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Whether it's humor, movies, music, novels, poetry, or art, we all have our preferences and tastes.
One of my all time favorite novels is The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky. Recently a good friend whose intelligence I respect said she didn't care for Dostoevsky because he is too pessimistic. It wouldn't have occurred to me to question my friend's taste or judgment. It is simply different from mine in that particular case.
In poetry I am a big fan of most of the English romantics: Coleridge, Shelley, Wordsworth, in particular. I do not look down my nose at anyone who doesn't much care for them. I also like Milton and some poems of TS Eliot.
I am a big fan of classical music, but I also enjoy bluegrass and many types of jazz, so my net gets cast wide in that case.
I am a big fan of foreign films, not that I like every one, of course, and not that I don't like many American films too. I thought "Blue Jazmin" and "Nebraska" (two very different films) were superb among recent American films. Many people do not share my judgments about film, but that doesn't bother me, and indeed, that is to be expected.
I can't relate to most modern art, but have no objection to folks who are fans of it.
Now for the biggie: humor. I find that people are most likely to get offended and get their noses seriously out of joint over differences in judgment about whether or not a joke is funny than about differences in judgment about any of the other categories above.
A recent case in point is the "How to Cope with Losing Your Looks" thread. I am posting this here in the Chat Thread because I think continued discussion of it would be off-topic in the other thread. I posted two jokes related to the thread topic in post numbers 200 and 218. The source of both jokes was Milton Berle's Private Joke File" (copyright 1989), a pretty mainstream source. Neither joke was off-color, but both had to do with looks.
In posts numbers 221, 223, and 232, three different posters took issue with the second of the two jokes (about the hillbilly prom queen who had something special about her left eye - the right eye kept looking at it). I think it's fine if some folks didn't think the joke was funny, as that would represent a normal difference of opinion/taste/judgment. But the dissent went beyond that in two of the three posts, one stating that I should be ashamed of myself and the other that (in part) "...this is not the place for jokes. Especially as told by men...."
What is wrong with us if jokes are taboo? Humor is the spice of life as far as I am concerned, with a few exceptions noted: To me humor is out of place in the Grief and Mourning Forum, for example. If someone has lost a loved one, then there is simply nothing humorous about that.
In my opinion, the grim, ultra-serious, puritanical crowd represents the crabgrass on the lawn of life. I hope I never join that crowd no matter how long I live.
What is wrong with us if jokes are taboo? Humor is the spice of life as far as I am concerned, with a few exceptions noted: To me humor is out of place in the Grief and Mourning Forum, for example. If someone has lost a loved one, then there is simply nothing humorous about that.
In my opinion, the grim, ultra-serious, puritanical crowd represents the crabgrass on the lawn of life. I hope I never join that crowd no matter how long I live.
Discussion?
The only comment I have is that some took objection to your "joke" because typical of the Milton Berle era, "jokes" sometimes took aim at a person's disability and the eye thing you referred to was seen as such. There have also been many jokes in that era about "retarded" individuals, and generally, educated people today don't go there (or even see the humor in it). Just my 2 cents of an explanation as to why you got those reactions.
Now for the biggie: humor. I find that people are most likely to get offended and get their noses seriously out of joint over differences in judgment about whether or not a joke is funny than about differences in judgment about any of the other categories above.
A recent case in point is the "How to Cope with Losing Your Looks" thread. I am posting this here in the Chat Thread because I think continued discussion of it would be off-topic in the other thread. I posted two jokes related to the thread topic in post numbers 200 and 218. The source of both jokes was Milton Berle's Private Joke File" (copyright 1989), a pretty mainstream source. Neither joke was off-color, but both had to do with looks.
In posts numbers 221, 223, and 232, three different posters took issue with the second of the two jokes (about the hillbilly prom queen who had something special about her left eye - the right eye kept looking at it). I think it's fine if some folks didn't think the joke was funny, as that would represent a normal difference of opinion/taste/judgment. But the dissent went beyond that in two of the three posts, one stating that I should be ashamed of myself and the other that (in part) "...this is not the place for jokes. Especially as told by men...."
What is wrong with us if jokes are taboo? Humor is the spice of life as far as I am concerned, with a few exceptions noted:
In my opinion, the grim, ultra-serious, puritanical crowd represents the crabgrass on the lawn of life. I hope I never join that crowd no matter how long I live.
Discussion?
I took it the way you intended - as a joke/humor and yes I thought it was funny. You have been posting some good ones now and then. I think most of us know you well enough that you wouldn't be making mean comments.
The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words.
And the winners are:
1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering
how much weight one has gained.
3. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent.
6. Negligent, adj. Absent mindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.
7. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence, n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle, n. A humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon, n. A Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism, n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent, n. An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.
I love jokes that are told in story form, so the suspense builds and the punchline is a killer. Some of the ones that come to me through email are particularly funny, and many of these are poking fun at old age. I guess we as a demographic should be offended, but we so often see ourselves in the joke we can't help but laugh.
so, would a joke with racial stereotypes be okay to post here, even if you thought it was funny?
As soon as I posted I realized that not everyone (maybe not anyone ) was going to agree with me because, like the person who posted the joke, they won't understand why I find it offensive.
Is it still funny if you leave out the word hillbilly? If not, why not?
Finding this conversation was a surprise. I expect I will regret posting. Its a beautiful day. I'm going to go set awhile.
Today our neighbor sees us out front chopping ice away from the storage shed and stops his pickup in the road, not bothering to pull to the side because there's hardly any traffic. He offers his last half bag of ice melt, which we kindly refused because we are expecting another 8 to 18 inches of snow tonight
Today our neighbor sees us out front chopping ice away from the storage shed and stops his pickup in the road, not bothering to pull to the side because there's hardly any traffic. He offers his last half bag of ice melt, which we kindly refused because we are expecting another 8 to 18 inches of snow tonight
Ice melt is like gold this year. I only have a small amount left and must save it for my front steps so nobody goes boom.
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CCc girl
) was going to agree with me because, like the person who posted the joke, they won't understand why I find it offensive.
