4 ms·

Your understanding of jokes reads like it's literally insane, as if an alien was trying to understand humor. How could you possibly believe this? These unknown

Your understanding of jokes reads like it's literally insane, as if an alien was trying to understand humor. How could you possibly believe this? These unknown "studies" you refer to are clearly bunk. Anyone can disprove it in 10 seconds of looking at a list of jokes. This idea of jokes is not a fact by any stretch of the imagination. Your retelling of "barbarian" etymology is also wrong. Apparently ancient greeks thought other people's languages sounded like "bar bar" to them. It's not what foreigners sounded like trying to speak their own language, which wouldn't really even make sense. "The Greeks used the term barbarian for all non-Greek-speaking peoples, including the Egyptians, Persians, Medes and Phoenicians, emphasizing their otherness, because the language they spoke sounded to Greeks like gibberish represented by the sounds "bar..bar..;" this is how they came to the word βάρβαρος" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarian#Etymology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarian#Etymology

wizardforhire 8y ago
What that wiki article fails to mention is that it was not other languages that were Bar bar but rather these other peoples accents when they attempted to speak attic greek which gave them away as being “not from Athens”. Which is why and how it was extended to all the other greek provinces as well. As an amateur attic speaker who enjoys reading texts in their original typography as well as modern interpretations I can absolutely see how the sing song nature of attic could provide difficulties to others. This is not the original study I was looking for but similar results. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1046496410366311 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1046496410366311 As for insane, I fail to comprehend. In the spirit of good fun on hn I challenge you to provide us with 10 jokes so that we may debate their merits appropriately.
- fergatmuhacct 8y ago
  What's your source for this version of the etymology? Either Wikipedia is wrong or your version is. Either is possible but one is much more likely. It seems patently obvious that some jokes are mean and some jokes are not. But it's highly subjective given varying contexts. A "mean" joke about someone at a roast might be considered a kindness by all involved. You could still call it "mean" but you might be the only one that thinks so. Here's some (mostly boring) jokes. Let's see if you can point out the the meanness in each of them. "Q: What do chemists' dogs do with their bones? A: They barium!" "Q: What did the cat say when the mouse got away? A: You've got to be kitten me!" "Q. What did the ocean say to the sailboat? A. Nothing, it just waved." "Q. What did Batman say to Robin before they got in the car? A. 'Robin, get in the car.'" "Q. What do you get when you cross-breed a shark and a cow? A. I have no idea but I wouldn’t try milking it." "My new thesaurus is terrible. Not only that, but it’s also terrible."

wizardforhire 8y ago

What that wiki article fails to mention is that it was not other languages that were Bar bar but rather these other peoples accents when they attempted to speak attic greek which gave them away as being “not from Athens”. Which is why and how it was extended to all the other greek provinces as well. As an amateur attic speaker who enjoys reading texts in their original typography as well as modern interpretations I can absolutely see how the sing song nature of attic could provide difficulties to others. This is not the original study I was looking for but similar results. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1046496410366311 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1046496410366311 As for insane, I fail to comprehend. In the spirit of good fun on hn I challenge you to provide us with 10 jokes so that we may debate their merits appropriately.

fergatmuhacct 8y ago
What's your source for this version of the etymology? Either Wikipedia is wrong or your version is. Either is possible but one is much more likely. It seems patently obvious that some jokes are mean and some jokes are not. But it's highly subjective given varying contexts. A "mean" joke about someone at a roast might be considered a kindness by all involved. You could still call it "mean" but you might be the only one that thinks so. Here's some (mostly boring) jokes. Let's see if you can point out the the meanness in each of them. "Q: What do chemists' dogs do with their bones? A: They barium!" "Q: What did the cat say when the mouse got away? A: You've got to be kitten me!" "Q. What did the ocean say to the sailboat? A. Nothing, it just waved." "Q. What did Batman say to Robin before they got in the car? A. 'Robin, get in the car.'" "Q. What do you get when you cross-breed a shark and a cow? A. I have no idea but I wouldn’t try milking it." "My new thesaurus is terrible. Not only that, but it’s also terrible."