What do you do when you don't get a joke?
Do you speak right up and say “I don’t get it,” or do you laugh like you do get it so you won’t appear dumb?
Here’s a joke: Two scientists walked into a bar. The first scientist says, “I’ll have some H2O.”
The second scientist says, “I’ll have a glass of water too. Why did you say H2O? Like, I know it’s the chemical formula for water and all, but it’s end of the day and there is really no need to intentionally over-complicate things like that in a situation outside of work.”
The first scientist stars at his drink, angry that his assassination plan has failed.
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I DON’T GET IT!!!!!!!!
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33 Answers
I’m quick to say I don’t get it. I don’t get this particular joke, either.
@Dutchess_III: “Do you speak right up and say “I don’t get it,” or do you laugh like you do get it so you won’t appear dumb?”
There is a third option. If anyone other than my kids attempts to tell me a joke, I immediately stop them and warn them that I don’t like jokes.
Did I mention that I’m a ton of fun at parties?
The joke is that “I’ll have some H2O, too” sounds like “I’ll have some H2O2.” H2O2 is hydrogen peroxide, which can be poisonous to ingest. It’s a derivative of an older joke that ends with the second person actually dying.
@hominid, this one’s for you: Indian kid goes to his Mom and says “Mom. How do we get our names?”
Mom says, “The day someone is born we look out side the tee pee and name the child after the first thing we see. That is how your sister got her name, Snow Owl, and how your brother got his name Big Wolf. Why do you ask Two Dogs Screwing?”
@SavoirFaire Ah! I see. Thank you.
I usually give the joker a half smile and go on with my day. I don’t care enough to engage in a discussion about the joke’s meaning.
It doesn’t usually lead to a full blown discussion @Cupcake. Just a word or two of explanation.
I just smile and say, “Sorry. I didn’t get it.” It’s a bit embarrassing, but for me, more embarrassing is being on the other end… telling a joke someone else doesn’t get. It’s happened more times than I’d like to admit.
Interesting! I’ve told jokes that people don’t get sometimes. It doesn’t bother me. I just swat them and ‘splain it.
Yeah, but I’m a professional stand-up comic, @Dutchess_III.
Just kidding ;-)
Well, that would be a problem, Dear!
Nothing makes a joke less funny than having to explain it. I don’t laugh, I just let it pass.
If I don’t get it, I ask.
Depends on who is delivering the joke. If I don’t care enough to ask, I won’t. If I’m genuinely interested in understanding the joke, I will.
I don’t get the one you referenced at all.
Stare incredulously at speaker.
I’m not a violent person but people that tell ‘jokes’ like this should be killed.
I’m pretty slow with jokes. But I never pretend to get jokes.
Purse my bottom lip, shrug my shoulders & walk away…slowly.
It depends. Is the person slipping a joke in during a conversation or are you aware that the person is telling jokes? If everyone is telling jokes and I don’t get one thats told I’ll just do what @Cupcake does. If someone tries to slip a joke in during a conversation and I don’t get that it’s a joke I usually just nod my head because I don’t know what they are talking about. That’s when I hear “You didn’t get the joke, did you.”. Then I just nod my head again.
Reminds me of The Vicar of Dibley end jokes .
“The funniest line in English is ‘Get it?’ When you say that, everyone chortles.”
—Garrison Keillor
@Adagio: I’d forgotten just how funny ditsy Alice is.
When I hear a joke that goes over my head, I usually make a joke about how the other person finds humor where no one else does….
If I don’t get a joke, I say so. There’s no shame in it. We can’t all be experts in all things. Sometimes it is just a wrong day, and I wouldn’t get it just because my mind is whirling around so may other things. Asking is the best road to learning though, so at least it would be a step in the right direction.
If it’s my husband, I usually say, “Good jokes don’t need to be explained, honey”.
@gailcalled Alice is the epitome of ditsy, gorgeous character.
I bitch and argue like no tomorrow.
@SavoirFaire Haha so that’s it. I was just thinking about Halloween H20. One track mind here.
If anyone cares, here’s the original joke:
Two men walk into a bar. The first says, “Give me some H2O.” The second says, “I’ll have some H2O, too.” The second man died.
As Shakespeare said: “brevity is the soul of wit.”
Poor old John is dead and gone
His face we’ll see no more
For what he thought was H2O
Was H2SO4.
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