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September 29, 2018 8:02 AM Subscribe

It would be difficult to make the case that the “guy who died in the round barn” joke, a classic Midwest joke, is funny in its own right—though I would argue it’s pretty funny how much my dad still loves telling it. Which makes it a shining example of one of America’s great familial oral traditions: the dad joke. (Ashley Fetters, The Atlantic)

In recent years, the mass-sharing capabilities of the internet have facilitated a renewed (eye-rolling, faux-begrudging) appreciation of the dad joke. The Reddit page r/dadjokes, a forum where users go to share and enjoy “the jokes that make you laugh and cringe in equal measure,” has more than 1 million subscribers and amasses several new posts every hour. The online video series Dad Jokes, which pits comedians and celebrities against each other in dad-joke-telling competitions where “if you laugh you lose,” launched in 2017 and today has some 999,000 followers on Facebook. Twitter users, meanwhile, frequently call each other (and themselves) out for their simplest and squeaky-cleanest puns by tweeting “#dadjoke.”

Dad jokes are simultaneously beloved and maligned, deeply ingrained in the intimacies of family life and yet universal and public enough to have a hashtag. A specific tone and interpersonal dynamic converge to make a joke a dad joke—and the recent ubiquity of dad jokes might even reveal something about the states of modern fatherhood and humor.

posted by Johnny Wallflower (88 comments total) 50 users marked this as a favorite

This is relevant to my interests.
posted by etherist at 8:14 AM on September 29, 2018 [6 favorites]

...the recent ubiquity of dad jokes might even reveal something about the states of modern fatherhood and humor. (According to the Dad Magazine.)
posted by kozad at 8:17 AM on September 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

Oh boy, another dad joke thread! Can’t wait to try some new ones out today on my daughter!
posted by TedW at 8:40 AM on September 29, 2018 [4 favorites]

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: It was on its way to the idiot's house.

Knock knock!
Who's there?
It's me, the chicken!
posted by chavenet at 8:42 AM on September 29, 2018 [23 favorites]

When does a joke become a dad joke?
When it's apparent.
posted by avocet at 8:51 AM on September 29, 2018 [68 favorites]

There is no good segue for this so...

Today at my kids soccer game there was a bee that kept hanging out on the lid of my wife's latte:
Daughter: Why does that bee keep wanting your coffee?
Me: You know bees are attracted to caffeine right?
Wife: Really?
Me: Yeah, it really gives them a buzz!

I took some pride in the amount of eye-rolls and groans I got for that one.
posted by Greasy Eyed Gristle Man at 8:52 AM on September 29, 2018 [37 favorites]

Back in my day these were just called puns (or more often "cheesy puns").
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:55 AM on September 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

Though they were seldom called for...
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:56 AM on September 29, 2018 [10 favorites]

A recent episode of the Judge John Hodgman podcast (with guest bailiff Jean Grae!) had a case centered around dad jokes and the telling thereof. Highly recommended.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 9:36 AM on September 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

Google Trends for "dad joke" has the term being around but scant from 2004 until 2012 when a book was published called The Very Embarrassing Book Of Dad Jokes.
posted by glonous keming at 9:41 AM on September 29, 2018

Something missing from the Atlantic article, but that I always assumed was part of dad joke-ness was that the jokes were generally clean, and didn't rely upon any but the broadest references. In other words, what keeps them a subset of puns and wordplay in general is that they're something parents would tell to kids, and that the kids would get, even if they didn't think they were all that funny.
posted by pykrete jungle at 10:06 AM on September 29, 2018 [29 favorites]

My dad likes puns and dad jokes because in his eyes it's the only sort of humor that's not at somebody else's expense. Except his own, I'd argue.
posted by Grandysaur at 10:14 AM on September 29, 2018 [20 favorites]

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
A: It was on its way to the idiot's house.

My favorite variation on this comes from aiweirdness

What do you call a pastor cross the road?
He take the chicken.

My pastor cousin called it accurate.
posted by GenderNullPointerException at 10:29 AM on September 29, 2018 [4 favorites]

Hey, Anthony Rotundo! I didn't know he did this kind of work. It doesn't surprise me, though. I knew him vaguely as a resident teacher in one of the boys' dorms at my high school; his wife is a prominent scholar of Theodore Roosevelt, so they would have a lot of manliness to talk about. And, God love them, wrangling that boys' dorm was some hands-on work in masculinity.

A recent episode of the Judge John Hodgman podcast (with guest bailiff Jean Grae!) had a case centered around dad jokes and the telling thereof. Highly recommended.

I don't remember that one, but I do remember the one where a man took his dad to court over his preferred running gag: telling every customer service staffer, whether at the movie theater, the Olive Garden or the Jiffy Lube, "I'll have the Kung Pao chicken." Judge Hodgman issued a permanent injunction. The darkest use of the dad joke is as a kind of passive-aggressive power move.
posted by Countess Elena at 10:35 AM on September 29, 2018 [11 favorites]

A priest, a rabbi and a horse walk into a bar. Bartender says, "What is this, some kind of joke?"

Why did the software developer cross the road? She got a better offer.

I ordered poached eggs. They were freshly hired away from the competition.

Next season, Bojack will star as a doctor who is as miserable as he is... Horse MD

A QA tester walks into the bar, around the bar, under the bar, jumps over the bar and attemps to serve free beer, orders Pi beers, (1+1i) beers, beer without a mug...

And Johnny W, where the hell are the singin' cats?
posted by zaixfeep at 11:13 AM on September 29, 2018 [3 favorites]

I've decided green is now my favorite color. It's even better than yellow and blue combined.
posted by loquacious at 11:19 AM on September 29, 2018 [17 favorites]

In our workplace, the kitchens on each floor have fruit bowls, so that employees will have a source of healthy snacks.

I was sitting in the kitchen with a friend when another workmate came in and said, Hey, is there any fruit here? I've looked on all the other floors and there's no fruit left.

I knew what I had to do.

I looked him in the eye and said Nick, are you saying, your search has been FRUITLESS?
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:20 AM on September 29, 2018 [50 favorites]

this happened about two weeks ago and I'm still laughing
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:21 AM on September 29, 2018 [14 favorites]

where the hell are the singin' cats?

Dunno about that, but will these do?
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:26 AM on September 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

What is Mozart doing right now?
Decomposing.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 11:29 AM on September 29, 2018 [6 favorites]

And if you don't like sinking cats, how about cats in sink?
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:29 AM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

In our workplace, the kitchens on each floor have fruit bowls, so that employees will have a source of healthy snacks.

"Free bananas in the kitchen!!!"
posted by ActingTheGoat at 11:32 AM on September 29, 2018 [3 favorites]

this happened about two weeks ago and I'm still laughing

Hi, Still Laughing — I’m Dad!
posted by Celsius1414 at 11:37 AM on September 29, 2018 [24 favorites]

Seriously, hearing one's teenage daughter go "Oh DAAAAAAAAaaad!" in disgust when she gets it is surely one of the great joys of parenting.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:44 AM on September 29, 2018 [16 favorites]

How do you get Pikachu on the bus?

You poke 'im on!
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:45 AM on September 29, 2018 [7 favorites]

Seriously, hearing one's teenage daughter go "Oh DAAAAAAAAaaad!" in disgust when she gets it is surely one of the great joys of parenting.

Indeed. My son is 30, and now he sends me dad jokes. *wipes tear from eye* I'm so proud of him.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:48 AM on September 29, 2018 [23 favorites]

That's a really nice take, grandysaur.
posted by clew at 12:00 PM on September 29, 2018

Hi, Johnny Wallflower, I'm dad! ;)
posted by Quackles at 12:04 PM on September 29, 2018

What kind of concert costs 45 cents?

50 Cent and Nickleback.
posted by loquacious at 12:06 PM on September 29, 2018 [14 favorites]

I only know twenty five letters of the alphabet... I don't know why.
posted by loquacious at 12:06 PM on September 29, 2018 [12 favorites]

(It is this episode: Classic Friendaround)

The ultimate dad joke, to me, will always be driving past a cemetery and saying, "Why do they have the fence? Because they're dying to get in there..."
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 12:27 PM on September 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

the key to the dad joke is the moment - i love all these groaner puns and jokes but a great dad joke is the essence of ephemeral because it's playing on the situation and where the kid is at in life
posted by kokaku at 12:28 PM on September 29, 2018 [6 favorites]

As someone with a very British father who takes shameless glee in a terrible pun, I don't think one can safely call the dad joke an American familial tradition. "Humour" that leaves your offspring groaning is quite possibly international in scope.
posted by dazed_one at 12:49 PM on September 29, 2018 [8 favorites]

I wonder if part of the purpose is to build up your position as not "the cool dad"... you love your kids, but you're a parent, not a peer. You do have a sense of humor, but it's comfortably bad. Deliberately using current slang wrongly, as some dads do, might be too intrusive for some? (and almost as bad as using it correctly)
posted by kurumi at 12:55 PM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

I texted my kids asking if anyone knew how fast those walkways go at the airport. They said no. so I told them:

They go at TERMINAL VELOCITY.

I will never delete the agonized, eye-rolling selfie I got back.
posted by straight at 12:59 PM on September 29, 2018 [26 favorites]

My daughter needs _things_ _to_ _be_ _correct_.

ME: (driving past herd of cows) Look K, a flock of cows.
K: Herd of cows, Dad.
ME: Of course I've heard of cows, there's a flock of them right there.
posted by Mitheral at 1:05 PM on September 29, 2018 [99 favorites]

Another part of the Dad Joke is that it's something Dad would pretty much only say to the kids, or to embarrass the kids. It's a way of affirming, "I'm your Dad," or sometimes, "I'm their Dad."
posted by straight at 1:17 PM on September 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

Dad joke my dad told in the 50s and I still repeat every chance I get:
See that car over there? It doesn't need a horn.
Why not?
Because it says Dodge on the front.
posted by charlesminus at 1:24 PM on September 29, 2018 [17 favorites]

I feel like that punch line should be "Because it already says Dodge on the front." Otherwise people like me might think it was a joke about how Dodges are slow because we drive Chevys or something like that.

I'm here all day to help workshop your Dad jokes.
posted by straight at 1:28 PM on September 29, 2018 [7 favorites]

Sorry, I'm wrong. A really good Dad joke makes you say "Huh?" And then you groan harder when you get it.
posted by straight at 1:29 PM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

driving past a cemetery and saying, "Why do they have the fence? Because they're dying to get in there..."

(parent and child in car, driving past a cemetery)

Parent: Did you know the people living around here aren't allowed to be buried in that cemetery?
Child: Why not?
Parent: Because they're still living!
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:49 PM on September 29, 2018 [6 favorites]

We have pun wars in this house that can go on for 20-30 minutes. I know puns are disparaged, but I would argue that to do puns well, you need a good grasp of language/vocabulary and you have to be quick, or it's already moved past you and your pun has expired.

But dad jokes; it cracks my husband up when he tells a dad joke and I roll my eyes. Moreso if he knows I'm trying not to laugh. My son just shakes his head and says "I hate you both.", but then he'll text the dad joke to his bestie, who then tells his dad, and this, boys and girls, is how dad jokes spread.

Also, what's green and has wheels?
*
*
*
Grass! I lied about the wheels.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 1:51 PM on September 29, 2018 [7 favorites]

Today, my son asked "Can I have a book mark?" and I burst into tears

11 years old and he still doesn't know my name is Brian
posted by standardasparagus at 1:57 PM on September 29, 2018 [23 favorites]

99% of puns suck. They're the humour equivalent of a child playing with crayons. Yes, pat on the head, you noticed that similar sounds can have different meanings. I know a few people who just respond to everything people say around them with the most trite and boring puns and honestly I do not want to be around them. It's just ... noise coming out of their faces. There's no signal, it's just a carrier wave of linguistic hash. The 1% are puns that you might not even notice, that come around and grab you a minute or an hour later. It's possible to make great art with crayons, but it requires a great artist.

Dad jokes, though, at least require the effort of good delivery, which is something most punsters fumble -- in fact they're often interrupting someone else with their bullshit -- and I can respect a well told dad joke, even if it's pun-based.
posted by seanmpuckett at 2:04 PM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

Actually this reminds me that my German family had a Family Joke whenever it was someone's birthday and the subject of what to get for a present came up.

Buch? Kein Buch schenken, Buch hat er schon.

Book? Don't give him a book, he's already got one.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 2:05 PM on September 29, 2018 [4 favorites]

And yeah, you don't have to tell me, I already know, like a giant piece of flypaper, I'm just a huge buzzkill.
posted by seanmpuckett at 2:07 PM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

As a teacher, i used to like telling these jokes until they became labeled “Dad jokes.”
posted by Miko at 3:24 PM on September 29, 2018 [3 favorites]

So after that, such jokes were dad to you?
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:31 PM on September 29, 2018 [30 favorites]

No humor could have been father from your mind?
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:33 PM on September 29, 2018 [23 favorites]

Greg_Ace, stop paternizing Miko.
posted by Spathe Cadet at 4:00 PM on September 29, 2018 [17 favorites]

In my family they're mom jokes, but regardless, my sister and I are proudly keeping the tradition alive. I am really looking forward to when my nephews are old enough to roll their eyes at me. There is no greater joy than telling a joke and hearing everyone groan and say "nooooo...."
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 4:37 PM on September 29, 2018 [3 favorites]

"MOOOOM! I have something in my eye!"

Besides your finger, you mean?
posted by oheso at 4:43 PM on September 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

The way you tell the difference between an alligator and a crocodile is that you have to pay real close attention to if you can see it later or in a while
posted by rebent at 5:07 PM on September 29, 2018 [13 favorites]

Did you hear about the corderoy pillows?

They’re making headlines!
posted by jenkinsEar at 5:46 PM on September 29, 2018 [11 favorites]

What do you call a dehydrated Frenchman? Pierre.

What did the monkey say as he peed on the cash register? This is running into money.
posted by kinnakeet at 6:01 PM on September 29, 2018

You know why you never see more than one dock in a harbor?

Because two would be a paradox.
posted by rouftop at 6:37 PM on September 29, 2018 [4 favorites]

shouldn't tell jokes about poop unless you want them repeated endlessly and inappropriately

Well, poop jokes aren't my favourite, but they're a solid number two.
posted by avocet at 6:44 PM on September 29, 2018 [28 favorites]

There is no greater joy than telling a joke and hearing everyone groan and say "nooooo...."

I was once in a group setting where we were making and eating quesadillas. I pointed out that you could make a quesadilla with plenty of cheese, wait for it to cool and harden, cut a gun shape out of it, and put it in your pocket...but don't get caught, or you'd be arrested for carrying a congealed weapon. From behind me I then heard, in the most despondent tone of voice possible, "Ohhh Greg...." Like they couldn't have been more anguished and disappointed in me if I'd just admitted to being a mass murderer or something.

It was fucking glorious.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:45 PM on September 29, 2018 [24 favorites]

A lot of Dad jokes are are pretty similar to the jokes that 9-year-olds tell. For example (from 9-year-old me):

Who was the thirstiest person in the world?

The one who drank Canada Dry.
posted by theory at 7:07 PM on September 29, 2018 [4 favorites]

When I was a kid I used the word "gross" often enough to grate on my folks last nerve. So, Dad started referring to things I would call gross as "that's so 12 dozen". My mother always laughed like it was the first time she had heard what she apparently considered a very witty remark and I always responded with a moaning eye roll.

Dad's been gone for 10+ years, but the memory still makes my 84 year old mother laugh while I roll my 64 year old eyes.
posted by she's not there at 9:23 PM on September 29, 2018 [19 favorites]

MetaFilter: just ... noise coming out of their faces
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:16 PM on September 29, 2018 [4 favorites]

As for singing cats…
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:18 PM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

The odd thing, to me, is the "we're just dying to see you" joke is used at the exit of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.
posted by aurelian at 1:42 AM on September 30, 2018

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
HIPAA.
HIPAA who?
I can't tell you.
posted by aurelian at 1:45 AM on September 30, 2018 [7 favorites]

You left off the ending that my father always included.

How do you make an egg roll? You push it. (pause) That's a yolk, son.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:25 AM on September 30, 2018 [11 favorites]

In kindergarten my son joined Cub Scouts. He’s in 4th grade now, and I’m his Cubmaster. See, for a Scouting group, take dad jokes, distill them down into their pure essence, then concentrate them 5x... and you get the rarified world of Dad Scouter Jokes.

Everyone has heard the old ones. They are appreciated but they are also well known. The joy comes from generating new ones, on the spot, ad-libbing from those around you, like some Dad Joke version of the rap battle in 8 Mile.

I love it. It’s glorious. And I can damn well hold my own. I hope the kids appreciate everything we do for them...
posted by caution live frogs at 7:22 AM on September 30, 2018 [9 favorites]

caution live frogs: last month I was out hiking with my troop, and we met this incredible farmer. Amazing man.

He's just outstanding in his field.
posted by jazon at 10:34 AM on September 30, 2018 [2 favorites]

Johnny W, purveyor of excellent animal/pet posts, you indeed delivered the singing cats. When you post something on a non-animal subject, the old Paul Newman line to David Letterman on his first CBS show always pops up in my head as if summoned by Pavlov.

Everyone, please pretend I favorited every. single. post. in this thread, well all except the 99% pun not-liker.

And those of you who imbibe, please have a drink. It's beter to have a bottle in front of you than a frontal loboto-you, errm, wait that's not right...
posted by zaixfeep at 12:45 PM on September 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

He's just outstanding in his field.

My mom has been making that joke about cows for at least 35 years. She lives near a bunch of farms and sees cows every day. I hear that joke multiple times a day when I visit. Now my sister has started saying it. There is no escape.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 12:45 PM on September 30, 2018 [4 favorites]

bunch of farms

Herd of farms.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:02 PM on September 30, 2018 [7 favorites]

Yes, we've heard of them.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 1:19 PM on September 30, 2018 [9 favorites]

Cool, just checking.
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:09 PM on September 30, 2018 [3 favorites]

Today, my son asked "Can I have a book mark?" and I burst into tears
11 years old and he still doesn't know my name is Brian

My highest rated post on Reddit appearing in a MeFi thread? WORLDS ARE COLLIDING!

(and yes, my name is Brian and it really happened).
posted by Twicketface at 5:30 PM on September 30, 2018 [4 favorites]

Where did the General keep his armies?

In his sleevies.
posted by hototogisu at 7:20 PM on September 30, 2018 [6 favorites]

When I started my university job, a professor of Nutrition had recently had a lovely promotional photo taken where she was outdoors, surrounded by some staple crop covered in early morning dew. She was mentioning what an unusual choice of setting it was, and I asked her if the Marketing team had chosen it because she was out standing in her field? Turns out, not a good way to introduce myself.
posted by Knowyournuts at 7:23 PM on September 30, 2018 [6 favorites]

Plumber walks into a bar. Bartender says, “Boy are we glad to see you! Come on in and pull up a stool.”
posted by armeowda at 7:41 PM on September 30, 2018 [5 favorites]

A termite walk into a bar and asks, "Is the bar tender here?"
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:16 PM on September 30, 2018 [3 favorites]

Not me, but I endorse it 100%.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:25 PM on September 30, 2018

Rouftop: the original port of the database Paradox from DOS to Windows 95 had an icon of 2 birds as an option. That's right, a Pair'o'ducks. (True story.)
posted by aurelian at 10:10 PM on September 30, 2018 [2 favorites]

Last time we talked about dad jokes on MetaFilter, someone made the point that when you tell jokes to your kids, you have to work clean, can't really tell jokes about sex and booze, shouldn't tell jokes about poop unless you want them repeated endlessly and inappropriately, and stuff like politics goes over their heads, and you don't really want to be teaching your children to laugh at others' expense, which leaves you with the world of .... dad jokes! I thought that was a good point.

Yes, very much this! I would also add that for any given joke, your kids are in one of three stages:

1) They don't yet know enough to get it.
2.) They get it and they think it's funny, even if they've heard it before.
3) They get it, they've heard it before, and they no longer think it's funny.

You can only find out which stage they're in by making the joke and seeing how they react. But in 66% of possible stages, they're going to react badly. From a dad's point of view, you are making a non-stop effort to amuse your child as they rocket through the cycles of human development.

But from a kid's point of view, you're just not very good at telling jokes.
posted by yankeefog at 1:58 AM on October 1, 2018 [5 favorites]

Next time you're backing out of a driveway or parking spot look at the kids and say "ah, this takes me back."

Someone posted that here the last time we talked about dad jokes, and I'd put money on Greg_Ace...

I first came across it in the second link in this comment in a thread about doing ketamine at work (read the FPP for yourself; that description doesn’t do it justice). It became an instant hit.
posted by TedW at 4:36 AM on October 1, 2018

For folks that get subjected to repeated deliveries of the farmer "outstanding in her field" joke, follow the next telling with this:

That reminds me, "Why'd the cow get a Nobel Prize?"

[As your unrepentant joke repeater gets a sly smile and starts to repeat the favored punchline, you bust out with]

"because she didn't have a bell."

Now you'll get to hear *both* jokes for the rest of eternity...
posted by mabelstreet at 9:02 AM on October 1, 2018 [8 favorites]

One of our former work-study students (a guy in his early 20s) loved dad jokes so much that he bought himself a "proud [college name] dad" sticker for his laptop. He and my coworker (a guy in his mid-30s; neither of them are fathers) could spend hours swapping dad jokes. It was quite a thing. (I sent them the article.)

And honestly, "hi hungry, I'm dad" is one of my fondest memories of my father, who passed away when I was only 8 years old.
posted by epersonae at 2:07 PM on October 1, 2018 [2 favorites]

Re Paradox: I used it a few times and found it to be a particularly frustrating program, which I thought helped explain the name. What else would you call a poorly designed program that was intended to organize information?
posted by she's not there at 7:37 PM on October 1, 2018

My wife told me one that's really lodged in my head as some Ur Dad Joke:

A man comes up to a grieving widow at a funeral, and asks "can I say a word?" She wipes her eyes and says, "yes."

"Plethora"

"Thank you," she replies. "It means a lot."
posted by filthy light thief at 2:43 PM on October 4, 2018 [11 favorites]

Yesterday at work we spent 15 minutes talking about an incident where a worker got 4% paraformaldehyde in his face and had to use an eyewash. Guy was ok, no lasting damage, but the incident was reported to occupational health. I was about to burst, trying my damndest to make it through the meeting without making a crack about how it was nice everyone was able to preserve the man’s vision.

I blame this thread. And my dad.
posted by caution live frogs at 8:23 PM on October 4, 2018 [5 favorites]

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