What’s a Chuck Norris Joke?

A chuck Norris joke is when you take a stereotypical statement and reverse it, saying that’s how Chuck Norris does it. Here’s an example:

The link goes to almost a dozen more, themed around words and grammar. They aren’t very good, but you might like them. Google “chuck norris jokes” for lots more.

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The humor is bad, but I approve of Mr. Thaves calling them malaprops instead of “malapropisms.”

…but he put “only” in the correct place, (next-to-last panel). But he should have said “The deck had” instead of “there were.”

Synonyms are words with similar meanings. Antonyms have opposite meanings. Homonyms are words that are different, but spelled or pronounced the same. For example, invalid can mean a bad line of reasoning (accent on the second syllable), or it can mean someone who’s crippled (accent on the first syllable).

You’ll have to think a bit, but can you tell the homonyms in the last panel?

No, I’m not gonna tell you. Think.

I often complain about questionable antecedents being the bugbear of pronouns. Well, it can happen with prepositional phrases, too.

A part of good writing is thinking how you might be misunderstood, then preventing the misunderstanding. So how would you rewrite the statement in the first panel so the person with the mole wasn’t ambiguous?

We grammar geeks like to criticize this expression. We say it’s the opposite of what the speaker actually means.

And yes, I too prefer the direct approach: say what you mean.

But sarcasm is a recognized figure of speech; sarcasm is saying the exact opposite of what you mean. So if you want to be sarcastic and simultaneously irritate people who like good English, go for it. I could care less, but I don’t.