this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2023
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:

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    • If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
    • A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
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A solid 30% of posts in my feed are German memes. I don't understand the language, but I love the memes that I can't read.

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[–] originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 100 points 2 years ago (2 children)

one of my fav light bulb jokes..

how many germans does it take to change a lightbulb?

one because they are efficient and without humor.

[–] nomecks@lemmy.world 85 points 2 years ago (3 children)

MANY HANS MAKE LIGHT WORK!

[–] AGuyAcrossTheInternet@kbin.social 25 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Thanks to you, I have overdrawn my Tageslachkontingent and will either have to compensate by laughing less tomorrow or filling out a Tageslachkontingenterhöhungsantrag.

[–] Killing_Spark@feddit.de 12 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Bevor sie ihren Tageslachkontingenterhöhungsantrag abgeben können müssen sie mit dem Formular 36A erstmal zu Frau Maier gehen und sich die Sondertageslachkontingentbewerbungsunterlagen ausstellen lassen. Damit kommen sie dann bitte wieder zu mir und wir schauen dann mal.

[–] don@lemm.ee 8 points 2 years ago

I am sad that I must uplike this comment

[–] rynzcycle@kbin.social 6 points 2 years ago

You sonovabitch... It's beautiful!

[–] CosmoNova@feddit.de 14 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Just one? You underestimate german bureaucracy, Freundchen.

[–] wgbirne@feddit.de 19 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Yeah, funny story:

I work for the government and once during an inspection they noticed that a light on the roof our building needed to be replaced.

What should be a 5 minute task took many months. Why? Safety rules state that only roofers are allowed to enter the roof, but only electricians are allowed to work on anything that has to do with electricity which includes changing a light bulb. So we had to wait a couple of months for one of the electricians to get certified as a person that can enter the roof.

[–] Jesus_666@feddit.de 7 points 2 years ago

Last winter, in order to protect the ~~dwindling~~ completely full strategic gas reserves, the government issued an order for all govenment-owned office buildings to limit the central heating to no more than 19° C because that seemed to be the most pointlessly bureaucratic solution at the time.

This included buildings that don't even use gas for heating. Remote heat? Geothermal heat? Free waste heat that you have to actively vent to the atmosphere in order to lower the room temperature? Yep, all required to not exceed 19° C. The building I worked in at the time (for a company that rented some excess floor space) actually wasted energy adhering to this well thought-out rule.

 

So yeah, I'd say that in order to change a lightbulb you need at least 1000 Germans. You need both chambers of parliament to create and pass a new ordinance that applies specifically to this lightbulb (and several other contexts it has no business applying to but does because it's too vaguely worded). Then you need at least three different expert panels to advise the government, regulatory agencies to make sure the ordinance is adhered to, licensed trainers to make sure the people executing the job are formally certified to do so... Actually, we might have to get the European Parliament involved; the new ordinance might benefit from being propoted to a European standard.

I'll get back to you about this in about three to five years; we need to get this figured out.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 78 points 2 years ago (4 children)

If you could read them, you'd realize they're all just the same banal pun.

The Germans have one sense of humor, spread across the entire nation.

[–] Schmeckinger@feddit.de 26 points 2 years ago (5 children)

Stör ich dich gerade? cringe

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[–] Jazard23@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Okay but the "nett hier" joke only get better the more it is repeated, I enjoy every time it shows up

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[–] Aceticon@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I bet they're pretty efficient at making sure the German Sense Of Humour is properly distributed and every German gets allocated some of it at least some of the time.

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[–] amio@kbin.social 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Did they finally get over the "Stör" thing? Because after two straight weeks of that shit, I just blocked whatever "me irl" was in German.

German humor, it's no laughing matter.

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[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 51 points 2 years ago (2 children)

In all seriousness, the notion that Germans lack humor stems from the times when English and American people last got in contact with Germans in larger numbers: In and after WW2. Allied propaganda did paint the Germans as humorless (because they can't be totally evil if they still have humor), and after the war, living in Germany was not exactly fun.

In reality, Germans have a lot of humor, its style being similar to the British, but a lot of it is hard to translate or is based on experiences that non-Germans don't share, like old German TV shows.

[–] Thorry84@feddit.nl 19 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Ha ha ja just the other day Hanz made a funny joke he was going to arrive at 13:00 for his 13:00 meeting. We all laughed so hard. Naturlich he was perfectly on time arriving at 12:45, but we still laugh about it. When the meeting started he mentioned it and everyone was laughing and laughing for a good 30 sekunden or even a minute.

That Hanz, such a jokester. And people say the German have no humor, ha that is a joke!

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[–] aidan@lemmy.world 18 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I think the stereotype also comes from Germans often not catching onto sarcasm in English

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 19 points 2 years ago

Why should we? It's inefficient. ;-)

[–] codeman869@lemmy.world 36 points 2 years ago (4 children)
[–] hedgehogging_the_bed@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago

Thanks for reminding me I could use Google Lens to translate the German Memes.

According to that this joke goes: My Dad asked me if I have a favorite fruit. I told him "Papa, ja!" Literally "dad, yes!" But also pun for "papaya," a tropical fruit.

A+, good joke and not too bad to translate.

[–] Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 2 years ago

This joke is bananas

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[–] Meowoem@sh.itjust.works 20 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It does annoy me that the Devs built in a system to let you set languages but everyone just sets it to 'duhhhhh I don't know what language I'm speaking?!'

But yeah I do like looking at the silly German words on pictures

[–] meekah@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago (4 children)

It would probably get used more if there was some way to set a default for your own posts.

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[–] IWantToFuckSpez@kbin.social 16 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Memes are ein serious matter. There is nothing to laugh about. Sprich Deutsch

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[–] AnokLola@lemm.ee 11 points 2 years ago (2 children)

How do you love something you don't understand!

[–] lazylion_ca@lemmy.ca 24 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Tell us you've never been married without telling us you've never been married.

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[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 19 points 2 years ago (7 children)

I love animals even though I can't understand them 🤷🏻‍♂️

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[–] Siegfried@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] Rooki@lemmy.world 19 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)
[–] moonburster@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago

I'm dutch, I just enjoy our neighbors

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 9 points 2 years ago (2 children)

How do I get these German memes?

[–] lichtmetzger@feddit.de 21 points 2 years ago (6 children)

Subscribe to ich_iel@feddit.de - it's the German me_irl.

[–] Selmafudd@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

And now I finally know what ich iel means, thank you

[–] flei@feddit.de 10 points 2 years ago

Ich im echten Leben

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[–] zepheriths@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago (4 children)
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[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago
[–] Mr_Dr_Oink@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

When i was in university, a now fairly famous german comedian did a set. He comes on stage looking stern and unamused and tells us the comedy is starting now as he begins a timer on a stopwatch.

His first joke proper was "some people say we getmans dont have a sense of humour.... well i dont think that's very funny. "

I knew i was going to love that set immediately.

[–] FollyDolly@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

I keep clicking on those memes and laughing, and then having no idea why it was funny in the first place.

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