^ sure I believe you but thousands wouldnt.

P.C. Being offended on somebody else's behalf.

Regards.

Or for those who are too afraid to take offence for themselves.

You can complain all you like about PC, but to do so in this forum, you will still need one.

Or for those who are too afraid to take offence for themselves.

Yes, them too. If that were the only motive, who would, or could, object?

Regards.

PC = Collective Good Manners (stolen from AA Gill).

For example, it's ok to make paedophiles the butt, but not ok to make paedophile victims the butt of a joke.

Paedophiles are despised, but who on this earth feels anything but pity for the victim?

"What's so good about having sex with little girls? You can turn them over and pretend they're little boys."

I've seen people groan, but with a smile, at this. Nobody guffaws.

Is the victim or the paedophile the butt here? Or neither?

Is it the fact of the offense caused that is amusing? Are the people that groan and smile smiling because they recognise that they are offended by this collection of mere words?

What is a sense of humour and where does it come from?

There is a golden rule in Thailand expat forums. Paedophilia is not a term of abuse, it's something that is never taken that lightly.

Nebulous connection to what we were talking about in the Afghanistan thread at best.

Nebulous connection to what we were talking about in the Afghanistan thread at best.

I was just wondering why you didn't bring up the "Golden Rule" in this thread.

Well, go off and have another little sulk about it.

Well, go off and have another little sulk about it.

An off the cuff remark that is probably more offensive than it was meant to be.

My point all along is that if I called koheesti an intellectual pygmy and for some reason he took offence, I could point to some of his arguments in his posts as possible justification for my remark.

However when he calls Naam a paedophile, and then says the proof of this is that he's a German then surely he can see it's not the same thing.

Another of my golden rules, which I admit I have a tendency to make up as I go along but that makes them no less personally necessary, is that in this type off forum we should restrict ourselves to attacking the post, and not the poster.

Unjustified accusations of paedophilia can destroy lives; we are not as anonymous as we like to think we are, many members have revealed their names and whereabouts to friends that they have made on this forum, I have posted photos of my home and my village.

All I ask is that if you're going to resort to name calling then, make them of the non criminal variety.

Another of my golden rules, which I admit I have a tendency to make up as I go along...

So, from a "Golden Rule of the forum" to the above. At least you finally admit that you are/were full of sh*t.

The joke-insult that you claim offended you wasn't even directed at you. Debate here can be fun, but if I made you cry, that wasn't my intention. I won't apologise for making you cry though. That's your personal problem.

I'm amazed that you keep engaging this nitwit, Sceadugenga.

There are people that are smart enough to know that they have a brain, but not nearly smart enough to know when they are faced with superior intelect.

I'm amazed that you keep engaging this nitwit, Sceadugenga.

There are people that are smart enough to know that they have a brain, but not nearly smart enough to know when they are faced with superior intelect.

"intelect"?

Now that's nearly as good as my "avoid" gaffe.

Now that's nearly as good as my "avoid" gaffe.

Worse. I always get that one wrong. I should have known better.

The meaning was communicated though

I had to reinstall Firefox the other day, I've been using the US spellcheck plugin for years but for some reason installed the UK one this time. I keep wanting to change s to z all the time....

Now that's nearly as good as my "avoid" gaffe.

Worse. I always get that one wrong. I should have known better.

The meaning was communicated though

It's beyond your control. It's part of Internet forum karma. In all of the forums I've been on over the years whenever anyone makes a post about someone's intelligence, 9 times out of 10 they end up making a spelling or grammar error themselves.

I had to reinstall Firefox the other day, I've been using the US spellcheck plugin for years but for some reason installed the UK one this time. I keep wanting to change s to z all the time....

And why wouldn't you?

I'm keeping that sort of question for my old age.... or my even older age I should say.

Okay, how many of you know about "The Aristocrats"? If you want to talk theoretically about offensive "jokes", I think that one is pertinent to this thread, but consider yourself severely warned... (Umm, I just tried to watch it again. I can't do it. You might want to google it first)

If you don't know, here are two:

Bob Saget

Sarah Silverman

Personally, it goes WAY beyond what I'm comfortable with, so I don't find it funny, but it's considered to be the most difficult joke to perform. Some people find this funny, but I think that says a lot about them. Penn Jillette (from Penn and Teller) is in the background of the Bob Saget one, laughing through most of it, so I guess he finds it funny.

I know it's just words, but I think what's more disturbing is who is telling it, and the delivery of the joke.

Not funny...but bits were amusing.

Reminds me of the story of the travelling salesman out on a country road. He needed the toilet, so he stopped at a farmhouse and asked the farmer if he could use the loo.

"Sure," says the farmer, "It's an outhouse around the back....but I better warn you, the missus has been taking salts."

Saleman goes around to the outhouse and goes inside. What a disgusting mess! There was faeces everywhere. On the walls, on the roof, on the back of the door.

He decides to forgoe his need and goes back to the farmer to say he's leaving. He asked the farmer, "Crickey, it is a mess in there...what sort of salts was she taking? Epsom?"

"No," says the farmer, "Summer".

I know it's just words, but I think what's more disturbing is who is telling it, and the delivery of the joke.

The fact that he is giggling all the way through it is a very good indication of his character and I would not share a beer with this man, I don't feel comfortable even being on the same planet as him.

The fact that he is giggling all the way through it is a very good indication of his character and I would not share a beer with this man, I don't feel comfortable even being on the same planet as him.

I agree. He protests that he can't go through with finishing the joke repeatedly throughout it, but you can tell that his protestations are empty. He enjoys painting that mental picture in the same soulless way that I imagine torturers must eventually enjoy their work. You disconnect from your humanity to enjoy something like that.

Its history goes all the way back to vaudeville, you can read about the origins of the "joke" from Wikipedia.

I think there may be some kind of primal connection at a certain point between shock/horror and humour, and some comedians focus on that. It can be funny if used sparingly and as a form of meta-humour or satire like Monty Python did, but if used too much I think it cheapens the person. I was reluctant to post it on here, but I think it's a good example of what some have already explained in this thread.

As Harcourt said, there are parts that are amusing, and I think that is an aspect of what is intended. The amusing parts are still horrible, but I think we find them amusing because we compare them to the really horrible parts of the joke, and they then don't seem so bad. Then we feel a little guilty for being amused. Humour is a strange part of the human condition, and while there have been studies on it, and scholarly disciplines devoted to it, I think we still don't understand it fully.

I just didn't find them funny. I wasn't offended or anything, but I found myself waiting for a punchline that never came.

Many jokes in poor taste often use a clever play on words or scenarios that can be humorous whereas others seem to rely on bad taste alone for their humour.

I just didn't find them funny. I wasn't offended or anything, but I found myself waiting for a punchline that never came.

Many jokes in poor taste often use a clever play on words or scenarios that can be humorous whereas others seem to rely on bad taste alone for their humour.

Raunchiness, poor taste, blasphemy can all be funny if it leads to some kind of truth or insight. Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, George Carlin could do that. To engage in it just for its shock value strikes me as puerile.

I know it's just words, but I think what's more disturbing is who is telling it, and the delivery of the joke.

The fact that he is giggling all the way through it is a very good indication of his character and I would not share a beer with this man, I don't feel comfortable even being on the same planet as him.

In my thread, "Judging People", I put forward the idea that how a person laughs, and what he laughs AT, is a yardstick to their character. This idea was not taken up there, but perhaps you can empathise with what I meant here.