasm and a dry wit is appreciated and signaled in many different ways and is appropriate in different contexts depending one where you live and who you're talking to. Increasingly I find myself relying on absurd statements or broader jokes just to smooth social interactions because it takes much more knowledge about a person to know how something is going to play than when I used to live in an area I knew the subtler social norms of more intuitively. That's not to say I defend the JK, but just that laying a little sarcasm on a stranger or acquaintance can be perceived in some places as acceptable and others an affront and it's easier to just avoid it except in more relaxed social situations or signal the presence of the joke, least of all because sometimes you might not know whether it was well received.
posted by johnnydummkopf at 9:45 PM on June 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by johnnydummkopf at 9:45 PM on June 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
<sarcasm> is detected when you know the speaker well, or you can hear vocal inflection. jk seems like the preventative measure after too many conversations without either safety net, because who doesn't love internet fighting?
Really though, which is worse, jk or </sarcasm>?
posted by angelplasma at 9:46 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Really though, which is worse, jk or </sarcasm>?
posted by angelplasma at 9:46 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
I prefer the kind of addendum to a sentence that gives the impression I'm quoting myself inaccurately, he lied.
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:46 PM on June 12, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:46 PM on June 12, 2015 [8 favorites]
This is America! Where our animated cartoons used to have laugh tracks (which signified a tv show was filmed in front of a live audience.) We have so many layers to our yucks, like mirrors mirroring mirrors. How could the simple and purehearted English ever understand?
posted by biddeford at 9:51 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by biddeford at 9:51 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Jk means you thought of a joke but you don't trust the other person, and Americans extremely don't trust each other, so it all adds up.
posted by bleep at 9:51 PM on June 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by bleep at 9:51 PM on June 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
Is there a shorthand for clickbait? CB!!
posted by Bistle at 9:53 PM on June 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Bistle at 9:53 PM on June 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
but my favorite is still Cole's Law. Seriously.
Everything sounds better in a smooth drawl?
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:54 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
Everything sounds better in a smooth drawl?
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:54 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
You know who is the worst for this? That Harry Potter author.
RowlingOTFLMAO
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:56 PM on June 12, 2015 [9 favorites]
RowlingOTFLMAO
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:56 PM on June 12, 2015 [9 favorites]
What do the British know about humor anyway?
posted by monospace at 9:58 PM on June 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by monospace at 9:58 PM on June 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
This is why I regret that MetaFilter is not more influential around the web because we invented the best "Sarcasm Emoticon": {|} and the alt name we gave it, "hamburger", is perfect. And <hamburger> </hamburger> is just more fun than <sarcasm> </sarcasm>.
And that other "internet hamburger sign" in the corners of so many web pages, ≡ , is NOT a hamburger, IT IS A STACK OF PANCAKES. ≡{|}
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:59 PM on June 12, 2015 [12 favorites]
And that other "internet hamburger sign" in the corners of so many web pages, ≡ , is NOT a hamburger, IT IS A STACK OF PANCAKES. ≡{|}
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:59 PM on June 12, 2015 [12 favorites]
the winky smiley face is so much worse than j/k, especially if it has the addition of a nose
;-)
my god just look at that vile thing i feel soiled for having typed it
posted by poffin boffin at 10:00 PM on June 12, 2015 [6 favorites]
;-)
my god just look at that vile thing i feel soiled for having typed it
posted by poffin boffin at 10:00 PM on June 12, 2015 [6 favorites]
Oh God, nobody tell this guy about Minnesota Sarcasm or Minnesota Passive-Aggression, his feelings are going to be SUPER-HURT when he goes back over all the overly-nice things people said to him without appending J/K or using an obviously sarcastic tone but which he was meant to understand were mercilessly mocking him for being pretentious.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:01 PM on June 12, 2015 [21 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:01 PM on June 12, 2015 [21 favorites]
On the one hand, sarcasm is very difficult to convey in print, and very often gets misunderstood.
On the other hand, 'just kidding' is pretty much never used in the context of something that's actually funny. More often it's used in the context of some mean and horrid statement, and is used to absolve the writer from responsibility for the shit they just wrote.
"lol" also annoys me, because whenever I've seen it, it's someone reacting to something that's mildly funny. Most times 'heh' is a much more appropriate response. And think about it, if someone *actually* laughs at loud, really loudly, at something that you said that was only mildly humorous, they are either making fun of you or have a terrible sense of humor.
posted by el io at 10:01 PM on June 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
On the other hand, 'just kidding' is pretty much never used in the context of something that's actually funny. More often it's used in the context of some mean and horrid statement, and is used to absolve the writer from responsibility for the shit they just wrote.
"lol" also annoys me, because whenever I've seen it, it's someone reacting to something that's mildly funny. Most times 'heh' is a much more appropriate response. And think about it, if someone *actually* laughs at loud, really loudly, at something that you said that was only mildly humorous, they are either making fun of you or have a terrible sense of humor.
posted by el io at 10:01 PM on June 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
the man of twists and turns, let me make some shredded cabbage salad and we can sit down and talk about it. {|}
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:03 PM on June 12, 2015
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:03 PM on June 12, 2015
It's not that we don't want to trust our audience, it's that we've so often had the disappointed realization that they don't know how to react to something if they aren't told how to react to it.
posted by Graygorey at 10:03 PM on June 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Graygorey at 10:03 PM on June 12, 2015 [3 favorites]
This is America! Where our animated cartoons used to have laugh tracks (which signified a tv show was filmed in front of a live audience.)
I don't think that's historically correct. Laugh tracks came into widespread use when many shows began to be filmed without a live audience; shows filmed in front of a live audience typically relied on the reaction of that audience to provide the laughs heard by viewers at home, though this was sometimes "sweetened" with additional, pre-recorded laughter when the show was broadcast. But I think it would be more accurate to say that a laugh track typically signified that a show was not filmed before a live audience.
posted by layceepee at 10:05 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
I don't think that's historically correct. Laugh tracks came into widespread use when many shows began to be filmed without a live audience; shows filmed in front of a live audience typically relied on the reaction of that audience to provide the laughs heard by viewers at home, though this was sometimes "sweetened" with additional, pre-recorded laughter when the show was broadcast. But I think it would be more accurate to say that a laugh track typically signified that a show was not filmed before a live audience.
posted by layceepee at 10:05 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
Bless his heart.
posted by el io at 10:07 PM on June 12, 2015 [17 favorites]
posted by el io at 10:07 PM on June 12, 2015 [17 favorites]
I have no idea what this imbecile is wittering on about. I feel no need to apologise for him, but I do wish to distance myself from him.
The borderline incomprehensible banality of this drivel reminds me of nothing more than of Morrissey doing his shit Oscar Wilde impression.
posted by howfar at 10:13 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
The borderline incomprehensible banality of this drivel reminds me of nothing more than of Morrissey doing his shit Oscar Wilde impression.
posted by howfar at 10:13 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Scooby-Doo with the laugh track removed was just wrong.
posted by Drinky Die at 10:21 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Drinky Die at 10:21 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
But I think it would be more accurate to say that a laugh track typically signified that a show was not filmed before a live audience.
Interestingly, they never bothered to record new laugh tracks. I guess, why would you? The way people sound when they laugh hasn't changed over the years. So when you hear a laugh-track on a modern show, it's a track that was probably originally recorded for I Love Lucy.
Which means, you're listening to the laughter of dead people.
It's the opposite of a live audience.
posted by rifflesby at 10:34 PM on June 12, 2015 [22 favorites]
Interestingly, they never bothered to record new laugh tracks. I guess, why would you? The way people sound when they laugh hasn't changed over the years. So when you hear a laugh-track on a modern show, it's a track that was probably originally recorded for I Love Lucy.
Which means, you're listening to the laughter of dead people.
It's the opposite of a live audience.
posted by rifflesby at 10:34 PM on June 12, 2015 [22 favorites]
I don't think that's historically correct
But if you're adding a laugh track, you're implying a live audience. That's the trope. After a time it becomes clear that that live audience doesn't, and can't exist, given the way a show is filmed, but there's the canned laughter, regardless. It's sort of a meta JK, a stupid, meaningless signifier shepherding the audience from joke to joke. One of the elements that made the first season of the Simpsons so appealing was the lack of a laugh track.
\(ツ)/¯
posted by biddeford at 10:36 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
But if you're adding a laugh track, you're implying a live audience. That's the trope. After a time it becomes clear that that live audience doesn't, and can't exist, given the way a show is filmed, but there's the canned laughter, regardless. It's sort of a meta JK, a stupid, meaningless signifier shepherding the audience from joke to joke. One of the elements that made the first season of the Simpsons so appealing was the lack of a laugh track.
\(ツ)/¯
posted by biddeford at 10:36 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
"pun intended"
NO
if you ever manage to win at something, you should act like you've been there before.
posted by thelonius at 10:44 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
NO
if you ever manage to win at something, you should act like you've been there before.
posted by thelonius at 10:44 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
I prefer "I keed! I keed!" Because then it's still an insult.
posted by Joey Michaels at 10:45 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Joey Michaels at 10:45 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night? jk
posted by condour75 at 10:57 PM on June 12, 2015
posted by condour75 at 10:57 PM on June 12, 2015
I entered ten different puns in a comedy contest, hoping one would win a prize, but no pun in ten did.
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:00 PM on June 12, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:00 PM on June 12, 2015 [9 favorites]
Without JK, /s, :), and the like, we would end up like this.
posted by Rangi at 11:06 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Rangi at 11:06 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
I always thought j/k was a weird way to shorten "joke"! smh
(and I'm training myself to not read " smh " as "Sydney morning Herald", for a while I was amazed at how many trivialities they were covering)
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 11:26 PM on June 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
(and I'm training myself to not read " smh " as "Sydney morning Herald", for a while I was amazed at how many trivialities they were covering)
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 11:26 PM on June 12, 2015 [5 favorites]
So when you hear a laugh-track on a modern show, it's a track that was probably originally recorded for I Love Lucy.
I Love Lucy didn't use "canned" laughter. Do any modern shows? Multicamera sitcoms, by their nature, have audiences and audience tracks. I'm struggling to think of single camera shows with laugh tracks. I guess some clip shows? But surely they don't count.
I suspect the story you recount is rather more poetic than it is strictly accurate.
posted by howfar at 11:34 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
I Love Lucy didn't use "canned" laughter. Do any modern shows? Multicamera sitcoms, by their nature, have audiences and audience tracks. I'm struggling to think of single camera shows with laugh tracks. I guess some clip shows? But surely they don't count.
I suspect the story you recount is rather more poetic than it is strictly accurate.
posted by howfar at 11:34 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
What do the British know about humor anyway?
Also, all those American comics that you think are funny? Actually Canadian comics that moved to the US.
True story.
posted by el io at 11:37 PM on June 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
Also, all those American comics that you think are funny? Actually Canadian comics that moved to the US.
True story.
posted by el io at 11:37 PM on June 12, 2015 [4 favorites]
I teach high school math. Quoting one of my students at his most charmingly dorky:
So, there are two 3D matrices. One tells an offensive joke to the other, and he gets mad at the joke teller. What does the one who told the joke say?
Bro, I jk!
posted by aws17576 at 11:42 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
So, there are two 3D matrices. One tells an offensive joke to the other, and he gets mad at the joke teller. What does the one who told the joke say?
Bro, I jk!
posted by aws17576 at 11:42 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
I wish there were some way to run this article through the Hillifier.
posted by Token Meme at 11:53 PM on June 12, 2015
posted by Token Meme at 11:53 PM on June 12, 2015
Sometimes I like to think I invented JK/LOL!!!! in the early 90's but of course it came from Usenet or some shits; I definitely got on the ironic ALL CAPS OFTEN WITH DORKY ACRONYMS USED IRONICALLY ROFLOFLOFLOFL train around 1995, I'm all "get off my lawn" about newbs doing it.
My friend and I liked to go meta, like JUST KIDDING ABOUT BEING JUST KIDDING ABOUT THE FACT THAT KIDDING WAS JUST DONE BY ME and it ended up badly with us catching ourselves saying "just kidding" all of the time into our late twenties
posted by aydeejones at 11:57 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
My friend and I liked to go meta, like JUST KIDDING ABOUT BEING JUST KIDDING ABOUT THE FACT THAT KIDDING WAS JUST DONE BY ME and it ended up badly with us catching ourselves saying "just kidding" all of the time into our late twenties
posted by aydeejones at 11:57 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, Lowell Boulevard in Denver is actually LO-WELL! BLVD! LOL! LOH-L! What's this "lul" shit anyway, it's about sounding it out L-OHL
posted by aydeejones at 11:59 PM on June 12, 2015
posted by aydeejones at 11:59 PM on June 12, 2015
Also, J to the mothafuckin' K homeboy! J to the mothafuckin'...K! (J to the K!)
posted by aydeejones at 12:00 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by aydeejones at 12:00 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I remember one time, my friend and I were passing notes back and forth in school, and he wrote "LOL!" in response to something. I was like, no, you're clearly not.
posted by teponaztli at 12:01 AM on June 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by teponaztli at 12:01 AM on June 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
Pfft, shows what they know! I usually ruin my jokes through typos.
posted by aubilenon at 12:06 AM on June 13, 2015
posted by aubilenon at 12:06 AM on June 13, 2015
Most times 'heh' is a much more appropriate response.
This is why Hehbonics was described in 1997. It was an appropriating name for which I apologize. But, I can't go back and change it, too much Zeitgeist
posted by aydeejones at 12:06 AM on June 13, 2015
This is why Hehbonics was described in 1997. It was an appropriating name for which I apologize. But, I can't go back and change it, too much Zeitgeist
posted by aydeejones at 12:06 AM on June 13, 2015
Was 17 and was a fan of "Airplane!" and quite white, pls forgive me for saying "jive" but read all of that and be like, yeah! [+]!
"Heh" is a small palindrome with profound meaning. The word's history is not easily determined, as it has gained much notoriety in IRC. Thousands use the word now, and somewhere in the history of HEHBONICS it snuck in and defined the language. It's somewhat of an onomatopeia word, in other words it's a word that sounds like a sound, heh. It sounds somewhat like a smallish human grunt.
posted by aydeejones at 12:12 AM on June 13, 2015
"Heh" is a small palindrome with profound meaning. The word's history is not easily determined, as it has gained much notoriety in IRC. Thousands use the word now, and somewhere in the history of HEHBONICS it snuck in and defined the language. It's somewhat of an onomatopeia word, in other words it's a word that sounds like a sound, heh. It sounds somewhat like a smallish human grunt.
posted by aydeejones at 12:12 AM on June 13, 2015
motherfucker, y'all like jk so much y'all at hogwarts
posted by klangklangston at 12:36 AM on June 13, 2015
posted by klangklangston at 12:36 AM on June 13, 2015
This is why I regret that MetaFilter is not more influential around the web because we invented the best "Sarcasm Emoticon": {|} and the alt name we gave it, "hamburger", is perfect. And is just more fun than .
I don't see it working🍔
posted by sebastienbailard at 12:38 AM on June 13, 2015
I don't see it working🍔
posted by sebastienbailard at 12:38 AM on June 13, 2015
🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔<--how many? hamburgers
posted by aydeejones at 12:40 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by aydeejones at 12:40 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
LOL works better here than it does in English speaking countries, because 'lol' means fun in Dutch. Trufax!
posted by Too-Ticky at 12:53 AM on June 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by Too-Ticky at 12:53 AM on June 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
Some Canadians have another issue altogether.
posted by buriednexttoyou at 1:04 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by buriednexttoyou at 1:04 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I always thought j/k was a weird way to shorten "joke"!
Or the initials of that early master of stand-up, Joe King. (Not to be confused with his more successful brother Nosmo)
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:08 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Or the initials of that early master of stand-up, Joe King. (Not to be confused with his more successful brother Nosmo)
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:08 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I Love Lucy didn't use "canned" laughter.
Perhaps I mean recorded from I Love Lucy? Lucy was definitely mentioned when I first heard that story. Wikipedia confirms that Lucy didn't use canned laughter, but says most sitcoms in the 50s and 60s did.
posted by rifflesby at 1:26 AM on June 13, 2015
Perhaps I mean recorded from I Love Lucy? Lucy was definitely mentioned when I first heard that story. Wikipedia confirms that Lucy didn't use canned laughter, but says most sitcoms in the 50s and 60s did.
posted by rifflesby at 1:26 AM on June 13, 2015
If you're watching I Love Lucy, the audience aren't the only ones that are dead.
I hate to break it to you. j/k
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 1:34 AM on June 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
I hate to break it to you. j/k
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 1:34 AM on June 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's not that we don't want to trust our audience, it's that we've so often had the disappointed realization that they don't know how to react to something if they aren't told how to react to it.
Get a better audience.
posted by Dysk at 1:45 AM on June 13, 2015
Get a better audience.
posted by Dysk at 1:45 AM on June 13, 2015
This is why I regret that MetaFilter is not more influential around the web because we invented the best "Sarcasm Emoticon": {|} and the alt name we gave it, "hamburger", is perfect.
Are you serious? It's dumb, it's cloying and cutesy and annoying. It sucks in every possible way.
posted by thelonius at 1:47 AM on June 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
Are you serious? It's dumb, it's cloying and cutesy and annoying. It sucks in every possible way.
posted by thelonius at 1:47 AM on June 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
S/Z is more ambiguous
posted by chavenet at 2:01 AM on June 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 2:01 AM on June 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
But it's SARCASTICALLY "cloying and cutesy and annoying"... which may have been its ultimate failure. The Internet just doesn't 'get' the subtleties, he ineptly over-explained.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:18 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:18 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
And don't get me started with ¯\(ツ)/¯.
Don't worry, it's scheduled for Unicode 9, and then you can type 🤷 (U+1F937) instead.
¯\(ツ)/¯
posted by effbot at 2:50 AM on June 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
Don't worry, it's scheduled for Unicode 9, and then you can type 🤷 (U+1F937) instead.
¯\(ツ)/¯
posted by effbot at 2:50 AM on June 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
Scooby-Doo with the laugh track removed was just wrong.
Just sayin'
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:57 AM on June 13, 2015
Just sayin'
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:57 AM on June 13, 2015
Coincidentally, jk also stands for junior kindergarten.
posted by fairmettle at 2:59 AM on June 13, 2015
posted by fairmettle at 2:59 AM on June 13, 2015
What does John Kennedy have to do with any of this?
posted by From Bklyn at 3:06 AM on June 13, 2015
posted by From Bklyn at 3:06 AM on June 13, 2015
I'm having the strangest déjà-vu
posted by From Bklyn at 3:11 AM on June 13, 2015
posted by From Bklyn at 3:11 AM on June 13, 2015
What does John Kennedy have to do with any of this?
or John Kerry, John Keats or John Krasinski?
or Jack Kirby, Jason Kidd or Jordan Knight?
or the Jedi Knights?
or Jamiroquai (which was also listed by the Acronym finder even though it should obviously be JQ)?
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:13 AM on June 13, 2015
or John Kerry, John Keats or John Krasinski?
or Jack Kirby, Jason Kidd or Jordan Knight?
or the Jedi Knights?
or Jamiroquai (which was also listed by the Acronym finder even though it should obviously be JQ)?
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:13 AM on June 13, 2015
or Jamiroquai (which was also listed by the Acronym finder even though it should obviously be JQ)?
Jay Kay is the singer from Jamiroqui.
posted by pompomtom at 3:45 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Jay Kay is the singer from Jamiroqui.
posted by pompomtom at 3:45 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Jay Kay is the singer from Jamiroqui.
Of course, why didn't I remember that? (that's another band that fell off my playlists for no good reason). And he should be the #1 J/K person on the list! Acronym Finder really failed me there.
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:03 AM on June 13, 2015
Of course, why didn't I remember that? (that's another band that fell off my playlists for no good reason). And he should be the #1 J/K person on the list! Acronym Finder really failed me there.
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:03 AM on June 13, 2015
I said something sarcastic to my British manager last year but he just looked at me blankly. He only laughed after I said "that was a joke" and told me "sorry, I only get American humor when it has a laugh track. "
posted by octothorpe at 4:07 AM on June 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 4:07 AM on June 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'll just be delirious with contentment the day my fellow Americans stop letting their own skin-crawling fear of definitive speech metastacize in the banter-crashing glossolalia of "Tell me what you really think," which they presumably believe to be a jocular way of marking off strong opinions in the mincing dance of let's-just-be-nice, but which actually says, to my ears, "Please attack me with a claw hammer, because the pain of my inability to imbue my words with any genuine meaning, earnestness, or sincerity is so hard to bear that I only survive by regularly attempting to infect you with my own insecurity."
We do so love our diseases here.
posted by sonascope at 5:17 AM on June 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
We do so love our diseases here.
posted by sonascope at 5:17 AM on June 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
I’ve always taken “jk” as a sign of nerves, sort of like when people post “lol” at the end of their own jokes in a text chat.I thought the same. And as far as those “safety net” words at the end of sentences go, I hate nohomo way more than any other one.
posted by Martijn at 5:18 AM on June 13, 2015
>Surely we can discern shades of seriousness, unaided.
Surely anybody possessed of a dry wit, or even a merely-damp-rather-than-sopping wit, has noticed that it doesn't always come across on the internet. Surely it's okay if people who can't see you or hear you, and maybe don't know you all THAT well, require a little assistance in interpreting your Extremely Humorous Remarks.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 5:45 AM on June 13, 2015
Surely anybody possessed of a dry wit, or even a merely-damp-rather-than-sopping wit, has noticed that it doesn't always come across on the internet. Surely it's okay if people who can't see you or hear you, and maybe don't know you all THAT well, require a little assistance in interpreting your Extremely Humorous Remarks.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 5:45 AM on June 13, 2015
My jokes are usually quite dry and probably missed by most people, but I think that, for the few who do read them correctly, this makes them funnier. This is just the cross I bear.
posted by Flashman at 6:51 AM on June 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Flashman at 6:51 AM on June 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Americans have convinced themselves that sarcasm and joking are difficult, if not impossible, to depict in writing, rather than learning how to do so effectively.
posted by Legomancer at 7:24 AM on June 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Legomancer at 7:24 AM on June 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
Roffelz!
posted by ostranenie at 7:26 AM on June 13, 2015
posted by ostranenie at 7:26 AM on June 13, 2015
"You basically can say anything to someone on an email or text as long as you put LOL at the end" -Kanye West on his Twitter, 1730 days ago
posted by ostranenie at 7:28 AM on June 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by ostranenie at 7:28 AM on June 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
FTFY.
posted by ostranenie at 7:30 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
> I hate nohomo way more than any other one
AY YO I'M THINKING BOUT FUCKIN A DUDE!
posted by ostranenie at 7:32 AM on June 13, 2015
AY YO I'M THINKING BOUT FUCKIN A DUDE!
posted by ostranenie at 7:32 AM on June 13, 2015
At least as far as "lol" and whatever your implementation of a "smiley face" is, I have to side with David Mitchell.
posted by chambers at 7:57 AM on June 13, 2015
posted by chambers at 7:57 AM on June 13, 2015
Rifflesby: I'm pretty sure you got that factoid from Chuck Palahniuk.
posted by KGMoney at 8:18 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by KGMoney at 8:18 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sometimes, I tell people that what I just told them was a joke if I think they are kind of slow or humorless.
Maybe that's why it's happening to this guy so often.
Get it?
Ha ha.
Psych.
:D
:DDDDD
posted by ernielundquist at 8:22 AM on June 13, 2015
Maybe that's why it's happening to this guy so often.
Get it?
Ha ha.
Psych.
:D
:DDDDD
posted by ernielundquist at 8:22 AM on June 13, 2015
Okay, but seriously, does anyone but teenagers actually append "just kidding" to their jokes? I've only heard it from teenagers TRYING to joke/be sarcastic but who let the meanness level get away from them, who then need to save face and walk it back before being socially ostracized. Is this an American regionalism that does not exist in my region? Do adults actually do this somewhere?
I used to see it a lot in text-based communication on the internet (where tone doesn't come across and you need to signal the joke more often) but now people go for LOL or heh more often; again, j/k seems teenagery to my eyes.
The only other example I can think of is Kristin Wiig's "Just Kidding" high-speed monologue character from Weekend Update on SNL.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:02 AM on June 13, 2015
I used to see it a lot in text-based communication on the internet (where tone doesn't come across and you need to signal the joke more often) but now people go for LOL or heh more often; again, j/k seems teenagery to my eyes.
The only other example I can think of is Kristin Wiig's "Just Kidding" high-speed monologue character from Weekend Update on SNL.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:02 AM on June 13, 2015
I would gladly pay you on stardate 32176.11 for the four hamburgers I see today.
posted by clavdivs at 9:26 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by clavdivs at 9:26 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by wierdo at 10:53 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by wierdo at 10:53 AM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Need more j/k funny politics
Our first lady Michelle from the white house.
Encourages healthy eating not souse.
Limbaugh cries idiot.
In the newspaper writ.
She was eating hamburgers with her spouse!
(only "hamburger" limerick easily googable)
posted by sammyo at 5:09 PM on June 13, 2015
Our first lady Michelle from the white house.
Encourages healthy eating not souse.
Limbaugh cries idiot.
In the newspaper writ.
She was eating hamburgers with her spouse!
(only "hamburger" limerick easily googable)
posted by sammyo at 5:09 PM on June 13, 2015
Hey, you people are alright.
YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW
posted by aubilenon at 6:20 PM on June 13, 2015
YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW
posted by aubilenon at 6:20 PM on June 13, 2015
"You're too low son, I keep throwin' them ovah your head!"
posted by briank at 7:50 PM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by briank at 7:50 PM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've been trying to introduce "Ah, just bustin' your gonads" as a progressive phatic insult ameliorative.
j/k! I haven't.
posted by Chitownfats at 1:02 AM on June 14, 2015
j/k! I haven't.
posted by Chitownfats at 1:02 AM on June 14, 2015
I don't know. If you're sending a joke tweet to a celeb, given the usual ugly that goes on...
I put the winky.
posted by Trochanter at 7:22 AM on June 14, 2015
I put the winky.
posted by Trochanter at 7:22 AM on June 14, 2015
This is why I regret that MetaFilter is not more influential around the web because we invented the best "Sarcasm Emoticon": {|} and the alt name we gave it, "hamburger", is perfect.
I... I had been afraid to ask (I always just assumed it had something to do with Neil Hamburger).
posted by Wandering Idiot at 7:27 AM on June 14, 2015
I... I had been afraid to ask (I always just assumed it had something to do with Neil Hamburger).
posted by Wandering Idiot at 7:27 AM on June 14, 2015
Well as long as we're also talking about "I found that funny" indicators that annoy us, I have always been confused by "I laughed way harder than I should have" when not in response to some regressive joke, as this phrase is intended to be used, but after just some regular funny thing. It's like someone once saw this phrase after a Hitler joke or something and just took it to mean "I laughed" without understanding why it was "way harder than I should have". It saps all the meaning out of it, and no one believes you.
Ditto any variation of "my sides" and how they have entered low earth orbit or are passing the heleosphere, effectively turning how hard you laughed into a pissing contest with other people. The only remedy against this is to try and up the ante e.g. "Oh yeah tough guy? Well I laughed so hard I prolapsed my colon and vomited blood out my mouth, nose and eyes".
And you can just fuck right off with your passive-aggressive winky smiley face. Like tacking one of those onto the end of your correction of someone's use of who v. whom makes you less of a pedantic weasel.
I'm sure there are other ways people express or respond to humor that annoy me deeply but I can't think of any at the moment, but I know someone will find something funny and react in a way that bothers me, and when that happens I'll let you know.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 6:42 PM on June 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Ditto any variation of "my sides" and how they have entered low earth orbit or are passing the heleosphere, effectively turning how hard you laughed into a pissing contest with other people. The only remedy against this is to try and up the ante e.g. "Oh yeah tough guy? Well I laughed so hard I prolapsed my colon and vomited blood out my mouth, nose and eyes".
And you can just fuck right off with your passive-aggressive winky smiley face. Like tacking one of those onto the end of your correction of someone's use of who v. whom makes you less of a pedantic weasel.
I'm sure there are other ways people express or respond to humor that annoy me deeply but I can't think of any at the moment, but I know someone will find something funny and react in a way that bothers me, and when that happens I'll let you know.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 6:42 PM on June 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
You don't want to know how long it took after "Poe's law" passed into common usage before I realised that people thought it was a bad thing.
My favorite form of humor is when you can't tell for certain a joke's being had. Are you in on it? You want to be. You want to get it and find it funny, but fuck, what if they aren't joking? I love that moment of frisson when you realize if it's not a joke won't you look like an asshole for laughing. Or maybe you are putting that bit of snark and sarcasm out in the world of context collapse and people are probably going to think you really do think like a twit.
Problem is it's impossible to master this kind of humor, and the world keeps getting weirder, and too often people don't get it, and all you have managed to do is alienate your audience.
I still love it.
posted by cjorgensen at 9:31 AM on June 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
My favorite form of humor is when you can't tell for certain a joke's being had. Are you in on it? You want to be. You want to get it and find it funny, but fuck, what if they aren't joking? I love that moment of frisson when you realize if it's not a joke won't you look like an asshole for laughing. Or maybe you are putting that bit of snark and sarcasm out in the world of context collapse and people are probably going to think you really do think like a twit.
Problem is it's impossible to master this kind of humor, and the world keeps getting weirder, and too often people don't get it, and all you have managed to do is alienate your audience.
I still love it.
posted by cjorgensen at 9:31 AM on June 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
And you can just fuck right off with your passive-aggressive winky smiley face. Like tacking one of those onto the end of your correction of someone's use of who v. whom makes you less of a pedantic weasel.
I'm pretty sure I would never use it like that. I agree with you that a real diss followed by a winky would be bad -- just a garnish of eff you.
But if you like working dry and you're worried somebody might take it wrong...
posted by Trochanter at 2:57 PM on June 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm pretty sure I would never use it like that. I agree with you that a real diss followed by a winky would be bad -- just a garnish of eff you.
But if you like working dry and you're worried somebody might take it wrong...
posted by Trochanter at 2:57 PM on June 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yes, and in truthfully, I am not completely serious. I'm just doing automatic writing from the Kneejerk Lobe of my brain when I see these kinds of things come up, fully admitting that I'm not being fair at all here.
Except for "my sides have crossed the Pleiades" and such, which needs to end.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 4:41 PM on June 15, 2015
Except for "my sides have crossed the Pleiades" and such, which needs to end.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 4:41 PM on June 15, 2015
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posted by Drinky Die at 9:12 PM on June 12, 2015 [12 favorites]