treos said:
i thought jokes were supposed to be funny. or is that something else that has changed over time?
What a particular person finds funny is subjective. Questions about whether jokes or humor are subjective are a bit more complex, but there is no question that "funny" is both separate from both of those (though related), and also unambiguously.
Humor generally refers to the sum of all things created to be funny. Whether or not something succeeds at being funny isn't actually relevant, since it's the intent that matters.
Jokes are a subset of humor, usually delivered verbally - that is, through written or spoken words, with certain structures to them.
"Funny" is a certain emotional reaction to some stimulus. Things can be funny even if they were never intended to be.
Slapstick, I think, is a good example of humor not based on jokes, while Bushisms are a good example of something many people find funny but was never intended as humor.
So yeah. Point being, they are separate things.
Updated by anonymous