According to an authority on the matter, featured in the British Psychological Society’s journal, dad jokes can be seen as a sign of good parenting. They can help youngsters understand that embarrassment is not always something to be feared.

Marc Hye-Knudsen, a researcher of humor and lab manager at Aarhus University’s Cognition and Behavior Laboratory in Denmark, discussed how teasing and rough-and-tumble play can bolster a child's physical and cognitive growth. Fathers can increase their child's resilience and help them learn to manage minor affronts and negative emotions without getting carried away or misbehaving, teaching them how to contain their impulses and moderate their feelings.

The expert said that dad jokes can be separated into three groups: puns, anti-humor and weaponized anti-humor when used to annoy, tease or embarrass children. The phrase "dad joke" was included in the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2019 with the definition of "a joke of the kind said to be told by fathers with a punchline that is often a clear or predictable pun or play on words and usually judged to be endearingly corny or not funny."

Hye-Knudsen suggested that fathers should keep telling their corny jokes — no matter how much their children may not want to hear them. He said: Therefore, to all the dads who take pleasure in cracking jokes to their kids: Don't be put off by their groans, glares, or obvious annoyance. You are embracing a long-held tradition, and your peculiarly awful jokes may even do them some good.

You can't escape the same old outworn puns, year in, year out. In the end, you have to suffer through the same stale joke, going from not funny to almost funny again. A special moment is when your kids start telling the same joke, perhaps even when they have kids of their own. This is an example of the influence parents have.

Dad Jokes

"What do you call a fish wearing a bowtie?" "Sofishticated."

"I'm afraid for the calendar. Its days are numbered."

"I thought the dryer was shrinking my clothes. Turns out it was the refrigerator all along."

"What kind of noise does a witch’s vehicle make? Brrrroooom, brrroooom."

"How do you get a country girl’s attention? A tractor."

"What’s the most detail-oriented ocean? The Pacific."

"I used to hate facial hair, but then it grew on me."

"What do you call it when a group of apes starts a company? Monkey business."

"I love telling Dad jokes. Sometimes, he even laughs."

"What did one plate whisper to the other plate? Dinner is on me."