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Like the late Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s test for obscenity – “I know it when I see it” – you know a dad joke when you hear it.
It’s corny. It’s awkward. It elicits groans.
Cape Breton University’s Ian Brodie and Indiana University’s Moira Marsh trace the genealogy of the term “dad joke” to a Father’s Day column from the late 1980s. Only over the past 20 years, however, has the term taken off.
Perhaps this form of humor has resonated with so many people because dads across generations have rarely passed up an opportunity to embarrass their kids.
Brodie and Marsh explain how dad jokes differ from most forms of comedy: They lack a uniform structure and thrive on being safe, cheesy and, at times, downright cringeworthy. Their charm ultimately lies in the performance – a dad’s playful interaction with his audience, often his kids or his kids’ friends.
Yet even amid eye rolls and glares, dad jokes have a unique ability to bring families together.
This week, we also liked articles about lying, “magic mushrooms,” and conversations recorded without consent.
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Sometimes lameness – not laughter – is the point.
AHPhotoswpg/iStock via Getty Images
Ian Brodie, Cape Breton University; Moira Marsh, Indiana University
Cringe, corny and awkward − what’s not to love?
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Fertilizer is a leading source of emissions of nitrous oxide, a planet-warming greenhouse gas.
pixdeluxe/E+ via Getty Images
Hanqin Tian, Boston College; Eric Davidson, University of Maryland, Baltimore; Pep Canadell, CSIRO; Rona Louise Thompson, Norwegian Institute for Air Research
The most comprehensive assessment yet of a powerful greenhouse gas shows which countries are driving the increase, and which ones are successfully cutting emissions.
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Hunter Biden has been found guilty of making a false claim on a federal firearms application.
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
Christian B. Miller, Wake Forest University
Researchers are interested in whether who you’re communicating with and how you’re interacting affect how likely you are to lie.
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Christopher P. Holstege, University of Virginia; Rita Farah, University of Virginia
Researchers found a sharp rise in calls to US poison centers about magic mushrooms coincided with their decriminalization in several US cities and states.
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Anne Toomey McKenna, University of Richmond
Secret recordings raise questions about Justice Alito’s impartiality, but they also reveal the weak state of legal protections against the misuse of the microphones and cameras everyone carries.
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Derek T. Muller, University of Notre Dame
In the 2020 presidential election, groups of self-appointed electors in seven states met to cast votes for Donald Trump, even though Joe Biden had carried their states. Could that happen again?
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The Conversation News Quiz 🧠
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Fritz Holznagel, The Conversation
Here’s the first question of this week’s edition:
June 24 will be the second anniversary of the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and ended 50 years of national abortion rights. What was the name of that case?
- A. Dobbs v. Jackson
- B. Plessy v. Ferguson
- C. State of Texas v. McMurtry
- D. Roe v. Wade 2: The Empire Strikes Back
Test your knowledge
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