I've been thinking quite a bit about Carlin's Seven Words You Can't Say on Television skit, and a couple things have struck me. First, about the difference between 'fuck' jokes and 'fart' jokes. It really is pretty silly while the former are widely used and accepted, and the latter are so looked down upon. But that question I'll save for later.

The thing that really interested me was why the fart jokes got so many more laughs than the fuck jokes. Carlin didn't necessarily form the jokes differently or change his punchline style, so why were the fart jokes such a big hit?

I think the answer is actually pretty simple, really. Our proximity to farts makes fart jokes that much funnier. I mean, let's be honest, it's something we're all doing multiple times every day. (Some more than others, I know.) At the same time, not too many of us are having sex every single day. (Some more than others, I know.) It's this distance we have between our bodies and sex that makes sex jokes 1) not over-the-top funny and 2) possibly even slightly uncomfortable.

It's hard to say if Carlin was thinking about these things as he was writing his work (I'd have to imagine he wasn't) but it's a very interesting difference.