Talk:Lightbulb joke

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This article was nominated for deletion on December 8, 2006. The result of the discussion was keep.

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General Outline

We should add the genertic outline of the joke perhaps?

"How many members of a certain demographic group does it take to perform a specified task?" "A finite number: one to perform the task and the remainder to act in a manner stereotypical of the group in question."

i belive this would greatly enhance the quality of the article? anyone? --Palijer (talk) 15:29, 27 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Few punchlines involve "one to perform the task", they're usually more direct than that. The article already explains that "Generally, the punch line answer highlights a stereotype of the target group.", which seems more accurate. --McGeddon (talk) 16:09, 27 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

About the picture...

Amusingly, the (current) picture is of a lightbulb that likely couldn't be screwed in with the 'spinning ladder' technique as it is hanging from a wire and not secured in a mount with an Edison screw. Any other pictures that could be used instead? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.254.82.87 (talk) 19:59, 5 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The temptation to change the caption to "A lightbulb, yesterday" is almost overwhelming...Mr Larrington (talk) 10:34, 3 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

How many Psychiatrists joke not right

The psychiatrist joke punchline, as currently written (None - The light bulb has to want to change), makes no sense.

The punchline, as I've heard it, is: "Only one, but the lightbulb must really want to change"

PhiDeck (talk) 18:39, 25 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There are a few "How many... to change? / None." jokes, such as "store clerk / none, they can't even change a $5 bill" and "babysitter / none, they can't even change a soiled diaper". All are puns on the word "change". K7L (talk) 19:24, 15 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Possible origin: Indian caste system

I first heard the story sometime in the early 1970s, not as a joke but as serious commentary about the Indian caste system. The story was allegedly told by a Western traveler who had visited an Indian hotel. A total of around five men came to his room to change the light bulb; each of them representing a different caste. One man could not do all tasks, as it would include work reserved for a different caste. If I remember correctly the roles were as follows:

A man to change the bulb (electrician caste)
A man to carry ladders (porter caste)
A man to clean the dust of the lamp before the bulb change (cleaning caste)
A man representing hotel management
A Brahmin to communicate with the White foreigner

There may also have been a sixth man to serve as an interpreter in case the Brahmin in question did not speak English.

I have been looking for the original story for about 20 years, so far I have not come across it. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 03:19, 2 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

P.S. – Here is a similar story from the modern age: How many S'porean to change lightbulb? Not a joke. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 23:53, 2 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

What about wikipedians trying to screw in a lightbulb?

Well,
I have created this template... but I wonder how it could be used... Any suggestions?

Wikipedia is NO place for humour
{{When it comes to screw in a lightbulb}}...

... we all take the matter very very seriously...
and we are all terrifically important.

Maurice Carbonaro (talk) 10:45, 29 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

For starters, try to put it on top of where it came from. Staszek Lem (talk) 21:45, 29 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

meta variants

The article should include some of the more well-known "meta" variants of the joke, such as "Q: How many feminists does it take to change a lightbulb? A: That's not funny!" or "Q: How many surrealists does it take to change a light bulb? A: Two, one to hold the giraffe, and the other to fill the bathtub with brightly colored machine tools."[1] etc. etc... AnonMoos (talk) 00:04, 19 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

What kind of citation?

A few days ago I added the German version of the lightbulb joke (which is told about East Frisians). An editor added "citation needed." I gave two references, one to German Wikipedia's article on East Frisian jokes and another to a Website with jokes about East Frisian jokes. They were removed with the comment: "Reverted 1 edit by Mbshu (talk): Such references (wikipedia pages an simple joke lists) not allowed in englisch [sic] wikipedia." I am still inclined to think that a joke list is a suitable reference for a joke. What else am I expected to provide?!