The world's oldest jokes revealed by university research
Academics have unearthed what they believe to be Britain’s oldest joke, a
   the jokes laid down in delicate manuscripts and carved into stone
   He said jokes ancient and modern shared “a willingness to deal with
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   “Modern puns, Essex girl jokes and toilet humour can all be traced back
   to the very earliest jokes identified in this research,” he commented.
   The team then read the texts to find hidden jokes, double-entendres or
   Dr McDonald said only those jokes that were amusing in an historical
   jokes just would not have modern day appeal, but a lot of them do.
   The world's oldest surviving joke "is essentially a fart gag", he said.
   The joke has echoes of actor John Barrymore's quip: "Love is the
   these ancient jokes is that they feature the same old stand up comedy
   subjects: relationships, toilet humour and sex jokes.
   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2479730/The-worlds-oldest-jokes-
   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2479730/The-worlds-oldest-jokes-