There was a time where text messages were reserved to friends and phone calls were a sure indicator of the parental unit trying to get in touch. However, parents have evolved and adapted to the world of texting. While some may still sign off each text like a formal email, there are other parents who have become masters of the art. Dad jokes are no longer limited to family functions and around your friends, they are just a quick message away.
These dads may have thought they’d only get a laugh from their intended recipient, but they ended up winning over the Internet with their special brand of humor.
People everywhere have been screenshotting hilarious text messages they’ve received from their dads, which has created a treasure trove of horrible puns, loving mockery, and questionable wisdom.
1. Getting your parent to understand texting is one learning curve, but introducing them to the world of slang acronyms is a one of a much steeper arch. Seeing as this father has clearly become comfortable with throwing out the occasional “rofl,” his offspring decided to test him. However, this dad doesn’t need the acronym to already exist, he’ll create his own.
2. There’s a reason you go to mom if you’re looking for a straight answer. It’s almost like when you become a father, your sense of humor gets rewired so that no possible prompt goes unused. Once they’re on a roll, there’s no stopping them, but this kid probably wished they’d stopped where they started.
3. Who needs to watch the news when your dad will curate only the highlights selected specifically for you? It’s an interesting prioritization. However, if this kid loves Ikea meatballs and hates the Tigers, then this dad’s motivations have become much more clear, and that “have a nice night” becomes a lot less sincere.
4. Dads are often subject to becoming impromptu exterminators, and with cell phones, they have no choice but to be constantly on call. However, this dad isn’t going to waste his bug squashing skills on an insect so harmless. Instead, he decided to taunt his daughter while forcing her to face her fears.
5. There’s no easy way to ask for money, but you have to admire this kid’s subtle attempt at it. Unfortunately for them, this dad saw right through the intended subliminal message and sent one right back. Apparently, studying astronomy, economics, and oceanography simultaneously is not enough for this dad.
6. Depending on who your kid is, caps lock might just be the most fitting way to present a text message, but most people would rather not appear to be constantly screaming in their conversation. However, this dad is apparently all about the uppercase letters — when he can get them that is!
7. Chances are if you receive a slightly out there question from your dad, you’re being set up for a joke. You can just feel the recipient’s eyes rolling while reading this punchline. I wonder if this dad came up with this one on his own or if there’s some dad joke message board us non-dads aren’t aware of.
8. Autocorrect can really mess with anyone’s texting game, but most of us only make the mistake once. This dad clearly lost his battle with autocorrect and really only made his mistake worse with each attempt at a redemptive text. You have to wonder what word he was trying to write.
9. Now that’s a text that just begs for more explanation. It’s not easy to keep up with the trends, but what experience could this man have had with hipsters that gave him such a wow-worthy moment of realization? The monorail and bowling ball contact emojis are also worth questioning.
10. Luckily, most of us got sending mass amounts of emojis out of our system at a young age. However, some parents are just discovering this collection of expressively joyous yellow beings now. Considering how many there are, once they’ve discovered them, you can expect your phone to be vibrating for quite some time.
11. Was this dad just casually flipping through a baby name book considering the different potential life paths his kid could have had had he named them differently? I mean, Jadaveius does seem like a name that would have a lot of solid nickname potential so it is worth a ponder.
12. Not being able to fall asleep is no fun, but if this is your dad, you can only hope he’s feeling lively so you can score an impromptu midnight snack. If my dad texted me at 1:15 AM saying that he had lightly fried fish fillets ready, I wouldn’t question it, I’d be storming down the staircase.
13. Chances are, telling either one of your parents that you’ve just been suspended from school is not going to go well, especially over text message. However, this kid managed to get a free pass for channeling a level of comical insolence that could only be taught by a father.
14. Most parents would only hope that their kid would be so open with them. However, this dad doesn’t seem to care that his son is planning on using protection because he doesn’t think he needs it. Ouch. I guess if you raise them, you can bring them down a couple of notches too.
15. You can’t really blame this dad because he probably learned this technique from the person he’s texting. After years of receiving overly dramatic “omg” texts, this dad is finally getting his revenge. Looks like this kid is going to end up walking home in the rain unless mom comes to the rescue.
16. Have you ever wondered how your parents talk about you when they are just texting each other? Probably not, but after this non-retractable wrong person text, you might start to ponder the thought. However, if it’s anything like how most of us talk between siblings about our parents, then it’s probably well deserved.
17. Oh, how cell phones have changed everything. “Dinner!” used to be something that would be yelled throughout the house or out the front door. Now, the notification that dinner is ready is just a simple text away. Hey, if this is the type of passive-aggressive convo to follow then it’s a worthy change.
18. It’s not always easy living up to expectations even if those expectations are much easier to achieve than for most teenagers. Maybe we just naturally rebel against what our parents want. This dad wants his kid to party while he just really wants to hit the books. Family dinners must be interesting.
19. There’s no fooling Dad, especially at his own game. He knows sarcasm even through a text bubble. You can just imagine this text exchange happening and the mom saying something along the lines of, “Did you find out where (child’s name) is?” and him just responding, “Yeah, they’re fine.”
20. Maybe you have one of those super technology savvy dads who always has to get his hands on the latest new toy. The person who received this text message does not have that type of father. You can just imagine him sending the text and then holding the vibrating phone at the same time.
21. You can try your best to challenge your father at his game of wit, but he will always serve back something harder and harsher. He could have stopped at “you should ask for something more realistic,” but this dad threw in a surprise double punchline to one-up his kid.
22. You don’t even need to have seen a single frame of a Star Wars movie to know this iconic line and chances are, if your name is Luke then it’s ingrained into your brain forever. However, you have to admire just how far this father was willing to go for his punchline.
23. Always clear your phone before passing it off to anyone. It’s a bold move that this kid decided to confront his dad about his risque mom pictures. Most of us would never bring it up again and do everything we can to desperately erase the imagery from our brains.
24. It’s awfully presumptive to think that just because your dad is asking your opinion on something that it means you’re getting it. However, this kid clearly learned his lesson. This dad could have thrown in the sister part, but he probably would not have gotten the same honest answer.
