Talk:Meta-joke

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Older discussion[edit]

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)[reply]

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:[edit]

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)[reply]

Its humor is in subverting a convention of humor: yes, that's a meta-joke. —Tamfang (talk) 03:27, 30 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I thought I made that joke up. Sigh. 2605:E000:850A:B000:ACDD:AA74:C71F:1DEA (talk) 17:56, 24 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Postmodern joke?[edit]

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)[reply]

Meta-Joke[edit]

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)[reply]

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

double-écrire[edit]

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)[reply]

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)[reply]
"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)[reply]

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)[reply]

Explanations[edit]

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)[reply]

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)[reply]

Is this "knock knock" reference a meta-joke?[edit]

Q: "How do you take out a Swedish submarine?"
A: "Knock knock"

__meco (talk) 21:54, 28 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

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)[reply]