To my long suffering children...lighten up, I think I was just compared to Shakespeare.
Shakespeare?
Romeo, Romeo where you fart now Romeo?
Never mind.
55
@interested party - I'm going to try that on my 11-yr-old daughter right now. Maybe she'll surprise me.
17
Awesome man... BTW, gross ignorance is 144 times worse than ordinary ignorance.
I loved Bennett Cerf as a kid.
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@NYTimes
Now you've done it: You my discover the number of comments to this article rivaling previous records.
That said, a significant percentage will be Dad Humor.
11
Guilty as charged for do you only take cash?
17
I used to recommend punishment with a rolled up newspaper, but that just gave a distorted view of the press in the end.
43
My favorite mom jokes:
Why was six afraid of seven?
Because seven ate nine. (7 8 9)
Johnny: Mom, do I have to go to school today?
Mother: Yes Johnny, you have to go to school.
Johnny: But Mom, all the kids hate me.
Mother: Yes son, but you still have to go to school.
Johnny: But Mom, all the teachers hate me.
Mother: Yes, but you still have to go to school.
Johnny: But Mom, why do I have to go to school?
Mother: Because you're the principal, son.
63
Someone's gotta do it...the dad joke. I'll take care of it.
4
What’s black and white and red all over?
16
What did Tennessee? The same thing Arkansas.
46
I believe the first smile of a new born infant is evidence for the existence of God
17
Jason, if there were a Jokester app, I'd swipe right on you buddy.
9
Such a great article. I would add that the purpose of humor is to ease tension and relax people. As a dad, dad jokes help our kiddos relax and realize everything is okay if dad is relaxed enough to tell stupid, groan-inducing jokes. I use them every time my boys get scared or nervous about something.
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Enjoyed the article, but really the best part has been all these posts. If we could just find this kind of peace and solace with other issues.
60
I'm proud of the influence my jokes had on my daughter's development. When she was 6, she was writing her own material:
A man walks into a bar. What does he say?
- Ouch!
57
When is a dog's tail not a tail? When it's a waggin'...I got a million of 'em, or I would have if I could only remember a joke;)
38
I think the term "Dad Joke" may have first started with an episode of "How I Met Your Mother" when they first coined this phenomenon.
Thanks for this hilarious article, and your hypothesis that it starts with father's not evolving out of their growing childrens' sense of humor.
(My dad, thankfully, stopped his over-the-line fart pranks years ago).
9
I invented this one for my kids. (I think I did anyway)
Knock, Knock?
Whose there?
Easter.
Easter who?
East or west, I love you best.
Yes, I know it is terrible but they loved it when they were little.
40
As a teacher, I told what I called "3rd grade jokes", telling my middle schoolers that "I can't tell you the good ones or I'd get in trouble with your parents". 3rd grade jokes = dad jokes and middle schoolers may have groaned but they loved them!
17
Guilty as charged and it didn't cost a thing.
9
Every time I drive by a cemetery I hear my Dad saying, as he did hundreds of times, "People are dying to get in there!". How I miss him!!
143
A rabbi, priest and a monk walk into a bar. Bartender looks up and says "What is this?, some sort of joke?"
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@J J Davies - thanks, I recently misread the crossword clue as "a Rabbi's favorite restaurant", and this was it. (It was a Rabbit, and the answer was IHOP, for the record.)
15
Ited called loving 'engagement' with one's child(ren). It is beautiful and sweet.
11
I have been vindicated and validated! Now, where did I park my car?
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You know what's really great? When you have grandchildren and you can do it all over again. A new generation of groans...
111
My husband is an expert Dad Jokester and while he usually laughs the loudest, the kids and I secretly remind ourselves how much we love him as we groan and roll our eyes.
25
A great tome of "Dad Jokes" can be found on the wrappers of Laughy Taffy and some Popsicle brand I whose name I can not remember.
16
We do it because:
1. We're happy to be with our children or grandchildren. And to express our love, we joke around, which, as the author says, they enjoy at least when they're young.
2. It releases tension and relieves boredom. Eating can be boring, so I start making silly faces at my three-year-old grandson, who cracks up. I love to hear them laugh.
3. Humor, even bad attempts at humor, are part of civilization. Even Jesus has some: "Take no thought for the morrow, for the evil of the day is sufficient." That's wise and funny.
38
I laughed all the way through. My favorite type of humor, I now know, is called Dad Jokes. Thank you for a spectacular read!
12
My daughter is now 35. But I remember her coming home from a second grade class, and telling me what happened. One kid said to another kid, in all seriousness, that when her father was her age, he had to walk a mile to school. Other kids then piped up with "uphill" 'both ways" "in the snow".
Dad jokes did not just happen recently.
47
My daughter, age 42, still tells her friends as she did as a teen not to laugh at my jokes as they encourage me.
43
@LJZ
My daughter, age 41, was once queried by a teacher in junior high school why she never responded to his jokes. She very seriously informed him that at her house silence was the best way to discourage bad jokes.
48
My three children (ages 36b to 40) cringe at my jokes. My six grandchildren (ages 3 to 7) love them.
(Grand-)dad jokes forever!
51
My dad tried to get a laugh out of his daughters the entire time we were growing up, to no avail. But then came the glorious day he succeeded by failing: he told yet another of his jokes with a very long set-up—and botched the punchline. My sisters and I laughed so hard we could barely breathe. My 91-year-old dad is still trying to match that apex of hilarity.
71
Dad jokes are corny, but I doubt anything can top teacher jokes! Aside from the fact that we steer clear of “bathroom humor,”
they keep me
alive in two ways. First they keep the 25 or so 8 and 9 year olds —that I spend all day with— listening, or should I say paying attention to my voice. And second, they keep me — the only grown up in the room (7 hours a day and 5 days a week) from going crazy! I would cringe if another adult heard or saw the ridiculous things I say, do or ...sing😖🤣!
45
@CCC - So, give with an example, an it please you -- do not make your classroom a pass-room.
4
I've told and laughed at lots of these jokes. Does that make me a dad?
12
Excellent question: what about mom jokes? My mom was always laughing at stuff I didn't get. Could it be a gender disparity? Men are mostly ridiculous and they are very easy targets for humor. It is just easy to laugh with them and at them.
5
@JOsMOn -- I fear that the greatest mom joke is "Just wait until your dad gets home."
12
Jason, I laughed out loud at all of these even though some have been part of my act for 16 years. I have mentally stored the new material away to use this weekend at my 16-year-old son's (my first fan) birthday where all of his 16-year-old friends and their parents will be. These are gonna KILL!!!
96
When is a door not a door? When it’s ajar! 😀
49
@Jimmy Hewitt
When is a car not a car? When it turns into a driveway.
36
@Jimmy Hewitt Now, THAT'S the first kid joke.
5
@Jimmy Hewitt My sister tried to tell this joke when she was a toddler and ended up with: When is a door not a door? When it's a bottle.
My brother and I, aged 9 & 10, laughed at her for hours!
37
Where does crooked light go? Prizm
Mr Peanut was a-salted by the Energizer Bunny. The latter was charged with battery.
75
@Mike SOLID GOLD!!
11
if a fish with no eyes is a 'Fsh', what do you call a deer with no eyes?
No Idea.... (No eye deer) .... sorry!
40
@Grae Morrison But what do you call a dead deer with no eyes? Still no idea ...
20
@Philip James-Roxby
if you like that one, try this:
where do you weigh whales?
= a whale weigh station
so if you weigh whales at a whale weigh station, where do you weigh pies?
(and you have to sing this bit)
= somewhere over the rainbow, weigh a pie
(apologies to all)
93
@Grae Morrison - I can't wait (weight?) to use these with my grandkids.
6
This article made me laugh almost as much as my father used to. Thanks for starting my day this way.
52
I'm a mum and I dearly love to tell jokes. I am a pretty decent joke teller, if I say so myself.
Now my children are grown, I no longer say them out loud because I am forbidden from telling any joke of my own invention. A similar prohibition covers singing anywhere where other people are present (which is curious because I am a brilliant and enthusiastic singer).
Perhaps mothers simply have a greater sensitivity to loudly expressed complaints than their male counterparts?
Thank you, Jason, for your article. It was thoughtful and kind.
97
@Rebecca - thank-you so much, my daughter is now eleven and we (her parents) can't say anything.
I will try to be more sensitive when my spouse says she can't stand the child any more and would be glad to kick her out of the house.
I realize it's harder with mothers and daughters. Folks have warned me about this for years, but I didn't believe it until I witnessed it.
I regret I was ever such a burden to my own mother.
You're right, my wife feels worse about it. As a man, I feel deep down that eventually I will defeat the child and emerge victorious.
The daughter wants to be a writer, and literature is just an extended pun on previous works. That is my sole advantage.
10
Surely if Alternative Comedy was the alternative to the humor of the 20th century, then Dad Jokes are the new alternative to the lame and 7th-grade body-parts humor the current comedy circuit has been stuck on for the last 20 years. Come on people - move on. At least Dad Jokes are funnier.
10
@David
We the Dads, have to stick together on this one. It is our sworn duty to embarrass our children with lame jokes. It's in the Constitution.
What's the secret to brilliant dad humor timing?
38
@Tom Woods - tell the joke just as everyone is turning away.
8
Just in time for Father's Day.
We all remember those cringe-worthy yuk-yuks from our Dad's. And for those of us whose beloved fathers are now gone, we all smile, tears in eyes, and remember those good ole' days.
64
@Betsy - You're right, I missed that nytimes is pandering because of the holiday. I'm embarrassed how they sucked me in. My own father had a stammer and never told a joke, although I recall he liked the visual puns which had a vogue in the '80s, such as =oo= are two corpuscles who loved in a vein.
17