A lightbulb joke is a joke cycle that asks how many people of a certain group are needed to change, replace, or screw in a light bulb. Generally, the punch line answer highlights a stereotype of the target group. There are numerous versions of the lightbulb joke satirizing a wide range of cultures, beliefs, and occupations.[1][2]
Early versions of the joke, popular in the late 1960s[3][4] and the 1970s, were used to insult the intelligence of people, especially Poles ("Polish jokes").[5][6] For instance:
Q. How many Polacks does it take to change a light bulb?
A. Three—one to hold the light bulb and two to turn the ladder.
Although lightbulb jokes tend to be derogatory in tone (e.g., "How many drunkards..." / "Four: one to hold the light bulb and three to drink until the room spins"), the people targeted by them may take pride in the stereotypes expressed and are often themselves the jokes' originators,[7] as in "How many Germans does it take to change a lightbulb? One, we're very efficient but not funny." where the joke itself becomes a statement of ethnic pride. Lightbulb jokes applied to subgroups can be used to ease tensions between them.[8]
- ^ Elaine Viets (1991-09-04). "Light Bulb Jokes: Screwed-Up Humor". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
Some light bulb jokes make fun of ethnic groups, gays and women. Others shed light on certain professions...
- ^ "How Many Students Does It Take." New York Times. 2004-11-07. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
Colleges have become the theme of at least one chestnut: the lightbulb joke.
- ^ "Try and Stop Me". Daily Review (Hayward, Cal.). 11 July 1965. p. 4. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
Q. How many morons does it take to change a light bulb? Three: one to hold the bulb while he stands on a ladder! two to revolve the ladder.
- ^ Simmons, Donald C. (July–August 1966). "Anti-Italian-American Riddles in New England". Journal of American Folklore. 79 (303): 478. doi:10.2307/537513. JSTOR 537513. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
How many Italians does it take to change a light bulb? Three -- one to hold the light bulb and two to turn the ladder.
- ^ Dundes, 261.
- ^ Kerman, 454–455.
- ^ Kerman, 456–457.
- ^ Richard M. Grimes (1996). "Shedding Light on Public Health". Journal of Public Health Policy. 17 (1). Palgrave Macmillan Journals: 99–101. doi:10.2307/3342661. JSTOR 3342661. PMID 8919963. S2CID 41885788.