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PaperclipPerfector  9mo ago (text post)   3629 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 30, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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How do you react to unfunny jokes? Not because they are offensive, just lacking any comedic value.

I simply.. dont laugh. Its not that I didnt get the joke or anything, I got it, but I didnt GET it.

My coworkers are getting the impression im a hardass and add the disclaimer "im just joking",etc, all the time now.

And thats pissing me off because I got the joke, you dont need to walk on eggshells! How dumb do you think I am.

I have too much self respect to fake laugh.

An obviously fake laugh doesn’t do the trick?

I may be your worst enemy. I only tell intentionally bad jokes at work, really awful forced puns and jokes where the setup is overly long for a weak punch line. A portion of it is sadism for sure, but the other portion is giving my team a momentary distraction and a common enemy to fight against. It’s actually pretty good for unit cohesion. On the flip side, if someone laughs at my joke, I know that they’re either an idiot or a kiss-ass and not to be trusted with important tasks.

I agree, bad jokes are a time-honored work tradition.

A playful "ba dum tss." A smirk and a nod. Blowing air out your nostrils (in a fake laugh). A finger point and an "I see what you did there" noise (ayyyy [what a comedian]). A friendly, dry "har har."

You don't have to laugh, but you don't have to stonewall either. I usually give friendly deadpan responses.

EDIT: ayyyy*

I don't have a solution but just wanted to say I have the same problem. I refuse to engage in totally fake behaviors. If something is kinda funny I can force a laugh, but if it's totally unfunny I won't do it. Some people seem to think that if you don't laugh at their shitty joke it must be that you simply didn't understand it. They don't see that maybe it just wasn't funny, or that we have a different sense of humor.

I have found “I see what you did there” as an effective way to acknowledge that you understand that a joke was told without having to commit to a judgement of the quality.

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