Dad jokes are the kind of cheesy riddles and puns that make people roll their eyes and groan. They are that special brand of humour, usually a pun or a play on words and not crude or using swear words. They are simple and predictable, but they work because they are so obviously cheesy, which makes them endearing in a way that they don’t seem to deserve.
Dad jokes may be bad, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t fun. In fact, they are a fascinating and complex phenomenon that tells us a lot not just about the nature of humour and joke-telling, but also about fatherhood and our relationship with our children.
It might be tempting to dismiss dad jokes as just being bad, but doing so would be a mistake. These jokes reveal a great deal about the nature of comedy, about our relationships with our children and even about how society views men in general.
In this article, we will look at the history of dad jokes, how they work and why they appeal to so many people. We will also discuss the linguistic theory behind dad jokes and look at some of the research that supports their effectiveness as a form of humour. And we will examine the psychology behind the dad joke – why do people love to groan at them?