dad joke

English

Examples
See dad joke § Examples

Etymology

Indicative of the type of bad jokes that might be told by one's father. Possible calque of Japanese おやじギャグ (oyaji gyagu, literally “dad joke”), although it is not clear which came first.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

dad joke (plural dad jokes)

1. (colloquial) A (usually deliberate) unfunny or corny joke, typically containing a pun and often in question/answer format.
   • 2021, Shannon Carpenter, The Ultimate Stay-at-Home Dad […] , Penguin, →ISBN, page 32:

     Here is an oldie but a goodie: When does a joke become a dad joke? When it becomes apparent. Wocka wocka.

Verb

dad joke (third-person singular simple present dad jokes, present participle dad joking, simple past and past participle dad joked)

1. (colloquial) To tell (someone) a dad joke.

   to get dad-joked

Translations

unfunny joke

• Finnish: puujalkavitsi (fi)
• French: blague de papa f, blague à papa, joke de papa
• German: Schenkelklopfer (de) m, Flachwitz m
• Greek: κρύο ανέκδοτο (el) n (krýo anékdoto)
• Icelandic: fimmaurabrandari m
• Italian: battuta stupida f
• Japanese: 親父ギャグ (ja), オヤジギャグ (oyaji-gyagu) (colloquial), 駄洒落 (ja) (dajare)
• Korean: 아재개그 (ajaegaegeu), 부장님 개그 (bujangnim gaegeu)
• Norwegian: pappavits m
• Polish: suchar (pl) m (colloquial), beton (pl) m (colloquial), dowcipas (pl) m (colloquial), suchy żart m, słaby żart m
• Portuguese: piada seca f (Portugal), piada de tiozão f (colloquial, Brazil)
• Swedish: pappaskämt (sv) n, torrt skämt n

Further reading

• “dad joke”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.