ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Joke cycle

Okay kiddo, let me explain what a joke cycle is. You know how when someone tells a really funny joke, everyone laughs and then starts to tell similar jokes? That's a joke cycle! It's basically when there's a certain type of joke that becomes really popular and lots of people tell jokes of that same type.

For example, do you remember the "Why did the chicken cross the road?" jokes? Those were part of a joke cycle! Lots of people were telling those kinds of jokes and they were all a bit similar, but just different enough to be funny.

Sometimes a joke cycle can last for a while, and it's always fun to hear new jokes that are part of the cycle. But eventually people start to get tired of hearing the same type of jokes over and over, and then the cycle starts to die down.

So that's basically what a joke cycle is, kiddo! It's when lots of people tell jokes of a certain type, and it usually lasts for a little while before people start to move on to something else.