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Why do dads tell dad jokes?

Nobody has proven why, but researchers have ideas. A dad joke is a wholesome, usually punny joke “of the type said to be told by fathers,” and it may be as much about bonding and play as the punchline.

Quick Answer

A dad joke is, in Merriam-Webster’s words, a wholesome joke of the type said to be told by fathers, with a punchline that’s often an obvious or predictable pun or play on words and usually judged endearingly corny or unfunny. Merriam-Webster dates the first known use of “dad joke” to 1987 and added it to its dictionary in 2019. Why dads tell them hasn’t been proven, but researchers have ideas. Marc Hye-Knudsen, a humor researcher at Aarhus University, has argued in The Psychologist that dad jokes may work as a kind of parenting tool, a harmless way to toughen kids against embarrassment. A June 2026 Washington Post review of the research described them as a small shared ritual that signals warmth and playfulness whether or not anyone laughs, and noted that parents who use humor report closer bonds with their children. Those are hypotheses, not settled findings.

By the Numbers

1987Year of the first known use of “dad joke”

2019Year Merriam-Webster added it

32,000Jokes from a dad-joke forum analyzed in one recent preprint

Key Facts

What it is: A wholesome, often punny joke of the type said to be told by fathers
First known use: 1987, according to Merriam-Webster
In the dictionary: Merriam-Webster added “dad joke” in 2019
Why dads?: Researchers have ideas, like bonding and play, but none is proven

Anatomy of a groaner

The setup
A question or situation points you toward the obvious meaning of a word.
The twist
The punchline flips to a second meaning, a pun or a literal reading.
The double take
You see how it works, and the surprise lands.
The groan
In one 2024 preprint, brain recordings showed both amusement and a negative reaction.

What counts as a dad joke

Merriam-Webster’s definition stresses a wholesome joke with a predictable pun and an “endearingly corny” feel, while Dictionary.com calls it a corny joke or pun suggestive of those fathers make to their children. Both describe a style of joke rather than proof of who tells them.

Why we groan

A pun sets up one meaning and then springs another. A 2024 preprint, which hasn’t been peer reviewed, found in brain recordings that people reacted to pun humor with both amusement and a negative response, and the negative response often came first. A separate preprint analyzed 32,000 jokes from a dad-joke forum and found that the best-rated ones tended to rely on puns, literal readings and pedantry.

Do they do any good?

Hye-Knudsen suggests that corny jokes may have a pedagogical effect by giving kids low-stakes practice at being embarrassed. Other researchers say humor can strengthen the bond between parents and children. These are ideas to test, and the evidence so far is limited, so “dad jokes are good for kids” isn’t established.

Myth vs. Fact

MythDad jokes are proven to be good for kids.

FactResearchers have proposed that they may help with bonding or help kids handle embarrassment, but those are hypotheses, not settled findings.

MythOnly dads tell them.

FactThe term describes a kind of joke, a pun or play on words, “of the type said to be told by fathers.” It doesn’t say who tells it.

The Bottom Line

A dad joke is a wholesome, usually punny joke of the type said to be told by fathers. Researchers have ideas about why they persist, from bonding to playfulness, but none is proven.