Or: How to Annoy People with Nerdy Comments

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Discussion Overview

The thread explores humorous, nerdy responses to everyday comments and situations, focusing on how scientific or technical language can be used in light-hearted banter. Participants share anecdotes and examples of witty remarks that blend humor with scientific concepts, showcasing a playful interaction with language and knowledge.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants share examples of humorous responses to mundane questions, such as relating the energy of a towel on the floor to its position.
  • Others propose using scientific terms in everyday conversations, like referring to a heavy backpack in terms of mass and scales.
  • A participant mentions the comedic effect of using "big" words in casual dialogue, suggesting that the definition of such words can vary based on the audience's understanding.
  • Several anecdotes illustrate the reactions of friends and acquaintances to nerdy comments, highlighting the mix of confusion and amusement they can provoke.
  • One participant recounts a humorous story involving an astronomer and a well, which raises questions about the plausibility of such scenarios.
  • There are discussions about the timing of jokes and the varying degrees of understanding among listeners, with some participants enjoying delayed reactions to their humor.
  • Some participants express uncertainty about the effectiveness of their jokes, noting that not everyone finds them funny.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the enjoyment of using nerdy humor in conversations, but there is no consensus on the effectiveness or reception of such humor among different audiences. The discussion remains open-ended regarding the best approaches to delivering these types of jokes.

Contextual Notes

Some humor relies on specific scientific knowledge or cultural references that may not be universally understood, leading to varying interpretations and reactions. The effectiveness of jokes may depend on the context and the audience's familiarity with the subject matter.

mbrmbrg
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It's my new goal in life!
As in when Older Brother walks into kitchen and asks, "Why is the towel on the floor?" and Obnoxious Little Sister deadpans, "Because it has less energy on the floor than on the hook."

Anyone have good ones to share?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
"It's hot in here, isn't it?"

"That would be the heat!" :wink:
 
tiny-tim said:
"It's hot in here, isn't it?"

"That would be the heat!" :wink:

"That would be the average non-rotational molecular kinetic energy!"
 
However, non calor, sed umor est qui nobis incommodat
 
Never ask a philosopher "why are you here?"
 
"This backpack is so heavy !"
"Indeed unfortunately, at our scales masses add up !"

It is a genuine quote from a teacher I had at the university :smile:
 
"I'm a psychiatrist"

"Of course you are!

… and how long have you been a psychiatrist?" :smile:
 
Just start every sentence with HEEEEEHHHH HEEEEEHH HEEEEEEEEH and then suck in your spit before you ramble and 10x the normal talking pace.


Its not a hee sound like he said. Its a sharp HeeeeaaaaaH. Hard to explain, but uber nerdy.
 
I've found it's often enough to simply use a "big" word.

Just last week: Emanating

Keep in mind the definition of a "big" word might be relative to the intellect of the people in your presence.
 
  • #10
"Hey! That's so cool! Why do you think pancakes always come out almost perfectly round?"
"Well, space is isotropic."
 
Last edited:
  • #11
mbrmbrg said:
"Hey! That's so cool! Why do you think pancakes always come out almost perfectly round?"
"Well, space is isotropic."


...thats dumb.
 
  • #12
Cyrus said:
...thats dumb.
that's the point! people make normal comments/observations, and PhysicsNerd gets to respond with an obnoxious scientific comment/observation!
 
  • #13
mbrmbrg said:
that's the point! people make normal comments/observations, and PhysicsNerd gets to respond with an obnoxious scientific comment/observation!

...why?
 
  • #14
Its the point of this thread...
 
  • #15
g33kski11z said:
Its the point of this thread...

:smile: :smile:
 
  • #16
I had a friend in college who was fairly "big-boned". We'd be playing a little pick-up basketball, and when he'd make a successful drive to the basket, he'd sometimes turn to one of our jock buddies and say something like "Not bad for an endomorph, eh?"
 
  • #17
An astronomer is walking in a field at night gazing at the stars when he unwittingly falls into a well and cries for help. A man passing by notices his cries for help, and the man asks the astronomer how he got down there. The astronomer replies he was so focused on the sky that he forgot all about the earth. After hearing this, the man replies 'you deserve to be down there!'
 
  • #18
Now, seriously, that couldn't have happened … the law (in England, anyway) is that any shaft that's not safe is boarded up, with a notice saying "Out of order!" … except if the shaft is a well, in which case the notice says "Well out of order!"
 
  • #19
My "big-boned" friend from college would take notice if a girl with a shapely butt with nice legs in tight pants walked by our table in the eating hall and say (real low) things like "Ooh! So symmetrically bifurcated!" He was a hoot!

He reminded me of WC Fields, who used to spice up scripts with stuff like "Just one little osculation?" when asking Mae West for a kiss.
 
  • #20
Dis fread is well hektic!
 
  • #21
mbrmbrg said:
Anyone have good ones to share?

I use to call big cockroaches Periplaneta Americana and all my family know what I am talking about and even think it is funny. Of course, I am cautious of saying such a thing to people who is not in the joke.
However, ten years ago, one of such bugs jumped on me and I shouted to my then new boyfriend in a girlish voice and said

Please, kill that Periplaneta!

LydiaAC
 
  • #22
Haha, I love this thread... as I tend to do this very often in my life.. it's funny when
1. people don't understand what you are talking about
2. people understand and start laughing..
though more often than not, the statement isn't really that funny.

Imagine this,

I'm eating some granola bar and my friend comes by and ask, what you eating?

I say:
granola over 2pi
 
  • #23
I think among the reactions I get to my jokes, my favorite is when exactly one person in a group starts cracking up, while most of the rest is befuddled. (If I can score a delayed reaction, even better)
 
  • #24
Hurkyl said:
(If I can score a delayed reaction, even better)

tim_lou said:
I'm eating some granola bar and my friend comes by and ask, what you eating?

I say:
granola over 2pi
That one took me at least 5-6 seconds before it hit home.
 
  • #25
Back when "Its all good" used to be a popular phrase my friend and I used to say "Its omnibenevolent".

Once while in the car with a friend we drove past a stolie billboard that said "Do you think Lenin was buried in a communist plot?" and I laughed my *** off but my friend thought it was dumb.

I can't really think of any at the moment but I often say silly things that no one gets but me. :-/

Oh and for cheesy science geek humour you really need to hear this...
http://www.uky.edu/~holler/CHE107/media/first_second_law.mp3
That's a direct link to an mp3 by the way.
 
  • #26
I haven't tried this, but you could tell people they're not supposed to masticate in a public restroom.
 
  • #27
I like to hear more to break into that too
 
  • #28
Gokul43201 said:
That one took me at least 5-6 seconds before it hit home.

duh, it took me at least ten seconds. :blushing:

Tsu claims that when I say something will take five minutes, it takes more like fifteen or twenty minutes. I finally discovered the definitive answer: Obviously I just move a lot faster than she does.
 
  • #29
Ivan Seeking said:
duh, it took me at least ten seconds. :blushing:

Tsu claims that when I say something will take five minutes, it takes more like fifteen or twenty minutes. I finally discovered the definitive answer: Obviously I just move a lot faster than she does.

Relative to what?
 
  • #30
gabbagabbahey said:
Relative to what?

The window frame.
 

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