I
t is unclear where knock knock jokes originated, but they seem to have been around forever and are well entrenched in the UK, Ireland, France, Belgium, Australia, the U.S.A., Canada, South Africa and India. Interestingly, Wikipedia notes, ‘In nations such as Brazil and Germany they are practically unknown.’ So I wonder, how long knock knock jokes have been around, and what they have against Brazilians and German’s? Well, I think I might know what it has against the German’s (eek) – but seriously, I have scoured the internet (in the usual places and beyond) and was surprised to find little on the topic.
Here’s what we know: The knock-knock joke is a type of joke, probably the best-known format of the pun, and is a “call and answer” exercise. The standard format has five lines:
