Bad Dad Jokes

We’ve all heard the old standbys – the dad jokes that make us smile but cringe. But why are some jokes deemed to be so lame and unfunny? And when does a joke become a dad joke? It seems like a largely subjective judgment, but the term has caught on with enough traction to have its own Wikipedia entry and an addition to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

The jokes that make it into this category are typically a play on words or a pun, with the punch line being something that is obviously cheesy and predictable. However, it’s not just the humor that makes a joke a dad joke. It also has to do with the delivery.

Generally, when someone tells a dad joke, they are trying to get a laugh from their audience. However, if the joke isn’t funny, it can backfire. According to one researcher, when jokes are delivered poorly, they can be perceived as “weaponized anti-humour,” which is a negative form of humour that is used to tease or annoy others.

This is particularly true with fathers and their children, who tend to be more aggressive in their use of humour with their kids. For example, they are more likely to use teasing jokes that elicit a sense of embarrassment in their children (Bokony and Patrick, 2009). This could be because adolescents in general are especially prone to the psychological effects of social humiliation and may be able to withstand the ridicule of their parents’ jokes better than other people. bad dad jokes