one-line joke
{{Short description|Joke delivered in a single line}}
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A one-liner is a joke that is delivered in a single line. A good one-liner is said to be pithy – concise and meaningful.{{cite web |title=The Unuttered Punch Line: Pragmatic Incongruity and the Parsing of 'What's the Difference' Jokes |first=K.E.L. |last=Miller |url=http://engling.truman.edu/SeniorSem/PDFpapers/Miller%20paper%20PDF.pdf |date=3 December 2009 |publisher=Truman State University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204144303/http://engling.truman.edu/SeniorSem/PDFpapers/Miller%20paper%20PDF.pdf |archive-date=4 February 2015}} Comedians and actors use this comedic method as part of their performance, and many fictional characters are also known to deliver one-liners, including James Bond, who often makes pithy and laconic quips after disposing of a villain.[https://www.today.com/popculture/james-bond-one-line-says-it-all-wbna27540003 For James Bond, one line says it all] - Christopher Bahn, Today, 10 November 2008
Examples
- "Never read a pop-up book about giraffes." (Sean Lock)
- "Throwing acid is wrong. In some people's eyes." (Jimmy Carr)
- "My girlfriend makes me want to be a better person - so I can get a better girlfriend." (Anthony Jeselnik)
- "Cricket. No matter who wins, both teams, and all the fans, are losers." (Frankie Boyle)
- "An escalator cannot break, it can only become stairs." (Mitch Hedberg)
- "My movies were the kind they show in prisons and airplanes, because nobody can leave." (Burt Reynolds)
- "I'm on a whiskey diet… I've lost three days already." (Tommy Cooper)
- "I have nothing to declare except my genius." (Oscar Wilde, upon arriving at US customs, 1882){{cite web
| year = 1996
| url = http://www.bartleby.com/66/0/64300.html
| title = Number 64300
| work = The Columbia World of Quotations
| access-date = 20 June 2007
}}
- "Take my wife ... please." (Henny Youngman)
- "They hired a 3-piece band that was so lousy, every time the waiter dropped a tray, we all got up and danced!" (Les Dawson)
- "What a magnificent show this is going to be when it starts!" (Ken Dodd)
- "I have a girlfriend! I've been going out with my girlfriend for… sex!" (Stewart Francis)
- "I have an L-shaped sofa… Lowercase." (Demetri Martin)
- "Crime in multi-story car parks is wrong on so many different levels." (Tim Vine{{Cite news|url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/100-best-jokes-one-liners-edinburgh-fringe/|title=100 of the best ever jokes and one-liners from the Edinburgh Fringe |date=4 August 2017|work=iNews |access-date=6 June 2018|language=en-GB}})
- "My wife – it's difficult to say what she does. She sells seashells on the seashore." (Milton Jones)
- "In Scotland the forbidden fruit is fruit." (Gary Delaney)
- "Life is like a box of chocolates. It doesn’t last long if you’re fat." (Joe Lycett)
- "I was so ugly; my mother had morning sickness after I was born" (Rodney Dangerfield)