A good joke can make us all smile, but some are especially hilarious. Whether it’s a classic pun or a new side-splitter, we can all use a laugh now and then. But sometimes, we need a real gut-buster: the cheesy dad joke. Dads may be the king of corny puns, but they certainly aren’t the only ones who tell these groan-worthy jokes. Grandparents, siblings, friends and other father figures also have their fair share of cheesy riddles and puns. And even though these jokes can make kids cringe and roll their eyes, they might actually do them some good in the long run. By repeatedly telling the same jokes year after year, dads force the jokes to go through a process of painful repetition that eventually makes them funny.
This kind of humor, often characterized by a strong element of wordplay and/or a pun, is known as “dad humor.” Despite their cheesiness, these jokes are uniquely funny. As such, they can be a fun way to get your students laughing.
Although the term dad joke is relatively new in English, there are other languages and cultures that have similar terms for this type of humor. In Japanese culture, for example, this type of joke is known as oyaji gyagu, which means “middle-aged men’s gags.” Regardless of the specific terminology, however, the common denominator is that these jokes are funny because they violate the norms of what is considered to be funny. funny dad jokes