Introduction:
When asked if they know any engineering related jokes, engineers often respond that they don’t think engineers are very funny, or that jokes really don’t fit into engineering culture. Despite this, they are usually able to think of a few jokes or other types of humor that are relevant to their field.
While collecting these folklore items, we noticed that the jokes often fit in one of a few categories. Engineers seem to enjoy jokes that incorporate domain specific knowledge. These jokes can be incomprehensible to someone outside the field. These jokes help to reinforce group identity, by making a listener feel intelligent if they can understand the joke and excluding those who do not have the relevant knowledge.
Another common type of joke compares engineers to those in other professions, or makes comparisons between different sub-fields of engineering. This type of joke usually highlights a particular stereotypical aspect of each field. Often, one group, presumably the one the performer belongs to, is praised while another is made fun of. Again, this helps to reinforce a group identity.
Lastly, we identified a group of jokes that make fun of stereotypical behaviors and characteristics of engineers. Most commonly, these jokes portray engineers as introverted geeks.
Overall, it seems that engineers are attracted to jokes that help to distinguish engineering from other professions and create a unique identity as a folk group.
Presentation:
Spring 2019 – Engineering Jokes Presentation
Items:
- The Engineer and the Frog Princess (Sal LaRussa)
- The Engineer and the Frog Princess (Eric Hansen)
- Three Engineers, a Computer Scientist and a Broken Down Car
- Fencing the Largest Area
- A Pint of Milk and a Dozen Eggs
- An Engineer, a Mathematician and a Fire
- The Water Collection Dilemma
- How do you get out?
- Machines Have Feelings Too
- Resistance is futile
- Introverted Vs Extroverted Engineer
- The doctor and the engineer
Collectors:
- Pierre Desvallons
- Aadil Islam
- Ben Wolsieffer
Tags/Keywords:
engineering, verbal folklore, jokes, proverbs