Corny (as in jokes)
Posted by Jane Ferdinand on May 16, 2003
In Reply to: Corny (as in jokes) posted by Lotg on May 16, 2003
: How on earth did the term 'corny' come about? Why would such a word be used to describe something like a joke or saying? And where did it originate? I'm assuming the U.S., only because of the reference to corn, which is obviously a sweeping guess.
I believe it comes from rural America (The Corn Belt). Jokes that were so obvious and heavy-handed were considered the kind of jokes the "hicks" would understand.