A joke is a way of getting people to laugh. It is a great opener for a speech or in a social gathering to break the ice. Laughter is the best medicine and very often telling someone who is sick a funny joke gets them laughing and for a minute or two they forget about their illness. Children love jokes, especially Knock, Knock jokes and once they find one they like, they tell it all the time.

There are many kinds of jokes and you have to know when it is appropriate to tell one of the ones in your repertoire. There are some instances when a dirty joke is appropriate and others when it is not. At a party, it is quite common to hear someone tell a dirty joke, but you have to know the people who are there. Telling this kind of joke in the company of strangers is not very good etiquette because it may actually be insulting to them and not funny at all.

Jokes are supposed to be funny and make people laugh. There are all kinds of jokes, such as riddles, poems, stories, pictures all with the same result laughter. When a person tells a funny story, this often spurs a memory in someone else and pretty soon, you have a whole room of people telling jokes. April Fools Day is the time of practical jokes getting someone to look at something or getting them to so something. The intention here is to try to make the other person feel foolish for having been gullible enough to fall for the practical joke.

When it comes to ethnicity, there are many racist jokes that are not funny at all. While the intention of the story is to have a laugh, the actual fact is that these jokes poke fun at a group of people with the intention of making them look stupid. A blonde joke is the same these are usually geared toward women with blonde hair and portray the image that women with blonde hair are not as intelligent as others. A yo mama joke is very insulting to ones mother and people get highly insulted if someone tells them this kind of story hoping for a laugh.

This kind of fun seems to come in stages depending on the economy and what is happening in the news. At one time a nigger joke or an Irish joke was very common, but today it is quite common to hear a Michael Jackson joke that puts down this famous singer and makes light of his problems. Depending on where you live you might find it quite common to hear a Redneck joke or one related to a specific area. When immigrants come to a new country and start to look for work, they often become the butt of the racism of the new city because people do not understand their culture. Making fun of people from another country who are trying to start a new life for themselves actually shows out the ignorance of those telling the stories.

There are many very funny clean jokes and this is the type that people always try to tell at weddings or places where there are people from all generations and religious persuasions. An Easter joke or a Christmas joke usually deals with the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus or gifts. There is nothing wrong with telling a funny story and having a laugh as long as it doesnt degrade a person or group of people. A funny picture joke works the sane way. There are many funny pictures that are not degrading to anyone and sometimes the pictures you see are so hilarious that you cant help laughing at them no matter what.

Just about all magazines carry a section of funny stories that have been submitted by readers. These are usually clean jokes and are in good taste. You can buy books that are full of funny jokes and stories, dirty jokes and racist jokes on the shelves of most major booksellers. The Internet is also a popular place to find dirty and clean jokes, funny picture jokes of all kinds, fat jokes, steroid jokes. This is a way to get a free joke that you often send to your friends as an attachment in an email message.

When you are using messages and stories to try to brighten someones day, you do have to keep in mind the subject of the story and the person to whom you are telling or sending it. Every individual is unique and it is better to err on the side of caution by telling a clean joke than to insult a person or a whole group of people. Many politicians have gone down to defeat by not being discreet enough when they include a funny story in their speeches.

V.Anantha Krishnan is a resident webmaster of http://www.ebook-retailers.com/joke.html You will find great ebooks on various topics here.

Please join our Free Online Auction eCourse. Recieve articles regularly. mailto: ananthcbe@hotmail.com