Joke books can be a fun gift in their own right; but joke books can also be used as a fun learning tool.
Joke books are usually small books that contain a collection of jokes on a certain theme or by a certain renowned comic author. Joke books have the purpose of amusing the reader with its content.
A joke is a short story about a situation that has the purpose of being humorous. The joke usually has a final phrase, which actually produces the amusing reaction, known as the "punch line". Jokes can have different lengths, being even a single phrase.
There are different types of jokes. The main criterion for differentiating jokes is the subject. Political jokes, also known as satires, are jokes that have as their main subject situations regarding politicians or a current political topic.
Professional jokes are those that have as a main topic a situation regarding a certain work environment or a professional line of work, such as that of a doctor or a lawyer.
In-jokes are jokes about something that only people who possess certain knowledge can understand, like informatics jokes.
Ethnic jokes are jokes about ethnical stereotypes and are usually considered racist; but other stereotype-based jokes might be considered acceptable, such as blonde jokes.
Another big category includes religious jokes, such as stereotypes about different religious people — for example, nuns and priests — or historical religious figures such as Adam and Eve or Moses, or different religious groups such as Rabbis and Catholics.
Dirty jokes have sexual references or inappropriate language.
Comedic figures have written the best-selling joke books in the last decades. For example, the British comedy group Monty Python has released books containing their written sketches The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus Volumes 1 & 2.
The language used in joke books is as diverse as the topics that are used in joke books. The situation presented in the joke is easily remembered since the human mind is more perceptive of humorous aspects. Jokes are used even in study books to help the readers comprehend the subject. Even in jokes, you can learn something.
For example, the highly popular Funny
English Errors and Insights: Illustrated might loosely be
described as a “joke book”. But unlike most other jokes books, the humor
in Funny English Errors is unintentional. In order to understand the jokes in Funny English Errors, you must have a certain level of English proficiency and have good general knowledge. The humor in the child’s statement that “The choir has a 2-octane range” will be lost unless the reader knows that the child meant to write the word “octave” and that “octane” is a gas. Thus, joke books like Funny English Errors provides an extra incentive for the reader to improve vocabulary and to expand their general knowledge.
So, if you desire to lose your frown and “Always look on the bright side of life”, just read a good joke book; joke books can put a smile on your face and make you see your problems in a totally new perspective. And you might even learn something, too.