Most types of humour, including jokes and cartoons, rely on some kind of incongruity between two elements that needs a second's thought before it can be understood. The extent to which this mismatch can be resolved differs between jokes, however. Some have a clean punchline that ties up all the loose ends, while in "nonsense" humour the incongruity can only be partially resolved, leaving a gap in the person's understanding. The cartoons to the right should give some idea of the difference between the two styles of joke.
展开▼
