Do girls really understand dry humour?

[Sapiens]

You should try it with milk instead, it's more lubricated.

Lactose intolerant here, although Orange Juice seems to color it nicely from time to time….

-Sapiens

 

[d9930380]

I love this. Some people think they are SOOOO funny - And it's always the ones that claim they use dry humour.

Sometimes dry humour is just anoying - like your salad joke.

It's normally the easiest humour to do but it requires the other person to be on their toes and alert to catch and when they don't, they feel stupid. This just makes for an impossible situation.

Imploy some edititing, there is nothing worse than someone who thinks their funny but really aren't.

Allthough - I did have a chuckle at the Grace Kelly joke. But come-on didn't Jesus crack that dying joke at the "Last Supper".

 

[Stackthestyles]

What's the difference between dry humor and an inside joke?

 

[Bvbidd]

I still don't get that salad joke.

You must have sounded really stupid.

 

[diplomatic_lies]

Since you guys are into intellectual humour, maybe you can explain this joke. One of my co-workers made it today, and I STILL don't get it.

Basically, he said, "isn't it funny how sin and cos aren't actually what they are?"

The only maths joke I get is the 5-5-3-7-8-0-0-8 one.

 

[Stackthestyles]

5-5-3-7-8-0-0-8

LMFAO!!!!!

HAHAHAHAHHH!H!H!HH!H!HHAHAHAHAHHA!!!! :crackup:

That was priceless man! Where did you ever learn that?

 

[Grandmaster Sexay]

I still don't get that salad joke.

You must have sounded really stupid.

From your point of view, you would feel like the stupid one, but not to others that get it.

 

[Bvbidd]

You can say that about anything. You can speak Chinese and think your so smart as everybody makes fun of you in English.

The bottomline is if you TRY to make a joke and nobody laughs your the one who failed. You can think your as smart as you want to but stating that a salad is a salad in hopes of people laughing is in noway proving it.

 

[cant think of a user name]

To Bvbidd:
A lot of dry humour is not meant to make someone laugh out loud exactly, but instead, make them chuckle a little bit or break a smile.


Letterman uses a lot of dry humour on his guests, and many of them (namely, young women like Mischa Barton and Paris Hilton) seem like they don't really get what he's on about, giving him a curious look and laughing when they hear the audience laughing.

I wonder if it is a geographical thing also... east coast cities vs other?

Also, in Australia dry humour seems quite frequently used.

 

[d9930380]

Grandmaster Sexay - Nope, the fact he doesn't get it doesn't make him either smart or stupid.

That's the problem with "dry" humour, it's considered by those that use it as being intellectual e.g. you get the saying "Sarcasm is the lowest form of witt, but the highest form of intelligence".

It comes across as patronizing especially if you don't get it. Sometimes it's not intellectual at all, JUST obscure.

Yea but someone said it was an "in" joke, it's not but it can make you feel like you're on the "outside" of an "in" joke.

Your trying to build up trust and likability to you, why would you make her feel like this. Chances are she will just think that you're weird or a creep.

 

[d9930380]

"cant think of a user name" - Letterman uses dry humour on them to goof on them without them knowing it. We are supposed to be laughing at their stupidity at that point.

I also know people who use it as a test (girls and guys) - They think it shows witt and intelligence. I don't like to do that because I don't, I hate to say this but I don't think it's nice ;-) - **** sake, someone cure me off that.

Now you know why people do it. Can you blame a girl if you start doing this on a first/second date?

 

[Kumar]

Can this get any dryer? I had a good laugh though:

http://videowombat.blogspot.com/2006/05/vader-calls-emperor.html

K

 

[Grandmaster Sexay]

Unfortunately, to those that find dry humour patronising or condescending, it is something that has to be tolerated, or else. The reason being, there's no point in trying to be someone you are not. It's a natural instinct.

As one said, dry humour is not defined to be funny. It can be, or may leave you wondering that logic does work, i.e. ''A sure cure for seasickness to sit under a tree''.

 

[Stackthestyles]

Some consider dry humour to be bad humour, they think the time spent making a dry humour joke could be spent on an actual good joke.

Others actually use dry humour in a patronizing tone, for patronizing reasons. Like when brushing a person off, dry humour will make others chuckle and crack a smile.

 

[Dannyrt34]

mm dry humor

Yeah... but our main concern is on chicks... STAY FOCUSED

Seems to me like we all use some dry humor. I think you just have to use it with the right tone and body language, and you'll get some good responses from anyone who has any bit of a sense of humor.

 

[Jariel]

Ricky Gervais is a good example of dry humour. He says things in a deadpan manner and if you didn't realise he was being ironic, you could take great offence!

Dry humour is mostly about the delivery though, and I deliver neghits and c+f in this dry way. Usually what I'm saying is too exaggerated to be serious, but yes, some people do take it very literally.

One example, a few members of staff at a supermarket were telling me about problems with shrinkage (a financial term). I replied: "Yeah, I get that problem in the winter too".

One guy started chuckling, but it went over the heads of the others who just continued talking literally. As they continued talking the one guy who got it couldn't control himself laughing.

 

[Le Parisien]

It seems, from my experience, most females (usually the Amercians) do not grasp the amusing side of dry humour. As some would know, the British tend to comprehend that particular humour better.

For example, having encountered many girls, tend to look bemused, at odds or lost when I give the expression of dry humour on their receiving end.

Take this:

The most amusing part I find is, when one that gets the "uhhh" reaction.

Sitting at the dinner table a girl passes me a dish of salad and says "salad?"

I reply "yes it is".

Rarely do they laugh at this.

A girl and I were discussing Grace Kelly.

Girl (an american): "Yes she was a wonderful and beautiful actress"
Me "not much of a motorist though"

Lastly, three of my favourite one-liners

"Swimming is good for you, especially if you're drowning".

"A sure cure for seasickness is to sit under a tree."

"I don't mind dying. I just don't want to be there when it happens."

A person once said ''Sarcasm and dry humour in the US is often used as a passive-aggressive method to insult others, rather than as a vehicle for humor strictly for humor's sake as is the case in the UK''

Really, the question is, do girls really understand dry humour? I know there's cultural differences, but to me, they seem too fastidious to see the funny side of it.

Actually, I think it's NOT just the women, most people out side of the UK would have trouble to "appreciate" this "dry humour" thing, notice that I put a "u" in "humour"... People would just find it cheap, foolish and unfunny.

I can totally picture a british guy with "typical british manners" saying the "jokes" you just said in a thick british accent...

I think what differentiates what you call "dry humor" from "normal humor" is that "dry humor" does not build up the intrigue, it doesn't have the charming buildup -> punchline mechanism. So basically you can easily come up with some random "stupid" stuff, and you won't look funny, because you don't need to be witty to come up with things like that.

Your salad joke and Grace Kelly joke are perfect illustrations of this "cheapness".
For the salad "joke", you could have said "I concur", "I agree", "positive", "is this a quiz?", "you don't know?" etc... see how cheap this is?

 

[whistler]

Dry humor (esp. Brit.) kills me. Absolutely kills.

But women rarely get it, and they're often irritated at best and insulted at worst.

And then, of course, they want you to explain how and why it was a joke. They, of course, still can't see the humor and then become convinced you were insulting them.

Hopeless...

So there's a tip: Unless in Britain, keep the jokes obvious.

 

[Grandmaster Sexay]

Ricky Gervais is a good example of dry humour. He says things in a deadpan manner and if you didn't realise he was being ironic, you could take great offence!

Ricky isn't the ''driest'' person I've heard. Jack Dee and Paul Merton are the modern day of extended dry humour. The legend I most adore for that sense of humour was the late Spike Milligan ''I told you I was ill!''.

One example, a few members of staff at a supermarket were telling me about problems with shrinkage (a financial term). I replied: "Yeah, I get that problem in the winter too".

Your salad joke and Grace Kelly joke are perfect illustrations of this "cheapness".
For the salad "joke", you could have said "I concur", "I agree", "positive", "is this a quiz?", "you don't know?" etc... see how cheap this is?

In British humour, it is about being as obvious as possible, that sways away from being direct and impulsive. It's not about intelligence, it's LOGIC.

I think, the only way dry humour can be accepted by a wider audience is to avoid saying a line that consists in nothing but, a sense of closure. Such humour is predominantly left open, that requires a degree of acute thought to appreciate it. Like most, you have to be quick rationally to comprehend it. That is why, unlike most, take dry humour beyond the pale.

Black and gallows humour are even worse. If you are going to be provocative, it's best to do it with those who can't be provoked.

 

[diplomatic_lies]

Well give us an example of dry humour that is funny. Maybe from a popular comedian or talk show host.