# Ever say something as a joke, and have someone take you seriously? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 4, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615 "2008-12-04T02:27:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/61 "2008-12-04T20:22:23Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > To address the OP, I learned recently not to make pedophile jokes in a room full of strangers. That was excruciatingly awful - I thought it was funny, and my usual group of friends would have. These people _certainly_ didn’t. Oh, kindergarteners have no sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/62 "2008-12-04T20:24:16Z")
> [@Hi\_Neighbor](#): > > However, a select few took offense and complained to me and my superior. What a bunch of stiffs. See, in that case I’d be one of the stiffs. It’s not that I wouldn’t understand it was a joke, but the idea of being led to think about my co-worker’s penis? No thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/63 "2008-12-04T20:58:47Z")
> [@Scissorjack](#): > > I had a stupid boss once, whom we’ll call Stupid Boss. One time in a managers meeting, she was pissing and moaning about people abusing sick leave and calling in ill around weekends. Most people were just ignoring it as one of her bullshit petty rants, until I unwisely made a deadpan comment that yeah, 40% of all sick calls occurred on a Monday or Friday. > > Stupid Boss hit the fucking roof: this was an outrage, why was nothing being done?, who were the perpetrators?, give her a list of all those 40% of calls and heads would roll, etc. etc. > > Remember the scene in the Simpsons where they have to explain a gas explosion to Homer using hand puppets? I swear that was what the rest of the meeting was like, with laborious explanations and then Sharpie pie charts being drawn up to show her what 40% of 5 looked like, Stupid Boss wearing her angry bewildered face - “I don’t know what’s going on so it’s probably your fault” - and the reactions of the other managers going from eye-rolling to sniggering to open heckling. I am ashamed to admit (and yet I am admitting) I had to think 1.5 times about this one. :smack: -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/64 "2008-12-04T21:08:46Z")
I over reacted to an innocent joke by Quasimodem, and dissed him rapaciously. I am ashamed and aplologize. ---
**Author:** ![Walpurgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Walpurgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walpurgis)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/65 "2008-12-04T21:29:37Z")
Yesterday, when me and some colleagues at work went through some kind of team building class. The psychologist leading the class asked if we knew of any imprinted behaviours we had. I said “yeah, I start drooling when someone turns on a lamp”. Me and the psychologist giggled. Everyone else went very quiet. I later had to explain that I don’t actually start drooling when the light comes on. That was awkward. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/66 "2008-12-04T21:36:55Z")
> [@BarnOwl](#): > > I over reacted to an innocent joke by Quasimodem, and dissed him rapaciously. > > I am ashamed and aplologize. Ha! Well played (and I am being sincere). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/67 "2008-12-04T21:38:36Z")
> [@BarnOwl](#): > > I over reacted to an innocent joke by Quasimodem, and dissed him rapaciously. > > I am ashamed and aplologize. Glad to hear it! Here is the relevant pit thread which you might want to also aplologize again: [Why is BarnOwl a PMSing psychopath? - The BBQ Pit - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=495970) (Yes I deliberately copied the typo, because I think it should be a new word; it could mean ‘apologizing over a funny incident.’) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/68 "2008-12-04T21:48:13Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Post office clerk: “I haven’t seen you in here in a while.” > Me: “I’ve been in prison.” Reminds me of the time – and I’m just waiting for someone to post the obvious thread “ever say something seriously and have someone take it as a joke” – when I seriously got shot – with an air pistol in a drive by random attack – while running. It wasn’t hospital-necessitating, but it did draw blood so I took the next day off to see if the bb was still in there the thinking being that punk hooligans probably don’t have the highest standards of hygiene. So the next day a co-worker asks where I was, I said “oh, I got shot.” It was the only thing to say, really. He laughed it off of course, and that was fine. If I hedged on what happened, he would have only inquired more, and I didn’t want people to make a big deal out of it. But I technically didn’t lie or make a joke when he asked where I was 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/69 "2008-12-04T22:47:22Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Everyone turned and looked at him in disbelief, as my wife and I very quickly said “No, it was chicken. Don’t go to school tomorrow saying that your friend’s mom serves squirrel. It was CHICKEN.” You do know that people eat squirrel, right? I mean, there’s even a squirrel-hunting season. (It doesn’t taste bad, for the record, though I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat it). ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/70 "2008-12-04T23:08:21Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > Glad to hear it! Here is the relevant pit thread which you might want to also aplologize again: [Why is BarnOwl a PMSing psychopath? - The BBQ Pit - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=495970) > > (Yes I deliberately copied the typo, because I think it should be a new word; it could mean ‘apologizing over a funny incident.’) I took yourr advice and apologized over there, too. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/71 "2008-12-04T23:13:48Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > Glad to hear it! Here is the relevant pit thread which you might want to also aplologize again: [Why is BarnOwl a PMSing psychopath? - The BBQ Pit - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=495970) > > (Yes I deliberately copied the typo, because I think it should be a new word; it could mean ‘apologizing over a funny incident.’) I’m confused - what typo? Edit: I see it now! ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/72 "2008-12-05T01:15:23Z")
I am usually the one who takes jokes too seriously. I am the world’s most gullible person ever. But one time, I was on the delivering end. Background: Six years ago when my husband was studying abroad in Spain, I gave him a stuffed moose because I ‘‘moosed’’ him while he was away. (Yes, welcome to my world.) Since then we always make sure to say that we moose one another. Recently when I was out of state for job training, he mailed me the very same moose along with a few items I had requested he send from home. His way of telling me I was missed. So one Friday evening I was on a packed commuter train coming home from work, and I moosed my husband. I always text him the time I anticipate arriving at the train station so he can pick me up. We were stalled because of some mechanical issue, so I texted him, ‘‘We have a delay. Mooses on the train tracks!!!’’ I thought it would be pretty clear by the subtext that I was telling him I missed him and was anxious to get home. ‘‘O noes!’’ he replied, apparently immediately getting the reference. ‘‘They’re chewing up the tracks!’’ says I, etc. Finally I arrived at the train station and jumped into the car. ‘‘Whew!’’ I said, in my most nauseatingly lovey-dovey voice. ‘‘That was terrible! They had to send one of the conductors out there with a pointed stick to shoo the mooses away. Then they started ramming into the train car and we all had to move to the rear of the train…’’ I just kept saying more and more outlandish things, waiting for the inevitable eyeroll where he would tell me what a weirdo I am. Instead, he pulled his head back with an expression of horror and said, ‘‘Oh god!’’ :dubious: ‘‘Uh… you don’t really think I’m serious, do you? That a commuter train from Newark to New Brunswick would encounter actual moose on the tracks? Husband?’’ ‘‘Um… _No_!’’ The expression on his face? Best Moment Ever. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/73 "2008-12-05T01:21:36Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > To address the OP, I learned recently not to make pedophile jokes in a room full of strangers. A room full of Dopers, on the other hand, is prime real estate. **GingeroftheNorth** and **Hamadryad** , if she’s still around, know what I’m talking about. I tend towards the dry and sarcastic side myself and I’m sure I’ve been taken seriously when I wasn’t being, but I can’t think of any particular episodes at the moment… ---
**Author:** ![Caveat\_lector\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@Caveat\_lector\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caveat_lector_1)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/74 "2008-12-05T01:23:50Z")
> [@Scissorjack](#): > > I had a stupid boss once, whom we’ll call Stupid Boss. One time in a managers meeting, she was pissing and moaning about people abusing sick leave and calling in ill around weekends. Most people were just ignoring it as one of her bullshit petty rants, until I unwisely made a deadpan comment that yeah, 40% of all sick calls occurred on a Monday or Friday. > > Stupid Boss hit the fucking roof: this was an outrage, why was nothing being done?, who were the perpetrators?, give her a list of all those 40% of calls and heads would roll, etc. etc. > > Remember the scene in the Simpsons where they have to explain a gas explosion to Homer using hand puppets? I swear that was what the rest of the meeting was like, with laborious explanations and then Sharpie pie charts being drawn up to show her what 40% of 5 looked like, Stupid Boss wearing her angry bewildered face - “I don’t know what’s going on so it’s probably your fault” - and the reactions of the other managers going from eye-rolling to sniggering to open heckling. By the graces! You actually lived through (or perhaps inspired) a Dilbert comic. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/75 "2008-12-05T01:52:48Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I am ashamed to admit (and yet I am admitting) I had to think 1.5 times about this one. :smack: > > -FrL- I actually did too, the first time I saw it. Of course, I’m sure if someone ran actual stats on it, the number for M and F call-ins would be much higher than 40%. ETA: Wait, crap. I mean a higher percentage of people would call in. Ahh, ta hell with it. I’m sleep deprived. Taking my break from the dope now. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/76 "2008-12-05T02:26:48Z")
> [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > I actually did too, the first time I saw it. Of course, I’m sure if someone ran actual stats on it, the number for M and F call-ins would be much higher than 40%. > > ETA: Wait, crap. I mean a higher percentage of people would call in. Ahh, ta hell with it. I’m sleep deprived. Taking my break from the dope now. But that’s the thing, and the point of the joke: you think “Really? 40%? That many?”, then run the numbers in your head and do a “D’oh!”. But Stupid Boss just COULD NOT GET that any two days out of five are going to be 40%, whether they’re Mondays and Fridays or Thursdays and Tuesdays, and regarded any attempts to prove same with the sort of bewildered belligerence you’d get trying to teach a chimpanzee to knit. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/77 "2008-12-05T02:33:52Z")
> [@AllWalker](#): > > Tell them you _can_ eat chlorophyll, but that it makes you hyperactive when you go outside. Details are good. I have a whole routine worked out. It’s a minor stomach ache, not something life-threatening; it’s something I’ve had since I was a kid; no, I really don’t miss salads because I don’t remember them; sure, I love grapes and apples, just not green ones; yes, I eat vegetables, like carrots; no, I’m still healthy. I did it so well once that the most skeptical person I know didn’t believe that anyone could be allergic to chlorophyll, but _she_ believed that _I_ believed it. > [@Autolycus](#): > > You are my hero. Happy to inspire! ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/78 "2008-12-05T02:41:22Z")
a couple friends and I had a game store and we sere in the middle of a meeting when the phone rings. I answer and its for partner A so I say its for you but dont move the phone from my face since he will have to get up to answer anyway…they both ask who it is and with the phone still right next to my face I say “its yer mom…fat bitch” the looks on these 2 guys faces is still a memory that makes me smile, his mom is the sweetest nicest lady on planet earth and the 2 of them are notorious practical jokers so yeah them taking me serious was fantastic. I also have that deadpan delivery where people have a very hard time figuring me out, I have 2 ex gf’s who hated me on first meeting cause they thought I was an asshole then around a year later we are dating. (edit, it wasnt his mom on the phone just to be clear) ---
**Author:** ![T.Slothrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@T.Slothrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.Slothrop)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/79 "2008-12-05T08:16:36Z")
I often tell outlandish and unbelievable stories in which I myself am the butt of the joke. Just recently I apologised to many of my cow- etc for confusing Tiger Woods with B. Obama. One lady whom I had known for months finally realized that some of the information I was imparting was _ **not the truth.** _ She confronted me and told me that she was from the country and was raised to believe everything I said. I realized that telling jokes in front of this person would be the same as telling a lie. We agreed that if I was telling a joke, I would wink at her. It worked. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615/80 "2008-12-05T09:30:23Z")
I like having fun by taking people’s jokes seriously. Took a beginning Calculus class this summer and our professor was talking for weeks about the day we’d learn the Chain Rule. “It’s the most important thing in Calculus. It’s a big day. Someone bring pizza. We should celebrate. We need to know this.” Sure enough, Chain Rule day comes around…I walk into class with 5 pizzas. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-say-something-as-a-joke-and-have-someone-take-you-seriously/475615.md?page=5)