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a parallel thread has devolved into a discussion of emoticons, particularly variants of the ubiquitous smiley, to signal humorous intent. how about we talk about the effects of humor? I direct you to the following: http://www.stanford.edu/~quatro/humor/humortheory.html
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Interesting, oedipus~ thanks for the link.
seems to me, though, that the humor referred to therein is pretty much of the "joke" genre, and i think most folks (at least in this forum) would agree that the *funniest* humor doesn't contain a punchline at all, but rather exists in the form of witty retorts, esoteric references, dilogical statements, tongue-in-cheek cynicism hi tsuwmetc. it's the repartees that have me rolling hi, mav, and hardly ever the jokes (particularly shaggy dogs.. blech).
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well even in wit-- what makes the witty come backs so funny is the element of sharpness-- wit is like a very sharp pin touched to an overblown ego of a balloon. (buffoon!) wit can be very agressive--but the wit and humor-- here are either self denegrating, or not to sharp..
since our intent is not to harm-- its can be likened to a sport... football(american) or rugby can be very violent sports.. but the teams walk off the field and are friends. this forum is not nearly so agressive. (we certainly don't go about "flaming" each other) Our wit and word play are careful sport-- we battle each other to be on top-- but if in our word play, some one get injured, we all look to the injured party-- without to much real blame going to the person who caused the injury. there is a sence, at least on my part, that no one is out to seriously hurt my feelings, or others. so the sling and arrows, are pin pricks-- they sting for a moment.. but oh the fun of watch the balloon careen around the room with the sudden loss of pressure!
So long as there is more fun, than pain, we are fine. I do think that there is plenty of humor that is hurtful..
did you hear about the group of blonds that went out celebrating.. round after round of drinks, and with each round the cheer of "only 6 weeks" went up.
finally the bartender asks the blonds.. "what are celebrating?"
On blond offer an explaination. "we decided to take up jig saw puzzles as a hobby. The first one we tried was labeled '4 to 6 years' and we completed it only 6 weeks!"
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Now that ofTroy has given us a *classic example of what tsuwm's link (I, too, thank you) was all about, I'll ask the following which goes direct to tsuwms initial request:
Do the meaning of words become less valid when they are masked under a humorous veil...?...is a point I would make with a wink and a smile apt to be ignored or considered less truthful because of the surrounding context(s)...?
It may take me an extra second or two (or a specific question) to extract the humorists intent, but I'll accept the delay as "paid for in advance".
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Did anyone see the recent article about how wit and language has suffered from the loss of popular punnery so prevalent until the beginning of the 20th Century? If I can find it I'll post it. By the way, they mentioned Conundrums (The Riddler 1839!). 
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> of Troy has given us a *classic example of what tsuwm's link was all about
I never find such jokes hurtful, because any group can be substituted into the position of 'blonde girls'. While travelling with a group of Turkish and Greek people last summer we started telling jokes. It turned out the Greek told some of the same jokes as the Turks, just with roles switched!
I found the article interesting, if wholly unfunny...
the guy who wrote it probably never understood those dirty jokes at school and just has it in for comedy. An article about humour without any humour, has been written by the wrong person. To me humour is about laughing at life - because it twists in such wickedly funny ways!
"Laughter has no foreign accent"
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One of the funniest things I ever (heard, read) was a long and rather dispassionate explanation of a joke that completely drained all the humo(,u)r out of the joke but, in the process, had me ROTFLMAO.
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RE: "any group can be substituted into the position of 'blonde girls'. "
I re-read my post-- and yeah, i said blonds-- but never said girls-- (and could point out, most girls aren't permitted in bars, though women and ladies are...!) Funny isn't it how we add words we expect-- almost no one makes fun of blond guys-- so a dumb blond joke must be about women!-- or in the dumb blonde parlance-- girls!
My daughter (a red head) keep me supplied with blond jokes..at one point in my life i was a natural blonde-- now i get a boost from lady clariol. I think i have heard them all. I know they are jokes-- and i don't get hurt feelings..
Why do blonds frequently have bruises around their belly buttons? 'Cause blond guys aren't to smart either!
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Thanks for the link, tsuwm. The paper has to be one of the funniest things that I have read for months! (sorry b-y - I have to disagree with you on this!) I don't think he was actually trying to be funny, which makes it even more risible, but if he has produced a "spoof" paper, it is very good.
I find it impossible to take such pretentious rubbish seriously.
Certainly, many - most, even - "jokes" have a target, but surely the really humourous items involve word-play, paradox and bathos.
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if he has produced a "spoof" paper, it is very good.
Just the idea of "Social Psychology" sets *me off into a fit of English schoolboy giggles.
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enthusiast
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I went up a directory and found a few better examples of humor. We've got creative minds in the house. We could do as good or better on the "Chicken crossing the road" list. http://www.stanford.edu/~quatro/humor/chicken.html
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In reply to:
So long as there is more fun than pain, we are fine.
So true, Helen. Probably most of the funniest things I have seen/heard involve the infliction of some degree of pain. Last night my wife was channel surfing and landed on a rerun of "The Honeymooners". We watched it and bellowed with laughter, I mostly at Jackie Gleason's visual reactions to Norton. Gleason was a genius at this and his face runs the gamut of all possible emotions, and I have yet to figure out how he got his eyes to bulge out when it was appropriate. (Those shows were done live and kinescoped, so he did it on the fly.) We commented on how amazing it is that these programs are still hilarious after 40 years even in grainy b&w. And yet, Ralph Kramden was really an egotistical and inconsiderate character, to the point of cruelty, although he generally repented in the end, thanks usually to Alice.
Humor that is purely verbal is never, to me, as funny as something with the full spectrum of reactive possibility, including visuals. Groucho's snappy quips with Margaret Dumont, or with Chico and Harpo, are amusing to be sure, but nowhere near as hilarious as that great classic the stateroom scene, or funnier yet, the scene on the opera stage when Harpo, dressed up like Azucena, is being pursued on- and backstage by the police. (Makes me chuckle just thinking about it.) And for a combination of words and action which has my vote for the funniest scene of all time in a movie, there is the one with Insp. Clouseau and the innkeeper which begins, "Does your dog bite?" This involves some pain, since the dog does bite Clouseau. Well, anyway, I trust you get my point, and I hope we get a laugh.
BTW, FWIW, with this posting I expect to kick addiction. At last.
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Congratulations, Bob! With love.
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i just re-watched Night at the Opera, and a Day at the Races, too (PBS had them on as a double feature one night)
the marx brothers comedies are hilarious, but my favorite all time funny scene is from cheech and chongs "going up in smoke" when chong is in the back of the van- with a chick who is talking about a sexual experience-- and chong is pretty much ignoring her- he has a cramp in his leg, and starts pounding it, harder and harder to get rid of the "pins and needles" sensation.. the camera plays back and forth between what is really happening in side the van, ( two dull conversations) and what is perceived to be happening by those outside the van( wild sex)..
a good deal of humor is the sense of being "out of place" -- this can be as the essay suggests, when one group looks at another as being lower, and mocks them, or it can just be like the state room scene- there is not a single funny line-- just way too many people "out of place" . No single person does or says anything funny--in fact they all just try to go about their business.. all 20 of them in a 6 by 10 stateroom (on a boat).
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some of those were *hilarious*, brandon! thanks for the link.
i liked the hemingway one best [still chuckling]
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