Old fogeys have no sense of humour

BOFFINS AT A US UNIVERSITY reckon that old folk are grumpy because their brains can't deal with jokes. Researchers at Washington University in St Louis tested 40 people aged over 65, and 40 undergraduates, asking them to choose the correct punchline for jokes.

This is one of the jokes:

A businessman is riding the subway after a hard day at the office. A young man sits down next to him and says, 'Call me a doctor, call me a doctor'. The businessman asks, 'What's the matter, are you sick?'.

The correct punchline was, apparently: The young man says, 'I just graduated from medical school'.

My personal choice would have been: The young man says 'Shut it, you weirdo, nobody talks on the subway.'

That the Washington University in St Louis knows a cracking joke when it sees one is amply illustrated by a typical news item on the front page of its Website: Protein's role in lipid absorption may be important to future weight-loss strategies

Thankyou. I'm here all week. µ

L'Inq
BBC