I heard somewhere once that behind every joke is a grain of truth, that people may use humour as a sneaky way to voice their true feelings (which admittedly I have done sometimes). It makes it more permissible to say harsh or unsavoury things if you follow it with "It was a joke! I was only kidding!"
Seriously, what do you think? And does anyone happen to know a quote relating to my question? (It may have been Freud that said it...ok it's pure laziness on my part not looking it up myself!)
:)
2007-03-15 11:59:45 · 16 answers · asked by amp 6 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Ok people, most of you are missing my point...I'm not talking "why did the chicken cross the road?" or "knock knock" jokes! I'm referring to when someone says something to you, in jest, such as calling you a name etc & then says "just kidding" as though that excuses their insult or comment...Do you think that they really mean it on some level or they wouldn't have said it at all?!
2007-03-15 12:54:16 · update #1
I think you're wrong. Oh wait that was a joke so according to this concept you're right. Good luck.
"Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true." BUDDA
"And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh." Friedrich Nietzsche
2007-03-15 12:56:51 · answer #1 · answered by hatguy 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Words can never speak truth, only about some part of it, and even then the literal is not always the most true reference, but what it implies, openly or in secret. In this way, yes, all jokes have some truth. Even lies tell the truth that they are lies when understood by a comprehending mind.
E.g. a bigoted joke implies there is bigotry. A joke in reference to the absurdity of cultural habits and norms, implies there are absurdities which are blindly followed by some group, at least until the joke has made the rounds eroding the absurdities. Also there are jokes which on the surface are funny, because of those very same absurdities of thinking, but when thought about more deeply are actually profound truth.
God bless.
2007-03-15 12:29:09 · answer #2 · answered by Gravitar or not... 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
A joke would not be funny if there were no truth in it. We laugh because we identify with something in the joke. Noone is "only joking" - its an excuse for saying something that they believe is true and can't help saying anyway they can.
George Bernard Shaw:
New opinions often appear first as jokes and fancies, then as blasphemies and treason, then as questions open to discussion, and finally as established truths.
2007-03-15 12:38:35 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
There's always a trace of truth in jokes and jests .. that's why we laugh at them .. we immediately spot the relation between the joke and its "subject". Whether what is being told in a joke has really happened or not, is not the issue. The question is: Does it happen? Is it possible? Can it be true .. etc. And the answer to all the above is: yes.
Silly jokes, however, such as the elephant and the ant .. etc, are excluded.
2007-03-15 12:21:34 · answer #4 · answered by arabianbard 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
That's a common old saw, I say if you want to consider male/female conflict (for example) as "truth" then I guess every single joke ever told about husbands and wives has a grain of truth. I think it may be true, but it doesn't really have that much to teach us. Everything humans ever say can be said to have some "grain" of truth.
2007-03-15 12:15:22 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Absolute, total truth is behind every joke.
I believe Groucho Marx said something to that effect.
Good luck
2007-03-15 12:45:18 · answer #6 · answered by Croa 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe there is a grain of truth behind every joke. Some people don't want to admit to it. About the quote part...... here is a web address you can check! ( I am too lazy to read it all but if you want to know....here it is..........................
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/s/sigmund_freud.html
Hope you find this of some use!!! <:3 (it is a mouse)
2007-03-15 12:16:37 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, just as you said, there are people who will hide behind jokes. As for Freud, that has to do with a "Freudian slip" when something slips out of someone that they believe they did not intend to say-Freud would beg to differ!
2007-03-15 12:38:08 · answer #8 · answered by ontheroadagainwithoutyou 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The quote is actually:
" Many a truth is said in jest. "
Ever notice how great comedians always made wonderful actors? Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Abbott and Costello?
2007-03-15 12:05:01 · answer #9 · answered by vanamont7 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Absolutely.
2007-03-15 13:30:08 · answer #10 · answered by Giggly Giraffe 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋