Did you put the pause in the right place? If not, you missed the joke [something said to provoke laughter. . .]—which is where we came in.

It may seem that to define something is to limit it, but jokes refuse to be kept within bounds. Jokes have come from all corners of the world and have been with us for a long time. There have been jokers, jesters, clowns, comedians, satirists, and guillares (wandering players and professional jokers of medieval Italy) going back to ancient times, and they have served a myriad of purposes. William the Conqueror (who lived during the 1000s) had a court jester, as did Henry VIII and Thomas More. The court jester was almost a member of the family; his job was to amuse the king and help him temporarily forget the troubles of his kingdom. Most jesters were clever, and some gave their kings indispensable advice. Shakespeare immortalized Yorick, the jester of Hamlet’s father, as "a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy."

Our admiration for jokers has not abated in modern times. An Italian satirist, Dario Fo, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1997. The Swedish Academy, in giving him the award, noted that he "emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden" (Gamerman).

Jokes have been and still are used for good, but also, unfortunately, for evil; to heal or to harm, to provoke laughter or tears, and sometimes both at the same time. Some writers use jokes to relieve society’s anxieties; Freud observed that we laugh at what makes us most anxious. Other writers use the term "joke" ironically, to describe a situation that is anything but funny, as in "The notion that information we put on governmental forms can remain confidential is a joke." Jokers can joke, jest, satirize, skewer, tease, mock, banter, deride, gibe, needle, rib, ridicule, roast, or jeer. There are family or inside jokes, cruel jokes, practical jokes, ethnic or racist jokes. There are sick jokes, such as this one by Pat Paulson: "I’ve upped my standards. Now, up yours" (Neill). There are cannibal jokes: A cannibal said to his friend, "I hate my mother-in-law." His friend replied, "That’s okay; just eat the vegetables." And there are light-bulb jokes: How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? Only one, but the light bulb has to want to change.

Joseph Richman writes in the American Journal of Psychotherapy that "the joke teller has an opportunity to express usually concealed thoughts, fantasies, and feelings. At a more universal level, there is a need to transform our experiences into symbols and to communicate these to others. Humor is one expression of that need" (336). He adds, "Humor is a socially acceptable means of allowing unacceptable ideas to surface and to state truths that otherwise cannot be stated. Jokes are the royal road to a shared unconscious" (337).

Richman may be too optimistic. Modern jesters must carefully wend their way among the minefields of prejudice and political correctness. Jokes can be funny to some audiences and not to others, funny at some times but not at others. Some "jokes" are not funny at all. A study on humor, which focused on "investigating perceptions of sexist humor," concluded that "men should refrain from telling anti-female sexist jokes because they have little to gain but much to lose if the joke is poorly received" (Shapiro and Varey). An endnote tells us that the study contains 33 references and six tables of data; this is a subject that is no joke [very serious] in some circles.

Barring obvious insensitivity, jokes help us deal with touchy or difficult issues. Censorship of all ethnic- and gender-based jokes will not solve anything; rather, "Learning will occur and tensions will be released when incidents that cause offense are discussed rather than censored" (Nilson). Humor is such an important tool in psychotherapy that there are even various theories of humor (Mosak). At their best, jokes establish solidarity among people. "Getting the joke" can be an important source of personal and social validation; it makes us feel that we understand each other.

Now, jokes have even found their way to the World Wide Web, society’s latest communication medium. Dozens of humor sites are available, including Rodney Dangerfield’s popular Web site at http://www.rodney.com. It offers contests, messages, and a Joke of the Day, such as, "With computers I never have any luck. I bought an Apple. It had a worm in it" (Young 37). Time and technology march on, and jokes are never far behind.

Ultimately, we can’t really define a "joke," because it depends on who says it, where, when, and perhaps most important, why. The true definition of "joke" is as elusive as the human mind. And that’s no joke.

Gamerman, Amy. 1997. Nobel for Italian satirist. The Wall Street Journal. 10 October.

Mosak, Harold. 1987. Ha ha and aha: The role of humor in psychotherapy. Muncie, Indiana: Accelerated Development, Inc.

Neill, Michael. 1997. Running Joke. People Weekly, 12 May. 47:18, 220-221. Available online: Periodical Abstracts Database.

Nilson, Aileen Pace. 1994. In defense of humor. College English. 57:2, 928-933.

Richman, Joseph. 1996. Jokes as a projective technique: The humor of psychiatric patients. American Journal of Psychotherapy. 50:3, 336-346.

Shapiro, Dan and Kim Varey. 1996. Reactions to sexist humor: an exploratory analysis from a meta-perspective. Report presented at the annual meeting of the Speech Communication Association. November.

Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. 1987. Springfield: Merriam-Webster, Inc.

Young, Stanley. 1997. Back to computer school. People Weekly, January 27. 47:3, 37. Available online: Periodical Abstracts Database.