Okay, you funghis (fun-guys) - someone has conducted a study to find the world's funniest joke.
Read about it href="http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/10/04/nhaha04.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/10/04/ixhome.html">here
... but if the link doesn't work, or is out of date by the time you get to it or... or... or...
Just to put you out of your suspenders, here it is:
A couple of New Jersey hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes have rolled back in his head.
The other guy whips out his mobile phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps to the operator: "My friend is dead! What can I do?"
The operator, in a soothing voice, says: "Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead."
There is a silence, then a shot is heard. The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says: "OK, now what?"
******
There is also a bit of discussion about differences in humour between different countries, and also about why this joke works. Dr Wiseman said: "Gags work because they make us feel superior to others, reduce the emotional impact of difficult situations, or surprise us with incongruity.
"The hunters joke contains all three elements: we feel superior to the stupid hunter, realise the incongruity of him misunderstanding the operator and the joke helps us to laugh at our concerns about our own mortality."
*****
I have heard this one before, but I happen to like a similar one more.
A man is driving out in the countryside one very dark night and suddenly "thump!" runs into something. He gets out and has a look and frantically gets on his mobile phone to his mate.
"What am I going to do? I just ran over a pig!"
His mate says, "Calm down and I'll tell you exactly what to do. Skin the pig and tie it to the bonnet/hood of the car and we'll have a barbecue."
So the man does that but before he drives off he rings his mate again.
"I've done that but now what am I going to do with the motorcycle?"
Helen