# Dumb, obvious jokes some people can't help but reflexively make **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2023, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-obvious-jokes-some-people-cant-help-but-reflexively-make/994928 "2023-12-21T12:09:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-obvious-jokes-some-people-cant-help-but-reflexively-make/994928/302 "2024-04-19T12:33:24Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > When we got home I asked my gf if she knew our waiter’s name. She admitted she did not. I feigned surprise and said, “No way!” She assured me she did not know his name and I repeated, “No way!” > > After several back and forths I explained that his name is Noe which is pronounced Noway (sort of). I’d have taken the hint as his name to be **José** … ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-obvious-jokes-some-people-cant-help-but-reflexively-make/994928/303 "2024-04-23T00:49:50Z")
When asked a standard list of medical-related questions, one that often comes up is “Do you have any hearing impairment?”. “WHAT???”. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-obvious-jokes-some-people-cant-help-but-reflexively-make/994928/304 "2024-04-23T01:27:02Z")
I met someone a few years back from Normal, IL. I tried very very hard but was unable to resist saying something about the normality of people from Normal. It was inappropriate and obvious the joke wasn’t even remotely funny. I’m embarrassed about it to this day. If I ever meet someone from Normal in the future I will … probably do it again. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-obvious-jokes-some-people-cant-help-but-reflexively-make/994928/305 "2024-04-23T13:57:38Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > I met someone a few years back from Normal, IL. I tried very very hard but was unable to resist saying something about the normality of people from Normal. I’m glad I’ve never known anybody, as far as I know, who was originally from Hell, Michigan; because I don’t think I’d have been able to resist frequently saying “You’re really the ( friend / girlfriend / coworker ) from Hell, y’know?”. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-obvious-jokes-some-people-cant-help-but-reflexively-make/994928/306 "2024-04-23T17:23:28Z")
I have visited Hell Michigan albeit just for a weekend. Many of the locals I interacted with seemed to have embraced the silliness of the name. Hell yeah they did!! 😁 They’re also an existence proof that Hell does indeed freeze over. Regularly. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2024, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-obvious-jokes-some-people-cant-help-but-reflexively-make/994928/307 "2024-04-24T02:16:28Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > I met someone a few years back from Normal, IL. I tried very very hard but was unable to resist saying something about the normality of people from Normal. It was inappropriate and obvious the joke wasn’t even remotely funny. I’m embarrassed about it to this day. > > If I ever meet someone from Normal in the future I will … probably do it again Just wait until you meet someone from Boring, Oregon. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-obvious-jokes-some-people-cant-help-but-reflexively-make/994928/308 "2024-04-26T18:20:06Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > If I ever meet someone from Normal in the future I will … probably do it again. Imagine being named Abigail, from that town. Abby for short. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-obvious-jokes-some-people-cant-help-but-reflexively-make/994928/309 "2024-04-26T20:40:06Z")
Not sure this quite fits the topic, but it’s a reflexive thing we all do at home: There are train tracks a mile or so away. Whenever we hear a train horn, one of us will look embarassed and say "Excluse me!! 😊 ". A couple weeks ago, we were staying at an AirBnB house, that had a water cooler (the sort where you have to up-end a 5 gallon jug into a base). At one point, it made a loud GLUG. I said “Excuse me!”. A friend who was with us looked started, and said “What???”. Then “Was that the water cooler??”. I concurred, and she said she was rather worried that I’d managed to make a sound like that. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2024, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-obvious-jokes-some-people-cant-help-but-reflexively-make/994928/310 "2024-04-27T03:23:21Z")
Ha! I would probably introduce myself as “Abby, from Bloomington”–Bloomington being the next city over. Come to think of it, I’d probably introduce myself as being “from Bloomington” or “from near Bloomington” regardless of my name, if I lived in Normal, just to forestall jerks like me from reflexively making the obvious joke, I mean “joke.” ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-obvious-jokes-some-people-cant-help-but-reflexively-make/994928/311 "2024-04-29T13:36:43Z")
The other day one of my sons asked me and my other son if one of us could call his misplaced phone. I could not help myself…I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled “_**(son’s name) phone, where are you?**_” I’m not proud of myself. But I would do it again. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2024, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-obvious-jokes-some-people-cant-help-but-reflexively-make/994928/312 "2024-05-08T00:55:42Z")
No one in my family asks me to call their phones because I do this every time. And crack myself up every time, while they sigh and roll their eyes. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-obvious-jokes-some-people-cant-help-but-reflexively-make/994928/313 "2024-05-10T20:28:35Z")
After I vote and one of the volunteers at the polling place puts an “I voted” sticker on me, every now and then I peer at it, appear to muse a bit, and say in a questioning tone “I vetoed?”. It usually gets at least a half-hearted chuckle. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2024, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-obvious-jokes-some-people-cant-help-but-reflexively-make/994928/314 "2024-05-12T22:13:00Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > I met someone a few years back from Normal, IL. I tried very very hard but was unable to resist saying something about the normality of people from Normal. It was inappropriate and obvious the joke wasn’t even remotely funny. I’m embarrassed about it to this day. > > If I ever meet someone from Normal in the future I will … probably do it again. along the same line: so … is it chilly in Chile? (yes, it is) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-obvious-jokes-some-people-cant-help-but-reflexively-make/994928.md?page=15)