My Daily Bread Crumbs 16 Aug 2022

On August 16, make everyone around you giggle, guffaw, chortle, cackle or in other words, laugh, by telling them a joke because it is Tell A Joke Day.

While the origins of this hilarious day are unknown, we can all safely assume that the creator of this unofficial holiday was aiming to make the world a happier place by encouraging people to tell and listen to jokes.

Different Jokes

A joke can be of different types. They can be verbal, as in the case of a one-liner, a whole story or in the form a question and answer, where the answer provides the humor. Jokes can also be physical such as in the case of a prank or a practical joke, where the act rather than the words provide the humor. Either way, the main purpose of a joke is to entertain by providing humor, even though jokes can sometimes be used to make serious commentary like in the case of satire.

Jokes have been an integral part of human history and many great minds have spent time and energy in trying to understand what makes jokes funny.

The day is known in the US as National Tell A Joke Day, and not to be confused with International Joke Day on July, 1.

How to Celebrate?

Every time you meet someone on this day, tell them a joke. Just make sure the jokes are appropriate to the setting.
Pick up a joke book and spend your lunch hour reading it.
Watch your favorite comedians do their thing either on TV or on stage and partake in a few hours of humorous entertainment.
Fancy yourself as a comedian?Why not take comedy and Improv classes to hone in your skills?
Play a harmless prank on your co-worker or friend.

Did You Know…

…that the study of laughter and humor and their therapeutic effects on the human body is known as Gelotology?

***

Louie and his wife are listening to the radio when they hear the weather report: "A snow emergency has been declared. You must park your cars on the odd-numbered side of the street.” So Louie gets up and moves his car.

Two days later—same thing. "A snow emergency has been declared,” blares the radio. "Park your cars on the even-numbered side of the street.” Louie gets up and does what he’s told.

Three days later: "There will be a foot of snow today. Park your cars on the ...,” and then the power goes out.

"What should I do?” a confused Louie asks his wife.

"This time,” she says, "why don’t you just leave the car in the garage?”

***

Q: What word is always spelled incorrectly?

A: Incorrectly!

***

Heading down the interstate, our car passed through a huge swarm of gnats so dense that their bodies made popping noises as they hit the windshield. "I can't get over how loud they are," my wife said.

"Well, we are hitting them at 65 miles an hour," I pointed out.

Her reply left me speechless. "I didn't know bugs could fly that fast."

***

My high-school English teacher was well known for being a fair, but hard, grader. One day I received a B minus on a theme paper.

In hopes of bettering my grade and in the spirit of the valentine season, I sent her an extravagant heart-shaped box of chocolates with the pre-printed inscription:

"BE MINE."

The following day, I received in return a valentine from the teacher. It read: