> You have to know what an alloy is to laugh at that one. I disagree. These types of jokes also tend to fall prey to interpretation by association, that is, th

> You have to know what an alloy is to laugh at that one. I disagree. These types of jokes also tend to fall prey to interpretation by association, that is, the audience may just recognize that it's supposed to be funny and it's funny for scientific reasons, but they don't fully know what an alloy is or couldn't explain it. It's less about the actual knowledge of the joke and more that they to some degree have had the premise explained and find it funny due to "insider knowledge". A lot of more common science jokes tend to be like this - the joke isn't that the setup or punchline are particularly good, it's the exclusivity that adds to the value of the understanding. It's not that you get the joke that is funny to many people, it's that others don't get the joke that adds value.