Post AscBcokB0I3CcuJSrI by clayote@peoplemaking.games
(DIR) More posts by clayote@peoplemaking.games
(DIR) Post #Asc29RbV3jlYsFAot6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-03-31T11:39:17Z
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Hot Take: I *like* it when people explain jokes. Even if I understand the joke, it's soothing to know I didn't miss anything. BUT often I *did* miss something and didn't even know! Explaining a joke does not "ruin it." I don't understand why people say that. (Although, I can see how explaining a joke, because it's just not a very good is bad. But, the if joke isn't good ... not explaining it isn't going to make it any better.)
(DIR) Post #Asc2GCcj9ai6RNyDTM by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-03-31T11:40:31Z
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If someone asks you to explain a joke I think you should just explain it and be nice. It should be more socially acceptable to ask for a joke to be explained and people who groan and shout "now it's ruined" need to stop. In fact, some jokes become more funny when they are carefully explained, especially if you try to be very neutral and clinical about it. "And you see, it is humorous that..." give it a try!
(DIR) Post #Asc2eoMWUgTGR27p4q by mensrea@freeradical.zone
2025-03-31T11:44:55Z
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@futurebird given that telling a joke is a form of performance art, yes, adding an explanation can dramatically enhance said performance
(DIR) Post #Asc31wfZm1lkrO4Hrc by Divorytaur@mastodon.social
2025-03-31T11:49:07Z
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@futurebird I experience the same with films, games and sports results/plots. 😅 No problem telling me, and don’t actually onderstand why people don’t want to know. I do respect it, though. As for puzzles or cryptograms… Not interested in finding a solution. It’s something already known… just tell or show me. Life has its own interesting problems to solve…
(DIR) Post #Asc3EJZOSNYtMK4gDI by NatureMC@mastodon.online
2025-03-31T11:51:21Z
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@futurebird I learned to empathise with French humour, which was quite foreign to me, because friends patiently explained their jokes to me. Explaining jokes is an art - and a boon for all foreign language speakers.
(DIR) Post #Asc3IjbfawBlGjFMno by sovietfish@todon.eu
2025-03-31T11:51:55Z
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@futurebird I'm very interested in the art of explaining a joke well. I think there are good ways of doing it, which help to reinforce the tension (e.g. between expectation & reality) that makes the joke funny. The bad ways of doing it, which I think is what people are objecting to with "omg don't explain it!!", can sap some of the joy of the joke by trying to approach it too clinically, though. (E.g. one might point out that part of the joke is based on a popular misapprehension, which invites the explainee to distance themselves from people who would find this joke funny [who must be "dumb", whereas the explainer must be "smart"].) I think this sort of approach can meaningfully kill a joke, insofar as it makes it difficult to feel what the joke is meant to make you feel.A lot of allistic people who aren't huge overthinkers ime aren't going to think about a joke as something that has structure. To them it's either dumb (which, often, funny), or mystifying (which, you'd better mask!!!). Unpacking why a joke makes you feel a certain way isn't usually something they're well-equipped to think through.
(DIR) Post #Asc3hQydznG8jKlpfU by jaystephens@mastodon.social
2025-03-31T11:56:37Z
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@futurebird 100% agree and furthermore it should be low-key socially unacceptable to refuse to give a little time to explaining _anything_ someone publicly professes ignorance of our not having understood. There's an ocean between that and sealioning.
(DIR) Post #Asc5tcuhdrNr8LruqW by llewelly@sauropods.win
2025-03-31T12:21:15Z
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@futurebird 1/2I mostly agree, but with a caveat, and a different issue which is actually a very different reason to ask for an explanation:A: Explaining things is a difficult skill, and many people don't have it, and so, while anyone encountering a joke deserves an explanation, it's not necessarily the case that the joke teller is adequately equipped to provide an explanation.
(DIR) Post #Asc6WHDgEWE193Au4e by uncanny_static@chaos.social
2025-03-31T12:28:12Z
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@futurebird Hot Take: When explaining a joke ruins it, it is because you are just making fun of someone, and explaining it just makes it obvious that you are being cruel. In other words, you just made a bad joke.
(DIR) Post #Asc7f2CdXD4L8DQW12 by ryanjyoder@techhub.social
2025-03-31T12:40:59Z
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@futurebird . I think most jokes her explained after something like this, "Why aren't you laughing? You didn't get it. Let me explain."
(DIR) Post #Asc8nIlJx14WlD9iqG by mattmcirvin@mathstodon.xyz
2025-03-31T12:53:42Z
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@futurebird if the reason the joke needs explaining is that it's too inside or just not funny, someone who appreciates the craft of humor can take that as useful feedback.
(DIR) Post #Asc9hYJbJRPJDJ0ptI by argonaut@mastodon.social
2025-03-31T13:03:51Z
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@futurebird @photovotary jokes are effectively jargon, due to its intrinsic contextualisation and symbolical nature, so if you’re speaking in jargon and don’t explain it to those outside the context and the symbolism, YATA.
(DIR) Post #AscB0vaN7LTOqGexxA by btuftin@social.coop
2025-03-31T13:18:27Z
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@futurebird The "now it's ruined" crowd are, in my experience, just indulging in a false sense of superiority. It basically means "Hey, I was enjoying feeling I was part of an in-group and that people not getting it were dumb!"
(DIR) Post #AscBcokB0I3CcuJSrI by clayote@peoplemaking.games
2025-03-31T13:25:22Z
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@futurebird If explaining the joke ruins it, it can't have been that funny
(DIR) Post #AscC2dgIkxElqVoTaq by ann3nova@corteximplant.com
2025-03-31T13:30:04Z
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@futurebird Be sure to add knee slaps and cackles. :D
(DIR) Post #AscDanrRVyfJDYsYgy by mansr@society.oftrolls.com
2025-03-31T13:47:28Z
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@futurebird I think I agree. That said, I do find it irritating when a "comedy" film/show has someone (else, usually) explain every single joke, I guess to make sure the audience doesn't miss any of them.
(DIR) Post #AscH9wT3o4zvuPvBke by GeoWend@kosmos.social
2025-03-31T14:27:25Z
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@futurebird getting to see the contextual reality of something is fascinating. Jokes are hyperlinks in culture.
(DIR) Post #AscRii7Q9B7Z5E189w by harmonygritz@mastodon.social
2025-03-31T16:25:45Z
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@futurebird On social media, I often post things that ONLY my close circles from different periods of my life will "get." Total in-jokes.Turns out that's OK with everyone except a couple of very strait-laced fam, not gonna win with them anyway.If someone should ask, I just tell them and that's also OK.BTW in one of my best laugh reactions ever, I capitalized the pronoun WHO for emphasis. Then someone tried to side-door a subtle reply about the health org, and it fell soooo flat... 😅
(DIR) Post #AsgXN5rQZRemhjS49o by cocoadog@mastodon.social
2025-04-02T15:47:56Z
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@futurebird Strongly agree. There's something about being able to say "I see what you did there" that only enhances the experience IMO. Same with any art form -- there's a ton of pleasure in looking for the "what you did".
(DIR) Post #Ast0wxgbwcoomHRLWq by scrottie@anarchism.space
2025-04-08T16:15:49Z
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@futurebird I love knowyourmeme.com and urbandictionary.com for this! I want to read about it, but also the write-ups people do are read reading. Ok, urbandictionary has a lot of garbage on it but I can https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=upboat the good stuff at least. Joke explainers are joke historians and joke archivists.