There are plenty of internet videos where farts make us laugh. Those videos come from all over the world. Why are farts funny anyway? And why are they a joke in the whole world? There are many jokes that are more local, but farts… they make everyone laugh, no matter where the person is from!
Perhaps because farting is generally a taboo, but also something we all do. Laughing relieves the tension that naturally surrounds a “crime” we’re all guilty of.
Or, I dunno, maybe it’s picturing people’s butt cheeks rippling.
… but, know your audience.
Internationally funny?.. probably.
ALWAYS funny?.. definitely not.
Farts: the universal language.
Yeah, farts certainly can be funny, but like with any humor, it depends on the context. A bunch of drunk frat boys sitting around drinking beer and farting? Nah, that’s just gross, not funny. A wedding where the bride lets out a loud one just when she’s about to say “I do”? Hilarious. I think the common thread is that humor only works when it’s at least somewhat unexpected.
They’re loud and smelly.
My farts aren’t funny, and they are deeply offended at the insinuation.
According to an old George Carlin bit, “They’re shit without the mess, man.”
Moved from General Questions to IMHO.
samclem, moderator.
Is My Hiney Open?
Took me a second there, lieu.
I don’t know why they’re so universally giggle-inducing, either, but I do know that a couple of years ago there was a “funny fart stories” thread around here that had me shaking, tears *streaming *down my face, because I was laughing so hard. One story after another just kept building up the funny, until somebody mid-story posted
* *poot **
and somehow that just sent me completely over the edge. I’m smiling now just looking at the word.
You mean there isn’t a single, undisputed, factual answer to this?
The oldest known joke, written in cuneiform on a clay tablet, is a fart joke (seriously!).
Fart jokes are funny. That’s just how it is, was, and ever more shall be.
Cite, please! 'Cause I’d really like to read this.
"If everything’s ready here on the Dark Side of the Moon… play the five tones. "
In Kurt Vonnegut’s Galapagos, in the far distant future humanity has evolved into unintelligent seal-like aquatic animals. The one thing they have in common with present-day humans is that when everyone is hauled out sunning on the beach and somebody farts, everybody still laughs.
Not sure about farts, but it looks like one of the oldest cuneiform jokebooks has a “your mom” joke.
An older thread on the same subject.
And a web site that was linked to from that thread: Breaking Wind: Legendary Farts
And the same day I see this thread I come across this Pearls before Swine strip.