"Bad joke."

Post Reply New Topic

Does anyone hear this a lot?

I am bad with understanding jokes and catching them. People don't bother to explain the joke to me so they say, "bad joke." My husband is about the only person who will explain it even though he has told me he gets frustrated sometimes when he can't joke normal with me because I take things so literal. Sometimes it's embarrassing because it makes me feel stupid and I am sure I look stupid to others because I don't look like I have a disability so I don't even bother to try and get it.

I so know how that feels.

Usually when I post a joke and people don't get it I think it's my fault ie a bad joke.

It can take me a few seconds to get a joke sometimes.

Yes, sort of, although I think a major part of it isn't so much that I don't "get it". Often I would simply forget the first part because I wasn't in "joke listening mode". I've had this time and time again especially when younger. The person would think I didn't get it, but in actuality I didn't hear it because I wasn't listening the right way. I'd ask them to repeat it and they would just say something like "ahh nevermind". That never felt good.

However, another issue is just that I don't find many jokes funny. I am much more likely to laugh at emergent coincidental humor from absurdities in real life. Idiot driver videos are a good example of this..

I can't really get past the contrived aspect of jokes even if I recognize that the joke is "good"

A skeleton walks into a bar and orders a beer, and a mop.

Saying "bad joke" when someone doesn't get the humour is usually meant as politeness - conceding that you told a bad joke is seen as more polite than drawing attention to someone for not having understood it. I do understand the frustration at not knowing why I didn't "get it", and embarrassment that I think I should have done, but in reality, when someone concedes "bad joke", I think it's usually intended as a kindness by implying that their joke was so bad that it was easy for anyone to miss the humour.

LOL - thanks, Ezra.

I have had worse said to me. Someone said to me ‘Get a sense of humour.’ Truth is he just wasn’t funny as far as I thought, and I didn’t know he was joking.

No

Ok, that made no sense...

...until I pictured what would happen when the skeleton tried to drink the beer.

Or maybe the jokes aren't really that good? I used to think it was just me but then I leaned I'm very selective when it comes to jokes so I won't laugh unless it's really good. I tell them "I totally understood your joke" and even explain it. and the initial response is "Then why aren't you laughing? What's wrong with you?"People expect you to laugh at their stupid corny jokes or they pretend they're the next Gorge Carlin or something. Now I'm sure some of them go over my head, I'll admit that but you can't hit the target every time.

One thing I do notice when people say bad jokes is that when people laugh at them it isn’t genuine laughter. Seems people get great delight in hearing someone fake laugh rather than not laugh at all. Just shows people don’t like honesty.

That's supposed to be a joke a lot of people don't get but I lmao when I heard it.

Screw those people I say

I thought the purpose of "fake" laughter was to be slightly more polite than flat out ignoring the joke-teller. It fills the silence while communicating that it was a dud. The intention being not dishonesty, but diplomacy.

I guess it depends on whether they were trying to sound genuine or not.