What makes a joke a dad joke?
Everybody knows a dad joke when they hear one, even if nobody agrees on the exact rules. A dad joke is a short, clean, deliberately corny joke, usually a pun or a riddle, delivered with complete sincerity. The reaction it earns is a groan, an eye-roll, and, if the joke is good enough, a reluctant smile.
The ingredients
- It's short. One or two lines. A setup and a punchline, no long story.
- It's clean. Dad jokes are family friendly. That is part of their charm, and part of why kids love collecting them.
- It relies on wordplay. Most dad jokes are puns, such as "What do you call a bunny with fleas? Bugs Bunny."
- It's obvious. The punchline is rarely subtle. The joy is in how un-subtle it is.
- It's delivered with confidence. A dad joke told sheepishly is not a dad joke. It needs a proud pause and a smile.
Classic formats
The "Hi, I'm…" joke. A child says they are hungry or tired, and the parent answers "Hi hungry, I'm Dad." It is the most famous dad joke format of all, and it has been repeated for generations.
The question-and-answer riddle. "What did one wall say to the other? I'll meet you at the corner."
The literal answer. Someone asks a question and gets the most literal answer possible, deliberately missing the point.
The food and animal pun. Food, animals and everyday objects make a huge share of dad jokes, because they are easy to rhyme and easy to imagine.
Where did the name come from?
The name seems to have grown from the stereotype of fathers who love corny jokes and keep telling them to their embarrassed children. Nobody can point to one inventor. The label spread widely online in recent decades, and now it covers jokes told by dads, mums, grandparents, teachers and anyone else brave enough.
Why do people love them?
Dad jokes are safe. They do not need any background knowledge, nobody gets offended, and everyone is invited to take part, even if only to groan. They are also easy to remember and easy to repeat, which is why they are shared at the dinner table and on school playgrounds. We explore that groan in Why do bad jokes make us groan and laugh?
Want to see the style in action? Browse the Shorts gallery, and press Groan 😩 on your favourites.