The concept that when presented with the set-up for a joke, the listener willingly moves the joke forward toward the punch-line in a timely manner. Poor joke-etiquette refers to the practice of the listener attempting to figure out the punchline or delaying the telling in order to steal the teller's thunder, thus spoiling his/her efforts.
An example of good joke-etiquette.
bob: knock, knock.
neil: who's there? (=good joke-etiquette)
bob: go fuck yourself!
An example of poor joke-etiquette.
bob: knock, knock.
neil: go fuck yourself, I hate knock, knock jokes! (=poor joke-etiquette.)
bob: knock, knock.
neil: who's there? (=good joke-etiquette)
bob: go fuck yourself!
An example of poor joke-etiquette.
bob: knock, knock.
neil: go fuck yourself, I hate knock, knock jokes! (=poor joke-etiquette.)
by gumbo jr. June 30, 2007