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Flatulence humor (more commonly known as fart jokes) is a form of
toilet humor Toilet humour or potty humour is a type of off-colour humour dealing with: defecation (including diarrhea and constipation), in which case it is called scatological humour (compare scatology); urination; flatulence, in which case it is called fla ...
that refers to
flatulence Flatulence is the expulsion of gas from the Gastrointestinal tract, intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swal ...
. It can take the form of to any type of
joke A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with dialogue, ...
,
practical joke device A practical joke device is a toy intended to confuse, frighten, or amuse individuals as a prank. Often, these toys are harmless facsimiles of otherwise potentially disgusting or terrifying objects, such as vomit or spilled nail polish. In other ...
, or other off-color humor .


History

Although it is likely that flatulence humor has long been considered funny in cultures that consider the public passing of gas impolite, such jokes are rarely recorded. It has been suggested that one of the oldest recorded jokes was a flatulence joke from the
Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. ...
ians that has been dated to 1,900 BC. Two important early texts are the 5th century BC plays ''
The Knights ''The Knights'' ( ''Hippeîs''; Attic: ) was the fourth play written by Aristophanes, who is considered the master of Old Comedy. The play is a satire on the social and political life of classical Athens during the Peloponnesian War, and in thi ...
'' and '' The Clouds'', both by
Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...
, which contain numerous fart jokes. Another example from classical times appeared in ''
Apocolocyntosis The ''Apocolocyntosis (divi) Claudii'', literally ''The Pumpkinification of ''(''the Divine'')'' Claudius'', is a satire on the Roman emperor Claudius, which, according to Cassius Dio, was written by Seneca the Younger. A partly extant Menippean ...
'' or ''The Pumpkinification of
Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...
'', a
satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...
attributed to Seneca on the late Roman emperor: He later explains he got to the afterlife with a quote from
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
: "Breezes wafted me from Ilion unto the Ciconian land." Archeologist Warwick Ball asserts that the Roman Emperor
Elagabalus Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, 204 – 13 March 222), better known by his posthumous nicknames Elagabalus ( ) and Heliogabalus ( ), was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short r ...
played practical jokes on his guests, employing a whoopee cushion-like device at dinner parties. In the translated version of Penguin's '' 1001 Arabian Nights Tales'', the story "The Historic Fart" tells of a man who flees his country from the sheer embarrassment of farting at his wedding, only to return ten years later to discover that his fart had become so famous, that people used the anniversary of its occurrence to date other events. Upon learning this, he exclaimed, "Verily, my fart has become a date! It shall be remembered forever!" His embarrassment is so great, he returns to exile in India. In a similar vein,
John Aubrey John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He was a pioneer archaeologist, who recorded (often for the first time) numerous megalithic and other field monuments in southern England ...
's '' Brief Lives'' recounts of
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (; 12 April 155024 June 1604), was an English peerage, peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era. Oxford was heir to the second oldest earldom in the kingdom, a court favourite for a time, a sought-after ...
that: One of the most celebrated incidents of flatulence humor in early
English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...
is in '' The Miller's Tale'' of ''
The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse, as part of a fictional storytelling contest held ...
'' by
Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
, which dates from the 14th century; his '' The Summoner's Tale'' has another. In the first, the character Nicholas sticks his buttocks out of a window at night and humiliates his rival Absolom by farting in his face. But Absolom gets revenge by thrusting a red-hot plough blade between Nicholas's cheeks ("") The medieval Latin joke book '' Facetiae'' by
Poggio Bracciolini Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini (; 11 February 1380 – 30 October 1459), usually referred to simply as Poggio Bracciolini, was an Italian scholar and an early Renaissance humanism, Renaissance humanist. He is noted for rediscovering and recove ...
includes six tales about farting.
François Rabelais François Rabelais ( , ; ; born between 1483 and 1494; died 1553) was a French writer who has been called the first great French prose author. A Renaissance humanism, humanist of the French Renaissance and Greek scholars in the Renaissance, Gr ...
' tales of ''
Gargantua and Pantagruel ''The Five Books of the Lives and Deeds of Gargantua and Pantagruel'' (), often shortened to ''Gargantua and Pantagruel'' or the (''Five Books''), is a pentalogy of novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais. It tells the advent ...
'' are laden with acts of flatulence. In Chapter XXVII of the second book, the giant, Pantagruel, releases a fart that "made the earth shake for twenty-nine miles around, and the foul air he blew out created more than fifty-three thousand tiny men, dwarves and creatures of weird shapes, and then he emitted a fat wet fart that turned into just as many tiny stooping women." The plays of
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
include several humorous references to flatulence, including the following from ''
Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...
'':
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...
, in his open letter " To the Royal Academy of Farting", satirically proposes that converting farts into a more agreeable form through science should be a milestone goal of the Royal Academy. In
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...
's 1876 pamphlet ''
1601 This Epoch (reference date)#Computing, epoch is the beginning of the 400-year Gregorian leap-year cycle within which digital files first existed; the last year of any such cycle is the only leap year whose year number is divisible by 100. Jan ...
'' a cupbearer at Court who's a Diarist reports: The Queen inquires as to the source, and receives various replies. Lady Alice says: In the first chapter of ''
Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...
'' by
Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...
, the narrator states:


Gallery of medieval flatulent-artwork

These images came from medieval manuscripts from the 13th and 14th centuries. Maastricht Book of Hours, BL Stowe MS17 f061v.png Maastricht Book of Hours, BL Stowe MS17 f153v (detail).png Butt-trumpet, Book of Hours, Flanders, 14th century (Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, W.88, f. 157r).jpg Butt-trumpet, Rotshild Canticles, MS 404, folio 134r.jpg Butt-trumpet, Vincent of Beauvais, Speculum historiale, Saint-Omer c. 1294-1297 Boulogne-sur-Mer, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 131, fol. 202r.jpg Butt-trumpets, The Maastricht Hours, Stowe 17, fol. 201r.jpg Butt-trumpets, The Rutland Psalter, folio 87v.jpg


Inculpatory pronouncements

The sourcing of a fart involves a ritual of assignment that sometimes takes the form of a rhyming game. These are frequently used to discourage others from mentioning the fart or to turn the embarrassment of farting into a pleasurable subject matter. The trick is to pin the blame on someone else, often by means of deception, or using a back and forth rhyming game that includes phrases such as the following: The following begin with “He who...”, “She who...”, “They who...”, “Whoever...” or “The one who ...”: *...declared it blared it. *...observed it served it. *...detected it ejected it. *...rejected it respected it. *... *...sang the song did the pong. *...denied it supplied it. *...said it spread it. *... *...accuses blew the fuses. *...pointed the finger pulled the trigger. *...articulated it particulated it. *...introduced it produced it. *...inculpated promulgated. *...deduced it produced it. *...was a smart-ass has a fart-ass. *...sniffed it biffed it. *...eulogized it aerosolized it. *...sensed it dispensed it. *...rapped it cracked it. *...policed it released it. *...remarked on it embarked on it. *...circulated it perpetrated it. *...last spoke let off the ass smoke. *...said the words did the turds. *...rebuts it cuts it. *...said the rap did the crap. *...had the smirk did the work. *...spoke it broke it. *...asked it gassed it. *...started it farted it. *...explained it ordained it. *...thunk it stunk it. *...is squealing is concealing. *...thought it brought it. *...gave the call gassed us all. *...spoke last set off the blast. *...made a frown laid the brown. *...made the quip let it rip. *...'s poking fun is the smoking gun. *The smeller's the feller. *It twas the thinker who loosened his sphincter. *If you heard the song you've soiled your thong. *Self report. Assigning blame to another can backfire: a joke about royalty has the Queen emitting flatulence, and then turning to a nearby page, exclaiming, "Arthur, stop that!" The page replies, "Yes, Your Majesty. Which way did it go?"


Practical jokes

Practical jokes include: * Armpit fart * Whoopee cushion *
Dutch oven A Dutch oven, Dutch pot (US English), or casserole dish (international) is a thick-walled cooking pot with a tight-fitting lid. Dutch ovens are usually made of seasoned cast iron; however, some Dutch ovens are instead made of cast aluminium, or ...


Dutch oven

A is a
slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...
term for lying in bed with another person and pulling the covers over the person's head while flatulating, thereby creating an unpleasant situation in an enclosed space. This is done as a prank or by accident to one's sleeping partner. The book '' The Alphabet of Manliness'' by Maddox discusses the Dutch oven, as well as a phenomenon it refers to as the " Dutch oven surprise", that "happens if you force it too hard". The ''Illustrated Dictionary of Sex'' by Keath Roberts refers to this as a Dutch treat. A connection between relationships and performing a Dutch oven has been discussed in two undergraduate student newspaper articles and in actress
Diane Farr Diane Farr (born September 7, 1969) is an American actress, producer, and writer. Her television roles have included FBI agent Megan Reeves in '' Numb3rs'', the firefighter Laura Miles in '' Rescue Me'', and the division chief Sharon Leone in ...
's relationships/humor book ''The Girl Code''.
Diane Farr Diane Farr (born September 7, 1969) is an American actress, producer, and writer. Her television roles have included FBI agent Megan Reeves in '' Numb3rs'', the firefighter Laura Miles in '' Rescue Me'', and the division chief Sharon Leone in ...
. '' The Girl Code: the secret language of single women (on dating, sex, shopping, and honor among girlfriends)'' Little, Brown and Company, 2001 , , 192 pages page 172


In art and entertainment

Some entertainers, called flatulist, used flatulence in a creative, musical, or amusing manner. The following art movements or concepts include flatulence: * Grotesque body * Gross out In addition to the historical works described above, the following works of art or entertainment use or refer to flatulence humor: *, Japanese art scroll from the Edo period * Beans, Beans, the Musical Fruit * Bum trilogy * Fartman *, Dog-Fart Roller Coaster in Denmark


References

5th-century BC establishments in Greece Practical joke devices Flatulence in popular culture {{Portal, Comedy