Have you ever been bugged by an editorial cartoon that you stared at endlessly, but simply couldn’t understand? Or an office/cocktail/bar joke whose punch line simply didn’t make any sense? So you just laughed with everybody else so not to look like a complete idiot.
Maybe it was an “in” joke, maybe you are thinking too hard and maybe you really are an idiot. If you’re anything like me, this could sit in the back of you brain for days on end, as you get increasingly agitated about a stupid joke.
For this purpose, I suggest creating a newsgroup exclusively for jokes and cartoons that people don’t “get”. You would (anonymously) post the bothersome joke, and others will hopefully reply with threads of comments trying to decrypt it. Perhaps the New York Times editorial illustrators or G.B. Trudeau (Doonesbury) will check by once in a while to help out the less gifted portion of their readership.-- imho, Aug 21 2003 1/2B in-jokes http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/in-jokes [imho, Oct 17 2004] A moneymaker http://www.halfbake...Bizarre_20MetaphorsCombine these ideas and you get rich. [kbecker, Oct 17 2004] Of course it's a joke.
Don't get it? check out news://rec...-- imho, Aug 21 2003 Half a bun for the idea. Other half for excellent use of "bah", by [ravenswood].-- bungston, Aug 21 2003 I could use something akin to this for helping me solve British crossword puzzles. So bewildering, they're puzzles that really put the puzzle in puzzle.
[ravenswood], I think it a victim mentality to characterize the act of reading a cartoon as a situation where the cartoonist is trying to force something upon you. What are you, a sheep? ;-)-- bristolz, Aug 21 2003 Finance the newsgroups with banners that advertise for IQ enhancing drugs and seminars.To get more business put some bizarre metaphors (link) into circulation and offer bogus explanations in the newsgroup.-- kbecker, Aug 21 2003 You see, the other side of the road is where the chicken wanted to be, and...-- RayfordSteele, Aug 21 2003 Right, jokes are no longer funny when they're explained (assuming they were funny in the first place). The response would be "oh, now I get it," rather than "Ha ha ha."-- snarfyguy, Aug 22 2003 Why did the chicken cross the road? Because he spied the farmer taking Viagra.....again! Ha-Ha .....Hoo-hee! Explaination: The chicken was off to get some donuts for the ring-toss game.-- LabRat, Aug 22 2003 hmmm.. I think the best way of suggesting the creation of a news group is probably at news.announce.newgroups, or is there a usenet<>halfbakery interface I'm not aware of ?-- neilp, Aug 22 2003 <League of Gentlemen> It's just two nuns in a bath all over again!</League of Gentlemen>-- oneoffdave, Aug 22 2003 People still read newsgroups?-- waugsqueke, Aug 22 2003 Knock, Knock-- Taika, Aug 22 2003 No, I'm just pleased to see you. It was an iron bar!-- Taika, Aug 22 2003 Why the big paws?-- Taika, Aug 22 2003 I don't advocate either of those positions. I read stuff I don't agree with all the time. It helps me understand other people's points of view.-- bristolz, Aug 22 2003 I never get jokes told in english :(-- Pericles, Aug 22 2003 random, halfbakery