Dad Jokes

Mom and I enjoyed a nice Shrimp Florentine pasta dinner this evening together...and she seemed to talk about bulbs for 2 or 3 minutes. Then, she talked about her grandson's car which was in the shop for an engine replacement. I asked, "Seriously? Didn't he buy that car only 2 years ago, and now it needs a major overhaul?"

Mom said, "He's working with it with his Dad regards a 2nd opinion just to insure he's not being taken for a ride. Meanwhile, he's got a truck for a loner vehicle."

My reply was, "Please speak to him to verify when he will be available with me in the next several weeks. We won't likely do a Collinsville trip, but may enjoy a quiet dinner at home. Hopefully, he'll have his car back by then. Only parts shuffle I'll need is my guitar's bone nut replacement early May. Everything else on schedule?"

"Yup."

"The kindly old Japanese man who lives a couple doors down and I will be visiting Home Depot for garden nursery supplies 2nd or 3rd week of May. I've offered my car to bring him to/from so he can plant his small garden with flowers and vegetables. My garden will be prepared by then so plantings can fit in. I think I'll only need some Black Cow Moo and earthworms this time. Not sure what will occupy my ceramic planters, perhaps parsley and companion herbs. Let me know if you might need anything from HD for your garden, so we can consolidate visits."

"I just can't envision any of this happening immediately."

"Why? You holding out for more peanut butter cups?"
 
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Okay. (Sigh.) I'll bite...

@bleujazz3, you've been a gentleman when we've interacted previously, and @fcs101, I've always had the same impression 'bout you. So, I'm going to ask you guys to please explain the post from @bleujazz3 at 12:34am today (just above this post of mine).

To clarify: It's a Dad Joke thread and I normally get and appreciate all the jokes therein. But the post I'm referencing from @bleujazz3 is, so far as I can tell, not a joke in any conventional sense...certainly not a "Dad Joke" according to the conventions of Dad Jokes.

It isn't even the first post from you, @bleujazz3, that's left me bewildered in this fashion. Previously I've kinda passed over them because I didn't want to seem rude (or a big dummy) by asking, "Hey, what's the deal with this?" I'm certainly don't want to be misunderstood as criticizing what I don't understand. And I appreciate that, for the joke-teller, it always feels tiresome to explain a joke, and the effort makes it less-funny for those who do get it. So normally I don't ask.

I also know I'm a literal-minded person, and just not wired for certain kinds of humor. (People are forever asking me rhetorical questions which I then reflexively answer in great detail.)

But now I see that @fcs101 gave the post a thumb's-up, and I'm thinking, "Okay, someone else gets why this is funny, and I'd like to be let in on the joke."

(Yes, I get I'm spending too much thought on this already, but what the heck; I've just been laid-off with no warning, along with nearly all the coworkers I'd been working with for the last decade. AI and Offshore Contractors are the Wave Of The Future, it seems. Other than figure out healthcare options and futz with my résumé, what in the heck else am I going to do with my time at the moment?)

The only "operating theory" I have is that the joke is a meta-joke, in the sense that it doesn't have any punchline apart from the fact that it has no punchline, and is funny precisely for the excellently-crafted irrelevance of each and every line, the skill with which any semblance of a connecting theme is avoided, so that, unlike a typical joke, there is literally no "Aha!" that the mind can grasp at the moment of "getting" the joke. Maybe that realization is supposed to be the "Aha" that constitutes the punchline?

But I don't know with any confidence that that's what's going on.

All I know is @bleujazz3 posted it and @fcs101 gave it a thumb's-up.

So, hey, fellows: Do a brother a solid, willya, and let me know what the deal is? It'll be one less way to feel like a chump this month.
 
Dr. Dipwad said:
...The only "operating theory" I have is that the joke is a meta-joke, in the sense that it doesn't have any punchline apart from the fact that it has no punchline, and is funny precisely for the excellently-crafted irrelevance of each and every line, the skill with which any semblance of a connecting theme is avoided, so that, unlike a typical joke, there is literally no "Aha!" that the mind can grasp at the moment of "getting" the joke. Maybe that realization is supposed to be the "Aha" that constitutes the punchline?

But I don't know with any confidence that that's what's going on...

...So, hey, fellows: Do a brother a solid, willya, and let me know what the deal is? It'll be one less way to feel like a chump this month.
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You've never heard of a shaggy-dog story? Read for context and the last line. It's a conversational story with a silly summary. Not necessarily a joke, but a story dumb-downed.
 
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bleujazz3 said:
You've never heard of a shaggy-dog story? Read for context and the last line. It's a conversational story with a silly summary. Not necessarily a joke, but a story dumb-downed.
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Hmm.

Yes, I have; but, I was under the impression...hang on...let me look up the definition:

A long-winded tale or yarn featuring extensive narration of typically irrelevant details, usually resulting in a pointless or absurd punchline, which is often a pun or Spoonerism on a known catchphrase. The humor derives partly from the punchline itself, and partly from the way the punchline fails to justify the prolonged setup.
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Okay, that's what I thought a "shaggy-dog story" was. The humor of the shaggy-dog story comes from it having a punchline, but the punchline isn't worth the time-and-effort of everything that comes beforehand. Right?

Looking at your post, I see the extensive narration (check) of irrelevant details (check).

But the last line doesn't appear to be a pun or Spoonerism, or a well-known catchphrase. (At least, it's not known to me.) I don't see why it would make anyone laugh, either in-and-of-itself, or in conjunction with the setup.

It only mentions peanut-butter cups, which had no prior mention. So the last line isn't a callback to anything, interior or exterior to the story. So far as I can tell, the last line could have been, "Why? Did you forget to clear your browser cache?" and it would have worked exactly as well.

If the last line was, "Why? Don't like the shrimp?" ...it would at least have matched another part of the story.

Is this a sort of uber-shaggy-dog story taken to the extreme, where the last line doesn't merely fail to justify the lead-up, but has no connection at all to the lead-up, or to anything else? Where the humor is not merely juvenile (as in a pun or Spoonerism) but entirely absent?

...

UPDATE:
Actually @bleujazz3, don't worry about providing further explanation unless you want to. You're a nice guy, and in my over-analytical zeal, I'm starting to sound like I'm being critical over a joke, which is probably making me sound like a jerk, and that is not what I intended at all. I can't say I get it, but there's no rule that says I have to.

So, all the best, to you and yours. :)
 
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Dr. Dipwad said:
Hmm.

Yes, I have; but, I was under the impression...hang on...let me look up the definition:



Okay, that's what I thought a "shaggy-dog story" was. The humor of the shaggy-dog story comes from it having a punchline, but the punchline isn't worth the time-and-effort of everything that comes beforehand. Right?

Looking at your post, I see the extensive narration (check) of irrelevant details (check).

But the last line doesn't appear to be a pun or Spoonerism, or a well-known catchphrase. (At least, it's not known to me.) I don't see why it would make anyone laugh, either in-and-of-itself, or in conjunction with the setup.

It only mentions peanut-butter cups, which had no prior mention. So the last line isn't a callback to anything, interior or exterior to the story. So far as I can tell, the last line could have been, "Why? Did you forget to clear your browser cache?" and it would have worked exactly as well.

If the last line was, "Why? Don't like the shrimp?" ...it would at least have matched another part of the story.

Is this a sort of uber-shaggy-dog story taken to the extreme, where the last line doesn't merely fail to justify the lead-up, but has no connection at all to the lead-up, or to anything else? Where the humor is not merely juvenile (as in a pun or Spoonerism) but entirely absent?

...

UPDATE:
Actually @bleujazz3, don't worry about providing further explanation unless you want to. You're a nice guy, and in my over-analytical zeal, I'm starting to sound like I'm being critical over a joke, which is probably making me sound like a jerk, and that is not what I intended at all. I can't say I get it, but there's no rule that says I have to.

So, all the best, to you and yours. :)
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My feeling is that this thread plays like a laughing child flitting among the tall grass on a warm spring sunset, chasing fireflies over the grass stalks. It is the overt contrast of the shelling of civilian villages in war-torn countries, where famine is common and necessities come at a premium.

The laughing child knows nothing of the bigger world around him, why people compete and fight with one another, except that the child writes in his journal each day how he enjoyed his day, or what went wrong. Why is there so much suffering in this world? Why do bad things happen to good people? The child does not have a solution for these problems, and yet he lives each day as happy as possible, seeking new adventures and discoveries along the way.

Much like the adults who are wiser and are aware of the world's problems, I am also like that laughing child, meaning no harm, trying to observe the rules, yet also trying to bend the essence of humor into a new form. For those who have heard many jokes and are delighted when we hear new ones, my sorry attempt into shaping a dialogue into something of practical application seems to have fallen short. You may ask, "Have you gone round the bend?"

No, not quite. It's been an exceptionally busy evening at work and I'm sitting quietly in front of my computer with a bowl of Fritos and a lager. This is how I release the day's tensions, pondering the larger world and how many of us try to protect our own corner of the globe by wishing the larger world well, but asking to remember that we are all guests on this planet of ours, and that we should treat each other well.

Th laughing child bids you a wonderful evening. The adult says, "You're getting silly. Go to bed!" :)
 
bleujazz3 said:
My feeling is that this thread plays like a laughing child flitting among the tall grass on a warm spring sunset, chasing fireflies over the grass stalks.
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@bleujazz3, that's beautiful.

bleujazz3 said:
It's been an exceptionally busy evening at work and I'm sitting quietly in front of my computer with a bowl of Fritos and a lager.
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And I can entirely relate to that.

bleujazz3 said:
The laughing child bids you a wonderful evening. The adult says, "You're getting silly. Go to bed!" :)
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I'm getting tired, and it's been a tough month. But some shuteye will likely "unknit the furrowed brow." So, I think that, yes, it's time for bed. A good and peaceful night to you, sir. :)
 
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