What does dad joke mean? A dad joke is a joke so corny or lame that only a tragically unhip dad would think it's funny. You know the ones—the kind a dad embarrasses you with in front of your friends when he's dropping you off at the mall but 20 years later makes you break down crying because you realize it was his way of saying “I love you.”

The term dad joke is recorded as early as 1987 in a Pennsylvania newspaper, which noted dad jokes as making kids and wives wince. And, they have been doing so ever since. In 1998, an internet user, and admitted dad comic, commented about a groan-worthy observation: “My son calls this a “Dad joke”. Seems that only Dads can come up with these.” No, sir, but only dads think they’re clever.

The term spread in the 2000s, quickly embraced by dads in need of validation—and by content creators seeing some opportunity in their humor. The irony, of course, is that all those unfunny dad jokes became, well, kinda beloved. By the 2010s, dad joke came to signify any corny joke, especially a punny one-liner perhaps associated with gradeschoolers (e.g. Why didn’t the skeleton go to the dance? He had no body to go with).

There’s a subtle but important difference between a dad joke and a bad joke. They can have much in common, yes, but the dad joke is associated with an out-of-touch but well-meaning and warm older man trying to tease, fool, or downright irritate his family. Dad jokes, though, have an endearing and nostalgic quality. A dad joke, as noted, isn’t the exclusive domain of actual fathers. It just has to have that special, thinks-it’s-more-original-than-it-is mix of wholesome exasperation.

(Adaptado de https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/dad-joke/)