[FRIAM] FW: Thread bender

[thompnickson2 at gmail.com]

Thanks Steve, 

I think a lot of the thread-bender impulse comes from seeing  a slumbering cat (= some few words of interest to the bender) on the hearth (= the whole thought of the poster) and kicking the living daylights out of it. 

Nick 

Nicholas Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology
Clark University
ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com
https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/
 


-----Original Message-----
From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> On Behalf Of Steve Smith
Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2020 11:53 AM
To: friam at redfish.com
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] FW: Thread bender


> Here's a dad joke that I've told at Friam a couple of times apologies 
> to any reader who heard it from me:
>
> Thor was gathering wood for a fire when his wife ran out and screamed, 
> "There's a saber toothed tiger in the cave with mother!". Thor says, 
> "Who cares what happens to a saber toothed tiger?"
>
> Some have said that it's a misogynist joke.  I think it's equally down 
> putting of both genders.
Not to mention poorly characterizing Gods and prehistoric apex predators.   I recently read Neil Gaiman's retelling of many of the Norse Myths in his own very unique voice and I was reminded of the pleasure of godheads who had acutely human tragedies.

Here's another way I'm apparently anachronistic.   I didn't learn the term "dad joke" until a few years ago, I'm guessing it had been around a while by that time.  It seems to simply replace the two tropes of the "shaggy dog joke" and a "groaner" or simply a "bad" or "not so good" joke.

And that parallel "dad shorts"?   I think that references the generation that wore their shorts (and pants) relatively tight and short.   The anachronistic (and British) term "short pants" seems to come closer to what men wear for shorts now.   Every once in a while I see a photo of a basketball game before their shorts started dangling below the knee. I've never played basketball (since 5th grade?) in anything but cutoffs or jeans, so I'm not sure, but now *all* basketball shorts look uncomfortable for one reason or the other.

Nick -

I *did* read your joke and had to struggle a little to fully appreciate it.   I suppose cat or GW lovers might find it "in bad taste".   Perhaps what might make it a "dad joke" is that it takes more than a little thought to untangle the whole thing...  and the punchline once fully parsed was a minor letdown (aka "groaner").   Neither yours nor Frank's resorted to the "bad pun" which I believe also fits the category of "dad joke".     What I presume (also) makes it a "dad joke" is the over-reach of a dad trying to connect to a kid/grandkid or their friends with a joke that might be either too simple or too sophisticated or perhaps just plain dumb?

- Steve



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