Query as title indicates. Serious question.
Please don't tell me it's because it appeals to a more intelligent mind. Puns are insufferable =(
-Idle
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It's a combination of creativity, mental dexterity, and intelligence. And some Puns are damn hilarious, depending on when they're used. Overused puns and bad puns, and poorly placed puns are insufferable.
Puns are basically word traps that other people walk into.
I'm not a big fan of typical "gamer humor" either. It's not very pretty to watch.
People play games to have a good time. A humorless campaign would feel like another day at work- nobody wants that. As to why those specific genres, I've never noticed such a trend. My gaming groups tend to like all kinds of humor (though most of it tends towards the suggestive side). Now allow me to pose a question:
Would you prefer that your players be into slapstick?
Would you prefer that your players be into slapstick?
Oh god yes.
People play games to have a good time. A humorless campaign would feel like another day at work- nobody wants that. As to why those specific genres, I've never noticed such a trend. My gaming groups tend to like all kinds of humor (though most of it tends towards the suggestive side). Now allow me to pose a question:
Would you prefer that your players be into slapstick?
I'd give anything for them to bring forth humor that didn't scream "look how clever and intellectual my humor is". So if pies to the face are what I need, then so be it.
-Idle
I suspect it helps those particular genres that it is humor that doesn't completely distract the mind from the mood of the game unlike genres like slapstick tend to. It may still distract from the game itself, but the general train of thought is still moving in the same direction, even if it's on a parallel track.
It's a combination of creativity, mental dexterity, and intelligence. And some Puns are damn hilarious, depending on when they're used. Overused puns and bad puns, and poorly placed puns are insufferable.
Puns are basically word traps that other people walk into.
+1
(Good) puns require imagination, creativity, eloquence, wits and and intellectual agility These are praised traits for gamers as they are required qualities to enjoy roleplaying games.
I'm not surprise as to why puns are popular among gamers. Unfortunately, some think of themselves more imaginative, creative, witty, eloquent and intellectually agile than they really are...
[edit] thinking of it, pull 4 old ladies around a table and have them play bridge or cribbage for 5-6 hours in a row. As far as puns and dry humour goes, they'd put most gamers to shame. Same goes for your uncle's bowling team and your grandpa's fishing buddies.
I think it has more to do with a (relatively small) group of people spending relaxed time together on a regular basis, not about gamers in particular.
'findel
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I refuse to accept that puns are insufferable. Perhaps most are pretty painful, but when someone's mind is able to make a clever connection between unrelated things or simply display quick thinking wordplay it can be very enjoyable.
I would actually say that my favorite(if slightly outdated) joke is a pun.
They both had Kurds in their way.
Wait. I'm confused. Doesn't everyone like non-sequitors, puns, and dry humor?
Not me. I wish everybody could take killing orcs and being a wizard who casts spells more seriously.
I blame that f%#@ing Xena show, and its vile predecessor Evil Dead.
and its vile predecessor Evil Dead.
*
Thisis my
BOOMSTICK!
People play games to have a good time. A humorless campaign would feel like another day at work- nobody wants that. As to why those specific genres, I've never noticed such a trend. My gaming groups tend to like all kinds of humor (though most of it tends towards the suggestive side).
+1...can't really say I noticed a particular trend either within my group.
Now allow me to pose a question:
Would you prefer that your players be into slapstick?
Oh god no...spontaneous slapstick is hard to pull off...could lead to injuries.
Query as title indicates. Serious question.
Please don't tell me it's because it appeals to a more intelligent mind. Puns are insufferable =(
-Idle
Humor is fun.
Table top RPG's are predominately verbal so its not too surprising that the common form of humor used by RPG'ers is language based.
Slapstick, for example, is action based. Not so good when sitting around a table.
(Not to mention slapstick actually requires a degree of physical poise, not necessarily a typical RPG'er trait)
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Well for my old group, our humor consisted of puns, bad jokes and work stories (especially work stories from our friend the deputy. Stupid criminal stories are fun) And for better or worse, gamers aren't the only ones to 'benefit' from my love of word play.
"Wow, good question. It reminds me of when I was on saffari in Africa."
"You went to Africa?"
"Yes I did! One morning I woke up and shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know."
"..."
"We couldn't get the tusks out though they were too tight. So we sent them to Alabama."
"Why?"
*silently offers thanks to the Divine for such a straight woman.*"Tuscaloosa. But that's completely Irrelephant to what we're talking about. Here's your information."
I love the Marx Brothers
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Well for my old group, our humor consisted of puns, bad jokes and work stories (especially work stories from our friend the deputy. Stupid criminal stories are fun) And for better or worse, gamers aren't the only ones to 'benefit' from my love of word play.
** spoiler omitted **
I love the Marx Brothers
An example of classy punning. Sir, I salute you.
Query as title indicates. Serious question.
Please don't tell me it's because it appeals to a more intelligent mind. Puns are insufferable =(
-Idle
Whether insufferable or not, puns depend on language and have been a staple of literary humor for centuries. Whether gamers are more intelligent or not (I'm generally inclined to think not), the RPG hobby is based in the use and abuse of language. Those of us who join the hobby are probably more literary-minded than the general public. The puns tag along as extra baggage.
I would actually say that my favorite(if slightly outdated) joke is a pun.
** spoiler omitted **
That's a joke. I get jokes. Jokes are funny.
But consider the following exchange.
Normal Guy: "My fish jumped out of the fish tank last night and died."
Lame, Pun-Loving Guy: "So you FLOUNDER dead on the floor the next morning, did you? That must have been SALMON chanted evening!" (grins smugly, making NG want to punch LPLG in the face)
(Don't tell me you've never met anyone like LPLG.)
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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I would actually say that my favorite(if slightly outdated) joke is a pun.
** spoiler omitted **
That's a joke. I get jokes. Jokes are funny.
But consider the following exchange.
Normal Guy: "My fish jumped out of the fish tank last night and died."
Lame, Pun-Loving Guy: "So you FLOUNDER dead on the floor the next morning, did you? That must have been SALMON chanted evening!" (grins smugly, making NG want to punch LPLG in the face)
(Don't tell me you've never met anyone like LPLG.)
LPLG is an ass, puns or not.
(Don't tell me you've never met anyone like LPLG.)
Yep... my grandfather. (Which means at some point in my aging process i'll inevitably go from someone who at best gives out eye-rolls at even the best puns to someone who will spout them at the drop of a grimey ole-cowboy hat.)
LPLG is an ass, puns or not.
I've never had a conversation anything like that that didn't involve puns, though. I can't even imagine what the punless equivalent would be.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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LPLG is an ass, puns or not.I've never had a conversation anything like that that didn't involve puns, though. I can't even imagine what the punless equivalent would be.
um not being an ass?
There's a difference between, say, my current Facebook status "Divorce Lawyers are lowering flags to half mast to make Elizabeth Taylor's passing." and making puns over someone's newly dead pet. None of Elizabeth Taylor's family are likely to read my FB status.
When I lose Rocky (my professional grief chihuahua) if someone came up to me and said, "Looks like he's down for the count. Did he die from the eye of the tiger?" yeah, they're going to lose teeth. Likewise, if I told one of Elizabeth Taylor's ex husbands the divorce lawyer joke, I'd likely be hit.*
Humor can be a defense mechanism against grief or horror. It's not appropriate to use against someone already in pain. I can enjoy the Marx Brothers' slams on Margaret Dumont's characters because they're fictional. Saying them to a real person in real life is mean.**
And mean can be effective. Groucho was at a country club as a guest once, and there was a sign saying "No Jews allowed in the pool." He turned to his host and quipped, "My daughter's only half Jewish, can she wade in up to her knees?" A well timed barb, designed to make his hosts uncomfortable.
*
**
***
edit. Oh my... I can call the law an ass, but can't put the name of the star of Diagnosis Murder?
The only thing better than a good pun is a bad pun.
When I lose Rocky (my professional grief chihuahua) if someone came up to me and said, "Looks like he's down for the count. Did he die from the eye of the tiger?" yeah, they're going to lose teeth.
Oh, I see; you're just missing my point. Allow me to amend my original example:
Normal Guy: "I read a story where Sigmund Freud's pet fish jumped out of its bowl and died."
Lame, Pun-Loving Guy: "So he FLOUNDER dead on the floor the next morning, did he? That must have been SALMON chanted evening! EEL bet he COD have had a huge HADDOCK over that!"
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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When I lose Rocky (my professional grief chihuahua) if someone came up to me and said, "Looks like he's down for the count. Did he die from the eye of the tiger?" yeah, they're going to lose teeth.Oh, I see; you're just missing my point. Allow me to amend my original example:
Normal Guy: "I read a story where Sigmund Freud's pet fish jumped out of its bowl and died."
Lame, Pun-Loving Guy: "So he FLOUNDER dead on the floor the next morning, did he? That must have been SALMON chanted evening! EEL bet he COD have had a huge HADDOCK over that!"
Yup, there was a point, and I missed it.
To me, a pun is best used as a surgical strike, not a carpet bombing. One might be ok.
A good pun (to me)
"Well our resident partical Physics expert is excited about his date tonight."
"Really? Spotted him with a large Hadron?"
A good pun (to me)
"Well our resident partical Physics expert is excited about his date tonight."
"Really? Spotted him with a large Hadron?"
:-|
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No, I agree with you Hogarth that those are pretty unfunny type of puns in your example. A good pun brings you to follow their leap of logic to connect things or that is genuinely clever wordplay.
Hearing something about a fish and then just throwing out every fish whose name has a separate meaning isn't so much clever as its scatter-shot and hoping something hits.
"Why don't you make like a tree, and go away?"
Query as title indicates. Serious question.
Please don't tell me it's because it appeals to a more intelligent mind. Puns are insufferable =(
-Idle
Sorry but in all honesty thats the only humor I like.
I'm a huge fan of british comedies such as "Are you being served" or another one with the main charecter being a lady named hyacynth and her obbsesive need about status and appearances.
I watched american comedies like seinfeild and found them an insult to my intellegence(spelling not withstanding darn it) British comedies are funny without being overly dramatic about it, american comedies seem to hit you over the head with "These are the jokes, your supposed to laugh now stupid"
I like puns because even when the rest of my gameing table is groaning about another stupid pun they still laugh. Sometimes I tend to carpet bomb rather than surgical strike but I'm getting better.
To quote Armstrong out of context, "if you've got to ask, you'll never know."
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Police were investigating a crime at a local SPCA. The investigating officer went up to his lieutenant and told him that they had discovered Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend surrounded by empty dog cages.
"Really?" asked the lieutenant. "What happened in there?"
"Well sir," replied the officer, "it appears The Who let the dogs out."
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Police were investigating a crime at a local SPCA. The investigating officer went up to his lieutenant and told him that they had discovered Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend surrounded by empty dog cages.
"Really?" asked the lieutenant. "What happened in there?"
"Well sir," replied the officer, "it appears The Who let the dogs out."
Reaches, grinning, for the +1 stick of slapping and a cream pie.
I blame airplane and it sequel, bi-plane.
Query as title indicates. Serious question.
Please don't tell me it's because it appeals to a more intelligent mind. Puns are insufferable =(
-Idle
Sorry but in all honesty thats the only humor I like.
I'm a huge fan of british comedies such as "Are you being served" or another one with the main charecter being a lady named hyacynth and her obbsesive need about status and appearances.
I watched american comedies like seinfeild and found them an insult to my intellegence(spelling not withstanding darn it) British comedies are funny without being overly dramatic about it, american comedies seem to hit you over the head with "These are the jokes, your supposed to laugh now stupid"
I like puns because even when the rest of my gameing table is groaning about another stupid pun they still laugh. Sometimes I tend to carpet bomb rather than surgical strike but I'm getting better.
Ooh, arrogance countered by counter-arrogance.
Could you bores stop calling each other's favourite form of jokes stupid? It just makes you seem both stupid.
I love puns. Good puns, bad puns. Nothing to do with intelligence per se, but it helps.
I also love "american comedies", whatever that's supposed to mean. I did love Seinfeld, since it was a show about the absurdities of everyday life. Again, nothing to do with being American, or being Jewish (I am neither), or being intelligent. Everything to do with being funny.
I personally try to keep politics out of funny.
I can laugh at most forms of humour, provided they're done right. I can laugh at "intelligent humour", I can laugh at "dumb humour" or "puerile humour". It just has to hit my "wavelength".
If it makes you laugh it's funny. If you're all having a good time there's no problem. In the game humour can be used as comic relief from other major plot lines balancing out other more serious themes. I can't say I favour any particular form of humour as long as it's inclusive and done with wit. Every game is different depending on who's playing though, just one of the reasons why this hobby of ours is so cool.
Police were investigating a crime at a local SPCA. The investigating officer went up to his lieutenant and told him that they had discovered Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend surrounded by empty dog cages.
"Really?" asked the lieutenant. "What happened in there?"
"Well sir," replied the officer, "it appears The Who let the dogs out."
I heard that afterwards the officials at the SPCA tried to get the two musicians committed to a mental hospital. At the hearing, the judge agreed that Pete should be sent to the loony bin, but he refused to do the same for Roger, quoting from the Bible:
Why?
.
Because...
1000 mockingbirds + 1000 mockingbirds = 2 kilo mockingbird.
I love puns. Good puns, bad puns. Nothing to do with intelligence per se, but it helps.
I also love "american comedies", whatever that's supposed to mean. I did love Seinfeld, since it was a show about the absurdities of everyday life. Again, nothing to do with being American, or being Jewish (I am neither), or being intelligent. Everything to do with being funny.
I personally try to keep politics out of funny.
I can laugh at most forms of humour, provided they're done right. I can laugh at "intelligent humour", I can laugh at "dumb humour" or "puerile humour". It just has to hit my "wavelength".
This sums it up pretty well. I reserve the right to enjoy any form of humor I encounter some however are easier to covey at a table than others.
This sums it up pretty well. I reserve the right to enjoy any form of humor I encounter some however are easier to covey at a table than others.
Are you saying some people QUAIL at your jokes?
:-|
Yes, I have hunted enough quail to know that but now I can't go back and edit the post as I made a typographical funny.
This sums it up pretty well. I reserve the right to enjoy any form of humor I encounter some however are easier to covey at a table than others.Are you saying some people QUAIL at your jokes?
I'd say they find it hard to swallow, but that would be a poultry joke. Don't want to look like a boob.
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This sums it up pretty well. I reserve the right to enjoy any form of humor I encounter some however are easier to covey at a table than others.Are you saying some people QUAIL at your jokes?
I'd say they find it hard to swallow, but that would be a poultry joke. Don't want to look like a boob.
You all do poor dragonsong an unkindness, teasing him for a simple typo. I find myself pitying her/his being surrounded by such a company as we.
You all do poor dragonsong an unkindness, teasing him for a simple typo. I find myself pitying her/his being surrounded by such a company as we.
Well played sir! I love it.
--Dark Mistress I salute a fellow smart ass.
I tend to just be a smart ass. Though I have been told I have a dry sarcastic wit, but that I am funny. Me I just call it being a smart ass.
I'm a smart-ass, too. I can't help it. Ask anyone who ever asked me a stupid question or made an unnecessary remark. I'm physically unable to not comment.
Like this gem I still treasure:
GM: "As you're approaching your city, you see the amassed armies of Zhentil Keep besieging your walls. You see many human soldiers augmented by spellcasters and even some lesser devils. *keeps on describing the siege for some time*
Player: "So they're outside the city?"
Me: "No, it was half-time and now our people are outside and the enemy defends!"
Due to the fact that the pun is mightier than the sword.