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[NF] NFs aren't funny

MacGuffin

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Completely unrelated story!

One of the MDs I work with is an older INTP, very avuncular with happy eyes.

A couple of months ago he made some joke about belly buttons but said umbilicus instead of belly button and I in complete earnest sincerity said "What is that? A cloud?" and then I got a lengthy etymology of umbilicus with something thrown in about Mr. Pickwick from those Charles Dickens stories that he read as a child and Twitter.

You asked a sincere question of an INTP after he made a joke?

That is a mistake.
 

proximo

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I in complete earnest sincerity said "What is that? A cloud?"

LOL!! I'd have laughed my butt off at that, thinking you did it on purpose as a joke, and when he lectured you I'd have laughed all the more, thinking he wasn't getting the joke and finding it hilarious. Sometimes that's happened, and the person who made the 'joke' has later said I made them feel stupid - they hadn't meant it as a joke but a serious question, and they thought I was laughing at them for being stupid and not knowing! :(
 

Totenkindly

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Hahaha yeah, I've always done things like that too. I used to write letters to my best friend in high school when we got separated by travelling, and I'd add nonsense stuff on the envelope, like adding a line under her hometown of Manchester I'd write "(and that's nowhere near Brazil)" or weirder stuff than that. She joined in the fun and did the same thing back.

Exactly... I am always doing "quirk" stuff like that, it's just fun(ny).*

*except to evil clowns regardless of their type.

One of the MDs I work with is an older INTP, very avuncular with happy eyes. A couple of months ago he made some joke about belly buttons but said umbilicus instead of belly button and I in complete earnest sincerity said "What is that? A cloud?" and then I got a lengthy etymology of umbilicus with something thrown in about Mr. Pickwick from those Charles Dickens stories that he read as a child and Twitter.

ROFL.

I would have said the same thing as you did, but as a joke; and then if I got that response, I'd find it funny either way, (1) that he was playing along, resulting in me probably playing off him again, while everyone else thinking we were BOTH serious, or (2) that he took my question seriously when it was actually a joke on my part, making me laugh harder.

Anyway... wondering if there is more distinction between S/N when it comes to humor, vs T/F. Or if it can even be articulated except for some basic generalizations?
 

Lauren Ashley

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That depends on your definition of funny. Some people would say if it makes you laugh, it's funny. Whilst some people are more picky about whether things are witty, clever, original, etc. etc., and would call things that are 'funny' even if they don't make them actually laugh out loud.

That's my definition of funny; why would something that makes me laugh not be funny (and silliness does make laugh)? Not sure I follow that logic...

I'm already laughing (inwardly) at the idea of Jennifer's daughter making animal noises on the phone.
 

Oaky

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Well NFs have a good knack of making really lame jokes that can make people laugh.
 

proteanmix

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You asked a sincere question of an INTP after he made a joke?

That is a mistake.

I've since corrected the folly of my ways. :doh:

LOL!! I'd have laughed my butt off at that, thinking you did it on purpose as a joke, and when he lectured you I'd have laughed all the more, thinking he wasn't getting the joke and finding it hilarious. Sometimes that's happened, and the person who made the 'joke' has later said I made them feel stupid - they hadn't meant it as a joke but a serious question, and they thought I was laughing at them for being stupid and not knowing! :(

Yeah, this is why I found the whole situation funny. He began it as a joke that I didn't get, so then I was like :huh:, and then he explains to me what everything is and it just got crazier and crazier the more he explained and I didn't help any cause I asked more dumb questions until it somehow ended up at Twitter.

I think it's funny to confuse and confound situations and magnify humorous miscommunications, but some people just view that as being an airhead and therefore not funny.
 

proximo

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That's my definition of funny; why would something that makes me laugh not be funny? Not sure I follow that logic...

I'm already laughing (inwardly) at the idea of Jennifer's daughter making animal noises on the phone.

Yeah, I just mean how, sometimes, somebody might say something's funny even though they didn't actually laugh out loud, meaning it was witty or something. I'm thinking of my step-dad, who watches political satire type shows and goes "Ah! yes, exactly!" and nods a lot, but seldom actually laughs, yet he describes it as a "really funny" show. Maybe that's more of a T thing though?

I'm not sure really how to express it! Little help here, anyone who catches my drift?
 

MacGuffin

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I've since corrected the folly of my ways. :doh:



Yeah, this is why I found the whole situation funny. He began it as a joke that I didn't get, so then I was like :huh:, and then he explains to me what everything is and it just got crazier and crazier the more he explained and I didn't help any cause I asked more dumb questions until it somehow ended up at Twitter.

I think it's funny to confuse and confound situations and magnify humorous miscommunications, but some people just view that as being an airhead and therefore not funny.
So were you asking dumb questions on purpose, or not?
 

proximo

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Anyway... wondering if there is more distinction between S/N when it comes to humor, vs T/F. Or if it can even be articulated except for some basic generalizations?

Well I'm thinking that the zany or off-the-wall humour is more likely to originate from an N, whilst the sort of humour I was alluding to earlier - the kind that doesn't necessarily make you laugh out loud per se, but more sort of tickles your intellectual circuits - maybe that's more likely to be appreciated by T's...?

I'm trying to mentally put my finger on how I see S humour, thinking of my best friend that I have great laughs with all the time, but it's hard!
 

MacGuffin

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After the first sincere question, all other questions were dumb questions for my own amusement. :D
I used to play dumb a lot, but I've realized the same thing: people don't know you're playing dumb.

Esp. INTJs.
 

Tallulah

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I find a lot of NFs to be funny. A lot of the time, it is their perspective, and the way they describe things that's either a wildly different way of looking at the thing, or nails it in a way I couldn't. My ENFJs really crack me up a lot of the time. I think all NF types are capable of being really funny. It's just that some can be so earnest that they don't try to be. Just like some NTs can be so robotic that they don't develop a sense of humor.

I find a lot of my fellow INTPs funny, but some of them drive me nuts with the wordplay, taking it waaaaaay past the point of funny. As a rule, I don't seem to find ENTPs as funny as others seem to, either.
 

proteanmix

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I used to play dumb a lot, but I've realized the same thing: people don't know you're playing dumb.

Esp. INTJs.

Yes, that is the danger of playing dumb. I do it when the situation is already light-hearted to begin with, but sometimes it's a good social strategy if people think you're an idiot and you have to teach them not to underestimate people, namely you.

The look on people's faces is priceless.
 

Totenkindly

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I am NOT evil...

Dear, despite your big island-runner shoes, I never took you for a clown.

Yeah, I just mean how, sometimes, somebody might say something's funny even though they didn't actually laugh out loud, meaning it was witty or something. I'm thinking of my step-dad, who watches political satire type shows and goes "Ah! yes, exactly!" and nods a lot, but seldom actually laughs, yet he describes it as a "really funny" show. Maybe that's more of a T thing though?

yeah, that always cracks me up. I see that more with ST types, where they watch those commentator shows and never laugh or show amusement... then say later they found it really funny.
 

Gothmawg

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I find observational humor and/or dry humor to be what does it for me...

Comics like Emo Phillips, Steven Wright, and even George Carlin. However, I do not generally find dirty language funny, and physical comedy I can generally do without.

When I tell jokes, it's usually a play on words, or a different way to see the situation surrounding me rather than making fun of someone, or play acting.

So while many people in my life have said I was funny ( I prefer frakkin' hilarious actually ) I think it's more my quick wit that helps me see situations in unusual ways.

Oh, and innuendo can generate hours of fun!
 

Moiety

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I don't know that many NFs but I just wanted to stress out that it's not always what you say that is funny but how you say it. And I think NFs can do that just as well if not better than other temperaments.
 
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