Back when the Internet was still a baby, the primary users were its creators, math and tech-oriented academics. So, math jokes and memes have an elemental role in the history of the web. Sure, funny TikToks and animal snapchats may have overshadowed them, but browse a few geeky subreddits and Twitter hashtags, and you will still find them.

Mathematician and author John Allen Paulos, in his book Mathematics and Humor, described several ways that mathematics — generally considered a dry, formal activity — overlaps with humor: both are forms of "intellectual play"; both have "logic, pattern, rules, structure"; and both are "economical and explicit".

Bored Panda thinks the man has a point, so we compiled the best math jokes we could find online to prove it. Continue scrolling, and after you’re done, tell us in the comments if you agree!

#1

Big Sad

Big Sad

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WILLIAM FAULK
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Haha oh my gosh! That's pretty much true. I showed my math teacher this, she loved it.

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In An Essay on Comedy (originally presented in 1877), George Meredith goes to the extreme of calling humor "comedy" just as Paulos goes to the extreme of calling jokes "humor", avoiding the common and pejorative associations attached to "jokes". But as Paul H. Grawe pointed out, Meredith is really talking about humor, specifically humor that takes at least a momentary mental calculation in order to catch it.

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    "Meredith’s discussion can be seen as recognizing at least three sub-forms of mental humor," Grawe wrote. "First, there is Incongruity, which Paulos early on indicates to be the center of all humor as far as he is concerned. In Incongruity, as we later empirically defined it, two things, ideas, or concepts are brought into collision with each other or into collision with a verbal structure. A drawing of a flat disk on a globe spindle and beneath the cartoon caption indicating this was Columbus’ first globe is humor of this second form, a thing — a dis — collided with an idea — a globe — but collided by the choice of words in the caption."

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    #3

    Gold

    Gold

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    The second Meredithian form is Word Play, two words or verbal constructions are made to collide with one another. Consider this:

    "Knock, knock," "Orange," "—Orange who?" "Orange you glad I'm not going to tell another one?"

    The word "Orange" colliding with "Aren’t ya," which can often be pronounced similarly, is the joke.

    #4

    It's Very Simple

    It's Very Simple

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    WILLIAM FAULK
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    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    oh jeez, I showed this to my dad, and he would not stop laughing.

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    The third Meredithian form is the Gotcha joke. It's is laughing at the form of humor. "Someone thinks he is smart or otherwise talented and acts on that talent. And then, it is made apparent that he wasn’t that smart or otherwise talented and is got for his effort," Grawe explained. Paulos' discussion, like Meredith's, is easily analyzable as covering Incongruity, Word Play, and Gotcha humor.

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    So probably even 19th-century thinkers understood that math can be an excellent vessel for humor.

    #5

    My Dads Attempt At A Math Joke

    My Dads Attempt At A Math Joke

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    WILLIAM FAULK
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    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That's why plants hate math. It gives them square roots, I just got that joke!

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    #7

    Wait What?

    Wait What?

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    WILLIAM FAULK
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    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Explosm rocks! But still, that "i love being mentally challenged." got me.

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    #9

    I'm So Full

    I'm So Full

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    WILLIAM FAULK
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    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    XD This one got me. but by then, I would have bought a tread mill, and ate while I ran.

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    #10

    Simple Geometry Shapes

    Simple Geometry Shapes

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    WILLIAM FAULK
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    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Soooo, what shape is Oregon? Starts counting every edge and angle.

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    #12

    My Friend Sent This To Me... I Love It But I Wish They Kept Going With A Few More Pi Digits

    My Friend Sent This To Me... I Love It But I Wish They Kept Going With A Few More Pi Digits

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    #13

    Disgusting Tans

    Disgusting Tans

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    WILLIAM FAULK
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    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Oh man, my math teacher probably wishes she could do that every time I stop paying attention.

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    #15

    Happy 1st Birthday

    Happy 1st Birthday

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    #16

    Turning All Odds Into Even

    Turning All Odds Into Even

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    #17

    That's A Whole Lot Of Strawberries

    That's A Whole Lot Of Strawberries

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    Ray Martin
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    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    OK, confession time - I left school at fifteen years old, forty nine years ago, and I didn't understand this one, so I had to look it up. I like it, though.

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    #19

    So This Literally Happened 2min Ago, Probably Will Never Make A Better Pun In My Life

    So This Literally Happened 2min Ago, Probably Will Never Make A Better Pun In My Life

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    #21

    They Said Math Can Be Found In Nature

    They Said Math Can Be Found In Nature

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    Rohan Naik
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    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I just know this comment will be useful later the buffalo's horn looks like the graph of -x^3

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    #23

    Uh Oh

    Uh Oh

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    WILLIAM FAULK
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    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Ooohhhhhh, I get it, it was entirely wrong, because he was measuring radius of a circle or something. right?(math is like torture)

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    #24

    Tanning With The Boys

    Tanning With The Boys

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    WILLIAM FAULK
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    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    now, I get a few of those, and they are hilarious, but honestly, its kind of true for some people.

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    #25

    Jeff Bezos' Secret

    Jeff Bezos' Secret

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    WILLIAM FAULK
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    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    *record long sigh* *inhales deeply* WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!

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    #26

    My Friend Once Asked Me If Mathematicians Just Masturbate To Algebra All Day

    My Friend Once Asked Me If Mathematicians Just Masturbate To Algebra All Day

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    #30

    Haha, Algebra Jokes..

    Haha, Algebra Jokes..

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    Note: this post originally had 66 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

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