Jokes have a generic meaning of verbal humor, including one-liners, riddles, and other things that make us laugh; but the joke is also a form, a funny, made-up story with a punchline told by one person. A joke is distinguished from an anecdote, which may be a funny story and have a punchline, but is about a real or true incident. Because it is a form of story, the joke has some of the attributes of a story, such as a beginning, middle, and end. The beginning is the set-up for the joke. While the setting, mood, and tone of, say, a short story or novel are established over time, these elements are often compressed into as little as a single sentence in a joke.
There were two truck drivers at a rest stop.
A lawyer died and went to heaven.
Did you hear about the _____ who _____?
Some jokes, like the type invoked by the last set-up sentence above, are only two sentences – the first sets up the joke, and the second delivers the punch line. This is the most compact kind of joke. Notice that the question is only formal here – a real answer is not expected, and in most cases, cannot be given.
This distinguishes the joke from a riddle in two ways. First, the input of another person is crucial to the riddle form, while it is not in this kind of joke. Second, in a riddle, the question is specifically constructed to be answerable by a clever guesser, but in a joke of this sort, the question is functioning as the joke set-up and not intended to give too many clues to what is to come. Here’s an example:
What's the latest crime wave in New York City?
Drive-by viola recitals.
Notice that there is not sufficient information in the question for anybody to guess the response. Instead, the question sets the scene and mood: it creates tension by suggesting a dramatic and dangerous topic, and then undermines the tension with a ridiculous response. This helps us to understand this example as a joke, rather than as a riddle.
There are certain categories of jokes that have many, many examples. Violist jokes are among these. Other such categories include computer jokes, blonde jokes, lawyer jokes, army jokes, off-color jokes, and jokes about certain instrumentalists – notably violists, banjo players, and drummers.
There were two truck drivers at a rest stop.
A lawyer died and went to heaven.
Did you hear about the _____ who _____?
Some jokes, like the type invoked by the last set-up sentence above, are only two sentences – the first sets up the joke, and the second delivers the punch line. This is the most compact kind of joke. Notice that the question is only formal here – a real answer is not expected, and in most cases, cannot be given.
This distinguishes the joke from a riddle in two ways. First, the input of another person is crucial to the riddle form, while it is not in this kind of joke. Second, in a riddle, the question is specifically constructed to be answerable by a clever guesser, but in a joke of this sort, the question is functioning as the joke set-up and not intended to give too many clues to what is to come. Here’s an example:
What's the latest crime wave in New York City?
Drive-by viola recitals.
Notice that there is not sufficient information in the question for anybody to guess the response. Instead, the question sets the scene and mood: it creates tension by suggesting a dramatic and dangerous topic, and then undermines the tension with a ridiculous response. This helps us to understand this example as a joke, rather than as a riddle.
There are certain categories of jokes that have many, many examples. Violist jokes are among these. Other such categories include computer jokes, blonde jokes, lawyer jokes, army jokes, off-color jokes, and jokes about certain instrumentalists – notably violists, banjo players, and drummers.
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