Monday, December 17, 2007

...er than Albert Einstein

I've been blessed (or cursed) with the gift of wit. I can usually come up with stuff pretty quickly that turns out to be funny or mildly amusing (depending on your own personal perspective, I guess) and I don't even have to think about it. I think there is some sort of gene or birth defect that I inherited that causes this...and I think I've passed it onto my son.

However, I've learned that just because you have the gene, you still have to hone your skill. I think that's what my 14-year-old boy is doing right now. Unfortunately, he hones his skill by blurting out every thought that comes to his mind. He can then gauge just how effective each comment is and use that data for later. It's sort of like Pavlovian conditioning.

Anyway, he managed to come up with a good one the other day that our family has been repeating. It goes something like this. You're allowed to call anyone, "dumb." If they let it go, no big deal. You just got away with calling someone, "dumb" and that's fun. However, if they are upset in any way about being told they are, "dumb," you just add to it, "...er than Albert Einstein." Think about it. that's going to be true probably 99% of the time.

8 comments:

shay said...

Ah the wit of the pre-teen/teen adolescent male.
Another one that I've learned from my 12 year old and his 12 year old cousin is, you can pretty much say whatever you want IF... and here's the clincher...you say "no offense" first.

Unknown said...

William sure did come up with a good on there. The teenaged mind is nothing if not creative!

Shay, William went through that "no offense" thing too. It drove me CRAZY! I told him he's not allowed to say it anymore! (I'm a really good mom like that.)

Big Doofus (Roger) said...

Shay and Sniz - the boy and I were playing a little Halo 3 on the XBOX 360 last night and he said, "Dad, you really used to be pretty bad at this game--no offense." I started laughing and he couldn't figure out why.

Wani said...

I'm preoud of Will - that is a good one. I am not gifted in wit so I usually am so pleased with myself when I do make a good "funny" that it kind of takes away from the funniness. Oh, well.

Mighty Morphin' Mama said...

K, that is pretty funny.
Every time my son says something annoyingly 13 and I get on his case, he reminds me that I taught him sarcasm.
It is true, I had to. His dad kept teasing him and I wanted him to be able to stand up for himself.
Now I pay the piper. daily.

Mayhem And Miracles said...

Your labels on this one cracked me up! Sorry I've been so lame about getting back to you about your kind offer to resize my header. (And I'm glad Sniz knows me or that could sound really weird!) It's just been extra nutty here and I keep forgetting. Maybe after Christmas, my brain will function a bit better. Have A Very Merry Christmas!!!

Uvulapie said...

This post is dumb... er than Albert Einstein.

Julia Phillips Smith said...

' I think there is some sort of gene or birth defect that I inherited that causes this...'

At least it's wit. You could be from the family of bad puns like my husband's family.