[002]
Lenoxus
Current Version
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\\\"It\\\'s a joke\\\" isn\\\'t a catch-all excuse; that merely tells us the genre/format. (A bad movie isn\\\'t excused with \\\"it\\\'s a movie\\\"). That something is \\\"supposed\\\" to be funny doesn\\\'t mean it \\\'\\\'is\\\'\\\'.
The problem with so many \\\"outside jokes\\\" is that they (very mildly) convey an agenda of sorts, implying that the thing in question ought to be \\\'\\\'different\\\'\\\', eg, that manufacturers \\\'\\\'really should\\\'\\\' build the plane out of black boxes, aren\\\'t they just so oblivious ha ha. Knowing why something is (and \\\'\\\'should be\\\'\\\') the way it is thus ruins the joke.
Sadly, only two sorts of howcum jokes actually \\\"work\\\". One is when we all \\\'\\\'do\\\'\\\' know the answer, eg, a joke about misbehaving children. (The \\\"politics\\\" joke is related to this category. You don\\\'t have to think that\\\'s the real etymology to laugh at it; in fact, it\\\'s funnier if you know the truth. Mostly the same with the rhinoplasty one, and really all wordplay in general.) The other is when \\\'\\\'nobody\\\'\\\' knows the answer, but I can\\\'t think of a joke like that at the moment. Come to think of it, a third category would be meta-humor where the point is that the question itself is dumb and the comedian knows it, eg, \\\"How come boats don\\\'t have plugs on the bottom to let out water if they get filled with rain?\\\" ( For all I know, the black boxes joke was originally meant in that vein, before it became a geuine question for many people.)
I hate to rant, it\\\'s just that I loathe willful ignorance, which many of these bits require on the comedian\\\'s part. Mere ignorance is fine but it frustrates me when someone makes declarations like these without doing basic research.
The problem with so many \\\"outside jokes\\\" is that they (very mildly) convey an agenda of sorts, implying that the thing in question ought to be \\\'\\\'different\\\'\\\', eg, that manufacturers \\\'\\\'really should\\\'\\\' build the plane out of black boxes, aren\\\'t they just so oblivious ha ha. Knowing why something is (and \\\'\\\'should be\\\'\\\') the way it is thus ruins the joke.
Sadly, only two sorts of howcum jokes actually \\\"work\\\". One is when we all \\\'\\\'do\\\'\\\' know the answer, eg, a joke about misbehaving children. (The \\\"politics\\\" joke is related to this category. You don\\\'t have to think that\\\'s the real etymology to laugh at it; in fact, it\\\'s funnier if you know the truth. Mostly the same with the rhinoplasty one, and really all wordplay in general.) The other is when \\\'\\\'nobody\\\'\\\' knows the answer, but I can\\\'t think of a joke like that at the moment. Come to think of it, a third category would be meta-humor where the point is that the question itself is dumb and the comedian knows it, eg, \\\"How come boats don\\\'t have plugs on the bottom to let out water if they get filled with rain?\\\" ( For all I know, the black boxes joke was originally meant in that vein, before it became a geuine question for many people.)
I hate to rant, it\\\'s just that I loathe willful ignorance, which many of these bits require on the comedian\\\'s part. Mere ignorance is fine but it frustrates me when someone makes declarations like these without doing basic research.
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\\\"It\\\'s a joke\\\" isn\\\'t a catch-all excuse; that merely tells us the genre/format. (A bad movie isn\\\'t excused with \\\"it\\\'s a movie\\\"). That something is \\\"supposed\\\" to be funny doesn\\\'y mean it \\\'\\\'is\\\'\\\'.
The problem with so many \\\"outside jokes\\\" is that they (very mildly) convey an agenda of sorts, implying that the thing in question ought to be \\\'\\\'different\\\'\\\', eg, that manufacturers \\\'\\\'really should\\\'\\\' build the plane out of black boxes. Knowing why something is (and \\\'\\\'should be\\\'\\\') the way it is thus ruins the joke.
Sadly, only two sorts of howcum jokes actually \\\"work\\\". One is when we all \\\'\\\'do\\\'\\\' know the answer, eg, a joke about misbehaving children. (The \\\"politics\\\" joke is related to this category. You don\\\'t have to think that\\\'s the real etymology to laugh at it; in fact, it\\\'s funnier if you know the truth. Mostly the same with the rhinoplasty one, and really all wordplay in general.) The other is when \\\'\\\'nobody\\\'\\\' knows the answer, but I can\\\'t think of a joke like that at the moment. Come to think of it, a third category would be meta-humor where the point is that the question itself is dumb and the comedian knows it, eg, \\\"How come boats don\\\'t have plugs on the bottom to let out water if they get filled with rain?\\\" ( For all I know, the black boxes joke was originally meant in that vein, before it became a geuine question for many people.)
I hate to rant, it\\\'s just that I loathe willful ignorance, which many of these bits require on the comedian\\\'s part. Mere ignorance is fine but it frustrates me when someone makes declarations like these without doing basic research.
The problem with so many \\\"outside jokes\\\" is that they (very mildly) convey an agenda of sorts, implying that the thing in question ought to be \\\'\\\'different\\\'\\\', eg, that manufacturers \\\'\\\'really should\\\'\\\' build the plane out of black boxes. Knowing why something is (and \\\'\\\'should be\\\'\\\') the way it is thus ruins the joke.
Sadly, only two sorts of howcum jokes actually \\\"work\\\". One is when we all \\\'\\\'do\\\'\\\' know the answer, eg, a joke about misbehaving children. (The \\\"politics\\\" joke is related to this category. You don\\\'t have to think that\\\'s the real etymology to laugh at it; in fact, it\\\'s funnier if you know the truth. Mostly the same with the rhinoplasty one, and really all wordplay in general.) The other is when \\\'\\\'nobody\\\'\\\' knows the answer, but I can\\\'t think of a joke like that at the moment. Come to think of it, a third category would be meta-humor where the point is that the question itself is dumb and the comedian knows it, eg, \\\"How come boats don\\\'t have plugs on the bottom to let out water if they get filled with rain?\\\" ( For all I know, the black boxes joke was originally meant in that vein, before it became a geuine question for many people.)
I hate to rant, it\\\'s just that I loathe willful ignorance, which many of these bits require on the comedian\\\'s part. Mere ignorance is fine but it frustrates me when someone makes declarations like these without doing basic research.
