Talk:Meta-joke

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notice the example under jokes about jokes : "you've exceeded the legal character limit in this joke." the word this refers to the joke itself. Therefore, this is a self referanceing joke and belongs in the category above it.
 * It is not. Please read the definitions carefully. Simply to refer to itself is insufficient. The joke itself must have the specific structure it refers to. Mikkalai 23:54, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Meta jokes are a subset of jokes, and jokes are generally required to be funny 2605:E000:850A:B000:ACDD:AA74:C71F:1DEA (talk) 17:58, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

While we are at it, aren't all of these examples jokes about jokes? would that be a satisfactory definition of Meta-joke? should the artice start out by saying, "meta jokes are jokes about jokes. here are some examples: self-referanceing template" -WBM 2005;3;20
 * They are three different kinds. The purpose is to distinguish them, not to put into one basket. Mikkalai 23:54, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Now, wouldn't a meta-joke be a joke that references itself in the joke? For example:


 * A priest, a minister, and a rabbi are walking down the street. The rabbi says, "Hey, did you hear the one about us?"


 * A priest, a minister, a rabbi, a horse, a light bulb, and a piece of string walk into a bar. The bartender says, "What is this, some kind of a joke?"

Or would those be recursive jokes? -- Merphant 13:17, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I don't think they are meta jokes, but self-referring jokes (there used to be a page on that IIRC). --Mixcoatl 15:10, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)


 * Isn't self-referring what meta- means? Hyacinth 00:54, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I did some googling, most meta jokes I found are indeed like your examples. I think we'd move this page to Non-joke and make a page about the kind of jokes of your examples here. --Mixcoatl 15:36, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Isn't this the same as anti-humor? Fishal 09:21, 13 Nov 2004 (UTC)

- What about this one?

- "Do you know the joke with the feminist crossing the street?"

- "No, I don't ..."

- "IT'S NOT FUNNY!"

It works really well if you yell at the person and surprise them. Which kind of joke is this? Paul Dehaye 08:22, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Don't know about the metamath analogy...

A "knock-knock" joke my mother told me when I was young:
My mother said to me, "I have a great knock-knock joke! You start it."

I said, "Knock, knock!"

She said, "Who's there?"

I then paused, realizing that we couldn't proceed with the joke because I didn't have enough information about the joke with which to effectively proceed.

That, apparently, was the joke: me sitting there with a blank stare.

This sort of joke breaks whatever fourth-wall jokes contain as their inherent possession. But does this alone make it a meta-joke? I think: yes, it does.

Allixpeeke 00:20, 18 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Its humor is in subverting a convention of humor: yes, that's a meta-joke. —Tamfang (talk) 03:27, 30 May 2009 (UTC)


 * I thought I made that joke up. Sigh. 2605:E000:850A:B000:ACDD:AA74:C71F:1DEA (talk) 17:56, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Postmodern joke?
What about this one?:

-What's the difference between a duck and also? -A duck eats biscuits and also bread!

HA! 83.182.152.54 00:19, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

Meta-Joke
Would it be a metajoke if a Tv program or film made fun of its own deus ex Machina? ArdClose (talk) 15:35, 23 April 2008 (UTC)


 * That's self-referential humor, but it's not a joke about a joke. —Tamfang (talk) 02:48, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

double-écrire

 * So he gives her one.
 * So he gives it to her.

This has been switched sixteen times in nineteen months, sometimes with a note that the new wording is 'clearer'. All but two of these were by anonymice, so I looked up their IP addresses, and what d'you know: gave her one is preferred in England and the Isle of Man, and gave it to her in the rebellious colonies. —Tamfang (talk) 04:59, 6 April 2010 (UTC)

I still don't get this joke. I figure it means it's a drink. I don't exactly get what the other meaning is. Is the joke that we're expecting a second meaning but we only get a banal, straightforward punch line, where a bartender gives her a drink?
 * I'm American and the first one is vastly funnier to me 2605:E000:850A:B000:ACDD:AA74:C71F:1DEA (talk) 18:00, 24 March 2017 (UTC)
 * "he gave her one" idiomatically means "he had sex with her". So of course it may mean that he gave her the drink she asked for, but... Captain Pedant (talk) 23:21, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

Woot, switched again! I once tried giving both versions of the joke (with an English pub and an American bar, and the punchline appropriate to each) but that version didn't last. —Tamfang (talk) 05:15, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Explanations
The example jokes need explanations to tell us why they're funny, preferably done in painfully excrutiating detail. That would itself be a metajoke and would need to be glossed. But seriously, why is the one about the birds and the refrigerator funny? Is it a non-sequitur? --Colapeninsula (talk) 14:50, 11 November 2011 (UTC)
 * That joke is surrealist, not meta, unless I've missed something. I'm removing it. 81.157.41.45 (talk) 02:52, 29 November 2011 (UTC)

Is this "knock knock" reference a meta-joke?
Q: "How do you take out a Swedish submarine?" A: "Knock knock" __meco (talk) 21:54, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

No, it's not about knock-knock jokes. The point appears to be that Swedes are foolish enough to open a door whenever someone knocks. —Tamfang (talk) 05:17, 3 October 2012 (UTC)