# what joke subject can you not handle? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 29, 2006, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642 "2006-05-29T18:43:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/1 "2006-05-29T18:43:52Z")
As I experience it, the boundaries of joke topics are being pushed daily. With some irony and self-awareness and the right company, it’s possible to joke about nearly anything. But what topics are too much for you to handle? ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/2 "2006-05-29T18:56:32Z")
I can take just about everything in good humor, but the one thing that might push the limits for me are jokes about dead military folk- since I have quite a few friends that are either deployed or getting deployed soon. ---
**Author:** ![Tamryne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@Tamryne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamryne)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/3 "2006-05-29T19:01:25Z")
I can laugh at and dish out jokes on almost any subject, except dead babies. Something about them just gives me the heebie-jeebies, and makes me feel sick. I don’t find them funny and tend to become quite angry at people who dish them out after I ask them not to. I guess its the maternal instincts kicking in! ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/4 "2006-05-29T19:08:14Z")
Either everything’s OK to make fun of, or nothing is. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/5 "2006-05-29T19:18:03Z")
Not big on AIDS jokes but only because so many of them are so mean-spirited. Really dislike prison rape jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/6 "2006-05-29T19:17:57Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Either everything’s OK to make fun of, or nothing is. OK in what sense? I mean, it might be “OK” in the sense that it shouldn’t be censored, but that doesn’t mean something is “OK” to me in terms of wanting to listen to it. (This, I think, was the question the OP is asking…what is too much for someone, personally.) For me, anything bad regarding children. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/7 "2006-05-29T19:39:40Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Either everything’s OK to make fun of, or nothing is. I don’t see how you can possibly back up that assertion. For me, the topic isn’t really the issue. That having been said, I hate jokes about any kind of abuse or mistreatment of kids. Jokes about misogyny and racism too often make me think the person telling the _joke_ isn’t really joking. But ultimately, it’s the joke itself and not necessarily the topic the causes me offense. ( If I take any… I’m not too easily offended.) I don’t like jokes about hurting animals, for instance, but that frog-in-a-blender website amused me for hours. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/8 "2006-05-29T20:05:50Z")
To answer my own question, any joke about rape will disturb me at the least but will often make me feel extremely uncomfortable. Be it prison or anything else, I can’t stomach it. ---
**Author:** ![mrald](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@mrald](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrald)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/9 "2006-05-29T20:27:02Z")
Another vote for dead baby joke, those are awful. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/10 "2006-05-29T20:55:45Z")
The appropriateness of humor depends a lot on the circumstances. Humor is often used to relieve stress in difficult or dangerous situations, but using that same humor at a cocktail party might be totally offensive. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/11 "2006-05-29T21:05:50Z")
> [@mrald](#): > > Another vote for dead baby joke, those are awful. Especially when it involves dingoes. Not only is the ‘dingo ate my baby’ thing very, very old and tired now, but unless you were in Australia in 1980, you might tend to forget the fact that _she was a real baby_. I find those wisecracks a bit disrespectful. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/12 "2006-05-29T21:57:04Z")
There are topics of jokes that I don’t personally prefer, but to attempt to prohibit a certain kind of topic or joke is to restrict the art of joke telling. I do think that there are some jokes that were never meant to be released to the general public that have gotten out anyway and are taken out of context. It’s the same idea as the “Aristocrats” joke. It’s actually not funny, nor is it just the thing to break the ice at your next meeting. It’s a comedians joke and it’s about the way it’s told and how it deals with certain subjects that makes it an interesting and worthwhile past time. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/13 "2006-05-29T22:04:27Z")
I don’t like jokes about dead pets, but dead babies are OK with me. I know that sounds bad, but I guess it’s because I’ve had pets but never had a baby. I’m sure if I become father that will change. Hopefully. (I’ll likely never have children, if that assuages any fears) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/14 "2006-05-29T22:10:02Z")
I really dislike the rashes of topical jokes that tend to surface within minutes of any tragedy involving large scale, or dramatic, loss of human life. I understand that these are sometimes a coping mechanism for some people and of course I would not see such things censored, but they turn my stomach every time without fail. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/15 "2006-05-29T22:23:40Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I understand that these are sometimes a coping mechanism for some people All humor is a coping mechanism. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/16 "2006-05-29T22:27:01Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > All humor is a coping mechanism. You know, don’t you, that some right-wing culture warrior will use your reasoning to argue that the funniest people are the weakest people, and that we should make sure our leaders are humorless stick-up-the-ass bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/17 "2006-05-29T22:29:01Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > we should make sure our leaders are humorless stick-up-the-ass bastards. And this differs from the current situation how? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/18 "2006-05-29T22:31:50Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > All humor is a coping mechanism. I don’t agree; the humour response in humans might have originated as such, but I think it’s possible to have good humour that arises without any significant coping, or requirement for it at all. Unless of course you want to define _anything_ as a coping mechanism; _breathing_ is a coping mechanism for dealing with the unpleasant matter of suffocation, but such all-encompassing definitions are essentially useless. ---
**Author:** ![mrald](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@mrald](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrald)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/19 "2006-05-29T22:33:31Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > All humor is a coping mechanism. I disagree, humor can be used to cope but can’t it just be for fun too? ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642/20 "2006-05-30T00:27:23Z")
I refuse to listen to racist jokes and I will let the person know. I feel it is a way of showing one’s ignorance. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-joke-subject-can-you-not-handle/358642.md?page=2)