Ajae gag (Korean dad joke) 아재개그

ajae gaegeu · from Korean

What is an ajae gag?

Ajae gaegeu is the Korean dad joke: a groan-inducing pun, usually built on homophones or sound-alike words.

아재 ajae is slang for a middle-aged man (uncle) and 개그 gaegeu is from English gag. These puns became a mid-2010s meme in Korean variety shows. They mirror Japanese dajare and Chinese 諧音梗.

Examples

세상에서 가장 쉬운 숫자는? 190,000 (십구만 sipguman, sounds like 쉽구만 swipguman, that is easy); 왕이 넘어지면? 킹콩 (a king falls: King Kong)

Kungfucius says: The Korean dad joke: proof that uncles everywhere run the same software.