Why, for one good joke in particular, did they not occur at all?
Of course, the laughter of the book of Proverbs goes deeper than a good joke or a witty reply.
Part of the pleasure of a good story, or a good joke, or a good speech, is fulfillment of expectation.
He told BBC News the 92-year old was "almost completely blind and hard of hearing" but still loved "a good joke and a glass of wine".
Since Raj thinks tasers are a good joke in the office, why not taser him in the court room before he is led off in shackles.
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It would be more accurate to say not that Twain hated art, but that he never let it or anything else stand in the way of a good joke.
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It's a good joke, from a slightly unexpected source (neither the rapper nor his possibly even more famous partner, Kim Kardashian, are best known for their self-deprecating sallies, although the title Kanye is supposed to be contemplating for his new album, I Am God, is said to be "half tongue-in-cheek").
Though perhaps a bit catty, the joke makes a good point, which is that Opus Dei has sometimes been better at explaining what it is not rather than what it is.
It is also easy to confuse a conviction with what is merely a good set-up for a joke.
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Staff members address guests by name, joke and smile readily, and offer good-bye hugs at checkout.
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"This is all in good fun, but it's not a joke, " says Mr. Olsen, a lawyer in Tahoe City, Calif.
Chat to father and son owners Francesco and Matteo and they'll get the good stuff out from round the back - no joke!
His audience appeared doubtful if that was good taste, until he added, "That's their joke, not mine!"
While it was a long-standing joke among tax and estate planners that 2010 would be a good year to die because there is no estate tax imposed in that year, in practice, this is less than certain.
"This must be a joke, " said one trendy-looking young woman who frequents good restaurants in Tokyo.
It's all in good fun, of course, and Phil's handlers are getting in on the joke.
Such good fortune seems to require a certain wry detachment: You're in on the joke, or you risk becoming it.
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