# Jokes that don't work anymore (on a contemporary, younger crowd) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** comedian-jokes\ **Created:** [April 15, 2026, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293 "2026-04-15T17:38:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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 15, 2026, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/41 "2026-04-15T21:06:19Z")
“Putty” is a perfectly good American word for any clay-like gunk used as a sealant. “Window putty” would be instantly recognized by anyone who knew anything about window repair. “Plumber’s putty” is still used on the sorts of pipe connections where it’s appropriate. But I do like the understated indirect humor of the joke. That part is _sooo_ British. Or seems so from way over here. Mentioning the challenges with the vaseline windows with no mention at all of the other, ahem, consequences of putty where it doesn’t belong. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/42 "2026-04-15T21:09:04Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Think of Mike Stivic, “Meathead” and “dumb Polack” in _All in the Family_, made Polish because he couldn’t be Jewish at the time. Yes, a Jew playing a Pole with a [Yugoslav] name. ---
**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 15, 2026, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/43 "2026-04-15T21:12:10Z")
Well, Archie _was_ an equal opportunity bigot; hates 'em all. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/44 "2026-04-15T21:13:14Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I suppose the whole _oeuvre_ of Borscht Belt stand-up comics would be near incomprehensible to modern audiences, whether delivered as prose or in song. The Simpsons played with that in one of the Halloween episodes, with Richard Lewis as the Golem of Prague. “This is the voice I’ve got? I sound like I should be selling eggcreams in Brighton Beach! See, kids, that’s called Jewish humor. You don’t have to understand it, 'cause the words sound funny. MESHUGINAH!” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/45 "2026-04-15T21:14:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And yes, students have asked me if they could borrow some Wite-Out. Are they also the ones who are asking to borrow cartridges for their newly-bought turntables? ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/46 "2026-04-15T21:17:02Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > “Putty” is a perfectly good American word for any clay-like gunk used as a sealant. Ah, good. Window Glazing was what I gleaned from the Home Depot website. I freely admit my ignorance here. Googling the long-obsolete term “Putty” would be hard enough, but it appears that PuTTY is an app for Windows. Ouch - that didn’t help (!) It’s actually multiply obsolete - modular windows don’t use it and in any case putty was the stuff that held _single glazed_ windows in place fifty years ago. I probably know people who have never seen a single glazed window. j ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/47 "2026-04-15T21:24:48Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Are they also the ones who are asking to borrow cartridges for their newly-bought turntables? I don’t know if any of them are in the Vinyl Club. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/48 "2026-04-15T21:30:15Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > It’s actually multiply obsolete - modular windows don’t use it and in any case putty was the stuff that held _single glazed_ windows in place fifty years ago. I probably know people who have never seen a single glazed window. As a property management maintenance coordinator, I see plenty of them. A good number of our older properties have wooden framed single-glazed windows. When one gets broken, our window guy replaces it and holds it in place with glazier’s points and putty. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/49 "2026-04-15T21:30:35Z")
Another joke from _Airplane!_: “WZAZ, where disco lives forever!” _Airplane knocks over the broadcast tower._ I’m sure the first time I watched the movie I at least had some inkling that disco was no longer considered cool when the movie came out, but I didn’t have the full context of the “death” of disco and the anti-disco backlash of the late 1970s. Really, all the disco related gags really date that movie. Oh, also the Hare Krishnas handing out flowers in the airport lobby at the beginning of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/50 "2026-04-15T21:39:44Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Is it, though? Lots of businesses (often small local shops) still use handwritten documents for financial stuff. I currently work at one of these, and the angst when the manager running up the closing paperwork has an “oops!” moment and can’t find the White-Out is … amusing, until you realize your ass can’t leave till the mistake is fixed. Cue scavenger hunt. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/51 "2026-04-15T21:40:46Z")
I guess you probably see more windows than the average guy…. j ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/52 "2026-04-15T22:11:39Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > That it came from immigrant prejudice is obvious. That’s certainly on way to interpret it. OTOH it could also be a non-prejudiced comment on what happens when two languages have different alphabets. Not unlike some of Victor Borge’s jokes. Although in Borge’s case, the fact that he’s making fun of his own language makes it clear it’s not meant in hate. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/53 "2026-04-15T22:23:38Z")
I told my wife that I was hijacking the elevator we were in and taking it to Cuba, I thought she was, like me, going to understand it from movie references and the like (she and I both were born in 1978, with 5 days of difference). She didn’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/54 "2026-04-15T22:25:03Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I will bet that a lot of Tom Lehrer’s funny songs don’t work for modern audiences. I remember a line “Bebe Rebozo cant blow his nose- o” which i didnt get even back then. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’m not as familiar with the musical work of Allan Sherman. Camp Grenada is timeless, as witness my famous thread about it some years ago. Same thing with “You went the wrong way old King Louie”. To be honest i dont remember many more. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/55 "2026-04-15T23:00:59Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Camp Grenada Just wondering: do kids still go to summer camp? And do they still [short sheet beds](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-shortsheeting-a-bed-anyway-and-why-is-it-hilarious)? 🙂 > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Borscht Belt stand-up comics And that’s another thing! What’s the deal with all these people going for weeks (months?) to the Adirondacks? It’s the driving scenario in _Dirty Dancing_, but I, a Wisconsinite, just don’t get it. Why was is such A Thing? Do they still do it? And, when I got older and wiser, I ask, why is it such A Jewish Thing? I can and did laugh at the jokes, but I don’t “get” it. ---
**Author:** ![Varl\_Hobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/91b2a8/32.png) [@Varl\_Hobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Varl_Hobe)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/56 "2026-04-15T23:12:26Z")
Why did the secretary get fired from the typing pool? She put the carbon paper in backward and spent all day doing an “impression” of herself! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/57 "2026-04-15T23:19:54Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Just wondering: do kids still go to summer camp? The tragic floods in central Texas last July killed 135 people, including 25 girls and two teenaged counselors at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/58 "2026-04-15T23:26:04Z")
“Does a bear shit in the woods?” “Are the shoes of the fisherman made by Brunswick?” Actually a Polish joke and only worked during the tenure of John Paul II anyway, so may not really fit the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/59 "2026-04-15T23:32:17Z")
I have seen many of my university students using correction fluid to make changes to handwritten notes and artwork in class. It doesn’t come in the little bottle with a brush, though. Some use a white tape. You can find both types at Staples. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293/60 "2026-04-15T23:39:47Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Just wondering: do kids still go to summer camp? Oh yeah. Mind you they are generally more themed- Boy Scouts or Baseball camp or Space camp, etc > **[Do People Still Send Their Kids to Summer Camp in 2025? - DFW Camp Expo](https://dfwcampexpo.com/do-people-still-send-their-kids-to-summer-camp-in-2024/)** > > Do people still send their kids to summer camp? The answer is a firm ‘yes!’ Many kids still go to summer camps, from more traditional overnight camps to full or half-day camps.  The truth is that many kids attend some summer camp each year – but not... > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > And that’s another thing! What’s the deal with all these people going for weeks (months?) to the Adirondacks? No air conditioning back then, or limited to theaters. Bad air in NYC. It was a fairly easy trip and moderately inexpensive. Then a trip to Florida to escape a NYC winter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-dont-work-anymore-on-a-contemporary-younger-crowd/1029293.md?page=4)