Does anyone know what the oldest known joke on record is, how old it is, and where it came from?
I would guess it was some proto-australopithecine sneaking up behind a fellow tribe member and suddenly shouting the equivalent of “gotcha” at the victim.
I would guess it was some proto-australopithecine sneaking up behind a fellow tribe member and suddenly shouting the equivalent of “gotcha” at the victim.
When? Probably about 4 million years ago. Where? Somewhere around Olduvai gorge, Africa.
All kidding aside for a sec, I did ask what the earliest known joke ON RECORD was. This means the last 5,000 years or so…but I appreciate the hypothesis.
How about restricting this to a classic joke, as in a build-up ending in a punch line?
I don’t know the answer any more than you do, but that’s a very good question and I’d like to hear the answer. Until then, here are my observations.
I’ve heard that this joke goes back to Roman times:
“Who was that lady I saw you with last night?”
“That was no lady, that was my wife.”
Also, at least one ribald story with a punch line originally from The Satyricon by Petronius is still circulating (thanks to classics scholars). However, the modern story involves sex between a man and a woman, whereas Petronius’ version involved two men.
From ancient Greece there are the comedies of Aristophanes, but I’m not an expert on them and I don’t know if they contain any jokes in the restricted definition I’ve proposed.
The humor in the Bible thread contains some very old jokes and a reference to Cecil’s column on Bible jokes. It also contains some ancient Chinese humor, including jokes from Confucius.
Strom Thurmon?
Sorry if it not spelled right.
I’d have to say the creation of the homo sapien by either strange series of coincidences or God
The Bible itself.
(Not sure if I should duck and run for this one, or stand up and take a bow… Probably both.)
Oomba Oomba garg fnor?
Gnnh?
Zorg Grrrr Ommba!!
teee heeee
(sound of mammoth femur striking flesh)
Tee h… oooooooo
From “Sappho and the Greek Lyrics Poets”
Not exactly LOL but humorous.
These are more satirical, but still.
Homer’s Odyssey also had some very funny bits in it. Much is lost in translation, but there’s quite a bit of humor in the Odyssey. I can dig some up, if you’d like.
–Tim
I think we can all agree on…
“Why did the chicken cross the road?”
I’m sure there are jokes older than both roads and domestic chickens.
I heard that almost all cultures have a joke that starts out with a traveller asking somebody for a place to sleep and being directed to sleep in the same location as the guy’s daughter, with an admonition not to have sex with her. The farmer’s daughter joke is probably pretty old, probably predates farming.
BTW, the chicken joke is only funny if you have already heard other jokes and are expecting a real punchline to that setup.