Dictionary Definition
facetious adj : cleverly amusing in tone; "a
bantering tone"; "facetious remarks"; "tongue-in-cheek advice"
[syn: bantering,
tongue-in-cheek]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
fuh-see-shus-
- Rhymes: -iːʃəs
Adjective
Derived terms
Translations
flippant
- Bulgarian: непочтителен, лекомислен
- Finnish: epäasiallinen
pleasantly humorous, jocular
- Bulgarian: шеговит
- Chinese: 轻率的, 滑稽的
- Finnish: hyväntuulinen, leikillinen
- Portuguese: busseta
Trivia
This word uses all five vowels just once and in alphabetical order (others are abstemious, abstentious, annelidous, arsenious, casesious and fracedinous). If y is counted as a vowel, then facetiously uses all six vowels in alphabetical order.Extensive Definition
The term off-color humor (also known as dirty
jokes or blue humor) is an Americanism
used to describe various jokes, prose, poems, black comedy
and skits that
deal with topics that are considered to be in poor taste or overly
vulgar by the prevailing morals in a
culture. Treating
serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor is called
facetiousness. Most commonly labeled as "off-color" are acts
concerned with sex, a
particular ethnic group, or
gender.
Other off-color topics include: violence, particularly domestic
abuse; excessive swearing or profanity; "toilet
humor"; national
superiority or inferiority,
dead baby
jokes, pedophilic
content, and any other topics generally considered impolite or indecent. Generally, the point
of off-color humor is to induce laughter by evoking a feeling of
shock and surprise in the comedian's audience. In this way, "blue"
humor is related to other forms of postmodern humor, such as the anti-joke.
Off-color humor has been used in Ancient
Greek comedy, primarily by its most famous contributor and
representative, Aristophanes.
His work parodied some of the great tragedians of his time,
especially Euripedes, using
sexual and excremental jokes which received great popularity among
his contemporaries but would be considered embarrassing in the
Christian milieu.
Dirty jokes were once considered subversive and underground,
and rarely heard in public. Comedian Lenny Bruce
was once tried, convicted, and jailed for obscenity after a stand up
performance that included off-color humor in New York
City in 1964. Comedian and
actor Redd
Foxx was well-known in nightclubs in the 1960s and 1970s for
his raunchy stand-up
act, but toned it down for the television shows Sanford and
Son and
The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour, stating in the first monologue of
the latter show that the only similarity between the show and his
nightclub act was that "I'm smoking"
[http://207.36.165.13/foxx.html]. American society has become
increasingly tolerant of off-color humor since that time. Due in
part to the mainstream success of comedians such as Dolemite,
Andrew Dice Clay's "The Dice
Man", and Richard
Pryor in the 1970s and 1980s, such forms of humor came to be
distributed widely, and grew socially acceptable.
In the 1990s and modern era, such comedians as
George
Carlin (and, in a more moderate form, Dave
Chappelle) use shocking content to draw attention to their
criticism of social issues - especially censorship and the
socioeconomic divide. The highly-praised television show South Park
also popularized the use of offensive humor. The
Aristocrats is perhaps the most famous dirty joke in the US;
certainly, it is one of the best-known and most oft-repeated among
comedians themselves.
Veg and Non-Veg Jokes
In India, sexual humor
in particular is known as "non-veg" humor, contrasted with the
"veg" jokes that are more acceptable in polite company. The use of
the term "non-veg" is probably a reference to the carnal nature of
sexual humor, and can be viewed in the context of the prevalence of
both vegetarian and
non-vegetarian dietary preferences in India.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1137824.cms
http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/hindi/interview/6721.html
See also
External links
Collections of Dirty Jokes- Dirty Jokes
- DeepThought Dirty Jokes Collection allowing submission and rating.
- Jokes Palace Ridiculously dirty jokes and crude humor
- MEGArant Humor Blog Off-color Blog
facetious in German: Sexueller Witz
facetious in Dutch: Schuine mop
facetious in Chinese: 黃色笑話
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Attic,
biting, blithe, brilliant, clever, comic, comical, droll, funny, humorous, humorsome, jesting, jocose, jocular, jocund, joking, joky, jolly, joshing, jovial, keen, keen-witted, laughable, ludicrous, merry, mordant, nimble-witted, pointed, pungent, quick-witted,
rapier-like, salt, salty, scintillating, sharp, smart, sparkling, sprightly, whimsical, witty