Lightbulb joke: Difference between revisions

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== Variations ==
== Variations ==


Some versions of the joke are [[pun]]s on the words "[[:wikt:change|change]]"<ref>Dundes in Boskin, 255–256.</ref> or "[[:wikt:screw#Synonyms|screw]]",<ref>Dundes in Boskin, 253–255.</ref> or "light":
Some versions of the joke are [[pun]]s on the words "[[:wikt:change|change]]"<ref>Dundes in Boskin, 255–256.</ref> or "[[:wikt:screw#Synonyms|screw]]".<ref>Dundes in Boskin, 253–255.</ref>


{{block indent|<poem>'''Q.''' How many [[psychiatrist]]s does it take to change a light bulb?
{{block indent|<poem>'''Q.''' How many [[psychiatrist]]s does it take to change a light bulb?
'''A.''' None—the light bulb will change when it's ready.<ref>{{cite journal| url = http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0355.pdf| title = Slow Change in a Fast Culture| author = Morris W. Beverage Jr.| journal = Educause Review| page = 10| date = September–October 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zgbtQNhdiE4C| title = The New Accountability| author1 = Martin Carnoy| author1-link = Martin Carnoy| author2 = Richard F. Elmore| author2-link = Richard F. Elmore| author3 = Leslie Santee Siskin| publisher = Routledge| year = 2003| pages = 195| isbn = 978-0-415-94705-3}}</ref></poem>}}
'''A.''' None—the light bulb will change when it's ready.<ref>{{cite journal| url = http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0355.pdf| title = Slow Change in a Fast Culture| author = Morris W. Beverage Jr.| journal = Educause Review| page = 10| date = September–October 2003| archive-date = 2014-04-08| access-date = 2010-05-12| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140408221232/http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0355.pdf| url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zgbtQNhdiE4C| title = The New Accountability| author1 = Martin Carnoy| author1-link = Martin Carnoy| author2 = Richard F. Elmore| author2-link = Richard F. Elmore| author3 = Leslie Santee Siskin| publisher = Routledge| year = 2003| pages = 195| isbn = 978-0-415-94705-3}}</ref></poem>}}


{{block indent|<poem>'''Q.''' How many flies does it take to [[Animal sexual behavior|screw]] in a lightbulb?
{{block indent|<poem>'''Q.''' How many flies does it take to [[Animal sexual behavior|screw]] in a lightbulb?
'''A.''' Two, but don't ask me how they got in there.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Suarez|first1=Louise Marie|title=Folklore and Its Electronic Modes of Transmission: Xerography, Electronic Mail, and Facsimile|date=1991|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=koRLAQAAMAAJ|language=en}}</ref></poem>}}
'''A.''' Two, but don't ask me how they got in there.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Suarez|first1=Louise Marie|title=Folklore and Its Electronic Modes of Transmission: Xerography, Electronic Mail, and Facsimile|date=1991|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=koRLAQAAMAAJ|language=en}}</ref></poem>}}
{{block indent|<poem>'''Q.''' How many hands does it take to change a lightbulb?
'''A.''' [[wikt:many hands make light work|Many]].</poem>}}


Lightbulb jokes are often responses to contemporary events.<ref>Dundes in Boskin, 255.</ref>
Lightbulb jokes are often responses to contemporary events.<ref>Dundes in Boskin, 255.</ref>
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''[[The Village Voice]]'' held a $200 lightbulb joke contest around the time of the [[Iran hostage crisis]], with the winning joke being:<ref name="Dundes">Dundes, 264.</ref>{{block indent|<poem>'''Q.''' How many Iranians does it take to change a light bulb?
''[[The Village Voice]]'' held a $200 lightbulb joke contest around the time of the [[Iran hostage crisis]], with the winning joke being:<ref name="Dundes">Dundes, 264.</ref>{{block indent|<poem>'''Q.''' How many Iranians does it take to change a light bulb?
'''A.''' You send us the prize money and we'll tell you the answer.</poem>}}
'''A.''' You send us the prize money and we'll tell you the answer.</poem>}}
Lightbulb jokes can also be about sports, teasing about their team's past, future, etc.
  {{block indent|<poem>'''Q.'''  How many [[Manchester United]] fans does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
''' A.''' They don't, they just talk about how good the old one was.</poem>}}
Lightbulb jokes can also be related to religious groups and denominations.
{{Block indent|text=<poem>'''Q.''' Why is it easier for a [[Pentecostal]] to change a light bulb?
'''A.''' Because their hands are already up.</poem>}}


==References==
==References==

Latest revision as of 18:15, 19 December 2025

Template:Short description

File:Gluehlampe 01 KMJ.jpg
An Edison screw lightbulb

A lightbulb joke is a joke cycle that asks how many people of a certain group are needed to change, replace, or screw in a light bulb. Generally, the punch line answer highlights a stereotype of the target group. There are numerous versions of the lightbulb joke satirizing a wide range of cultures, beliefs, and occupations.[1][2]

Early versions of the joke, popular in the late 1960s[3][4] and the 1970s, were used to insult the intelligence of people, especially Poles ("Polish jokes").[5][6] Such jokes generally take the form of: Template:Block indent

Although lightbulb jokes tend to be derogatory in tone (e.g., "How many drunkards..." / "Four: one to hold the light bulb and three to drink until the room spins"), the people targeted by them may take pride in the stereotypes expressed and are often themselves the jokes' originators.[7] An example where the joke itself becomes a statement of ethnic pride is: Template:Block indent

Lightbulb jokes applied to subgroups can be used to ease tensions between them.[8]

Variations

Some versions of the joke are puns on the words "change"[9] or "screw".[10]

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Lightbulb jokes are often responses to contemporary events.[11] For example, the lightbulb may not need to be changed at all due to ongoing power outages.[12]

The Village Voice held a $200 lightbulb joke contest around the time of the Iran hostage crisis, with the winning joke being:[13]Template:Block indent

References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Dundes, 261.
  6. ↑ Kerman, 454–455.
  7. ↑ Kerman, 456–457.
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Dundes in Boskin, 255–256.
  10. ↑ Dundes in Boskin, 253–255.
  11. ↑ Dundes in Boskin, 255.
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Dundes, 264.

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Notes

  • Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  • Alan Dundes (1981). "Many Hands Make Light Work or Caught in the Act of Screwing in Light Bulbs". In Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  • Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".

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