Spread the love

We’ve all been there—someone makes an awesome joke, but it’s either too subtle or it has a hidden twist to it that we don’t see. And the joke just goes over our heads, making a very loud ‘woooosh’ sound! However, some people don’t get these jokes to such a degree that their reactions get screenshotted and featured on the massively popular r/woooosh subreddit, an online community of over a million members.

Scroll down to find some of the most ridiculous times people missed the joke so bad, they ended up embarrassing themselves online. Don’t forget to upvote the pics and jokes that made you chuckle the most, Pandas.

If you’re in the mood for some more wonderfully weird ‘wooooshes,’ then we invite you to check out Bored Panda’s earlier articles about r/woooosh when you’re done enjoying this list. You’ll find our previous article here, here, as well as here.

We got in touch with British comedy writer and aspiring pop star Ariane Sherine to have a chat about humor and not getting jokes. Scroll down for Bored Panda’s interview with her.

#1 Mews, Mewsment Park

Image credits: Sandesfinas

Bored Panda wanted to get comedy writer Ariane’s opinion on what it says about us as people if some jokes go over our heads. “Depending on the situation, it either means you’re not privy to knowledge you need to understand the joke, or it just means your brain doesn’t work in the way it needs to in order to understand that particular type of humor,” she said.

However, we shouldn’t worry because we all miss some jokes some of the time. Nobody’s perfect, not even comedy professionals. “Stuff goes over my head occasionally too and I’m a comedian!” Ariane told us.

#2 These Subtitles Are Really Immersive

Image credits: ThePbbLatias

#3 C’mon, Pet Smart Would’ve Told You It Was A Ferret

Image credits: tangshxcvcbvbn

The comedian isn’t sure if our awareness of what’s funny is just about exposure to humorous content. “Babies find a lot of things funny, so it’s partly innate,” she mused that understanding comedy is a mix of nature and nurture. “But for jokes like puns, you definitely need a firm grasp of language, and for political satire, you of course need an understanding of politics.”

We also touched on whose responsibility it is for the audience to get the joke, the comedian or the listeners. “It really depends on the joke and how it’s told,” Ariane said.

“People can’t be expected to get badly-told jokes where the setup or punchline is mangled, but if the joke’s told well, it’s not necessarily the comic’s fault if another person doesn’t get it. Humor can be quite a niche and individual thing, but if a joke regularly falls flat most comics will drop it from their sets.”

#4 Wdym, Its A Picture Taken Back Then

Image credits: Minestars_player69

#5 Definitely Left

Image credits: ScottieBoiJoe

#6 How To Slow

Image credits: Elitetimeline7

Judging people for their mistakes and feeling embarrassed when we make them ourselves are part and parcel of being a human being. It’s a part of who we are. However, there’s a healthy way to react when someone (including us!) misses the joke entirely.

Psychologist and wellbeing consultant Lee Chambers explained to Bored Panda during a previous in-depth interview that people judge others both consciously and automatically. “Comically, we are often told as children not to judge others and have stories shared about how judging others can mean we upset them or lose opportunities to see what really lies behind our perception,” he told us.

#7 Nothing Starts With “N” And Ends With “G”

Image credits: LunaBug235

#8 Clearly, You’re Not Smart As You Think You Are

Image credits: wainpot437

#9 He Also Forgot About Canadian And Australian

Image credits: More-Engineering-888

There are a variety of reasons why we might judge someone. “Sometimes, we judge others to feel superior ourselves, finding faults in others, highlighting them, and feeling better about ourselves in the process. Sometimes, we use it to work out where we fit in, recognizing how we want to be, where our aspirations lie, and how we don’t want to become,” the psychologist revealed.

“Sometimes, it’s in response to our own flaws, and we attack others for what we don’t like or don’t see into ourselves. And on other occasions, it’s to fit into a wider group who judge something or someone, and we conform and perform with the same judgment,” Lee said.

#10 “This Is Also A Lie”

Image credits: pthomsen-Tvhf4576

#11 Nope He’s From Star Trek

Image credits: lesterzeor1

#12 Right Over The Head Of An Anti-Vaxxer

Image credits: GillianMcKeith

In the psychologist’s view, being judgmental “does have some benefits when used mindfully.” For instance: “It can help us to set goals, find alignment with our values, it can help us to build the self-awareness of others and it can boost our self-esteem.”

#13 No It’s Blue

Image credits: Zacronize

#14 The Government Controls Everything Stoopit

Image credits: ErickaLydon

#15 Yes, Dorothy

Image credits: nimeshudawattha99

What’s more, passing judgment on others can help us make positive social choices. “it’s understanding how and why we judge that gives us the ability to use it for our benefits instead of escaping our flaws or pulling others down.”

Meanwhile, if we end up feeling embarrassed because we didn’t get a joke and we’ve responded in a frankly silly way online, it’s important to remember to accept those feelings. Running away from our embarrassment can, later on, morph into shame.

#16 I Mean He Was Trying To Be Helpful

Image credits: USGrantWasTheMan

#17 Running Was Invented…

Image credits: Elitetimeline7

#18 16 Thousand Likes Is A Lot Of Wooshes

Image credits: hazardousf

“We spend a lot of time and effort presenting an ideal version of ourselves to other people. When something happens that contrasts with the image we’ve been projecting—when we say or do something that shows we actually aren’t as graceful or as smart as we’d like people to believe—we feel embarrassed,” Vanessa Bohns, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at Cornell University, told Bored Panda.

#19 Frontside 180

Image credits: tonyhawk

#20 It’s An Ifunnier, So Go Ahead And Hate On Him

Image credits: dfvgdthyjnhjkjfjmjkg

#21 I’d Like A Tornado

Image credits: connor_wx

“Discovering you were wrong about something most everyone else around you has long known to be true is one of those moments. In that moment we learn, ‘Wait a minute, maybe I haven’t been presenting the image of being smart or worldly that I thought I was presenting all this time,’ which is embarrassing,” she said.

#22 I Know A Fat Guy Who Likes To Grill!

Image credits: International_Ad2893

#23 It’s Just A Picture You Dumbass

Image credits: trenchman_

#24 Your Mind Tricks Don’t Work On Me

Image credits: urzyreaea

“One thing that’s interesting about embarrassment is that, for as much as we might experience it as painful in the moment, it’s actually very socially adaptive. Being embarrassed signals to other people that you care about what they think. And that actually draws people in to you,” Vanessa said that there are benefits to showing that you’re embarrassed about a mistake.

#25 I Can’t Believe Da Vinci Would Do Something Like That

Image credits: UnderstandingFuture6

#26 Apologies For Being On Instagram

Image credits: JackelynDuarte

#27 This Is Heartbreaking

Image credits: CUtORTHA

“So blushing, burying your head in your hands, laughing, acknowledging how embarrassing something was, are all totally healthy ways to react,” she told us.

“The unhealthy way to react is to pretend you’re not embarrassed, that you didn’t make a mistake, or to get angry. Those things undo the positive effect of embarrassment typically has on other people by conveying insincerity and pushing people away rather than drawing them in.”

#28 Congratulations, You Didn’t Get It

Image credits: johndofghfghgf

#29 Core-Ean

Image credits: ExoticChef2

#30 That Won’t Kill You

Image credits: jshirley_

Which of these pics and ‘wooooshes’ did you enjoy looking at and reading the most, dear Pandas? Have you ever had a ‘woooosh’ moment? Have you ever had a joke go over someone else’s head? Share your thoughts with all of us in the comment section at the bottom of this list.