Knock knock. Who's there? Broken pencil.

This little gem is a masterclass in wordplay, hinging entirely on the double meaning of "pointless." On a literal level, a pencil with a snapped tip has no writing point. But the punchline uses the figurative meaning: the joke itself has no purpose and isn't worth finishing. It’s a clever bit of self-destruction where the subject of the joke is the very reason for its own failure, making it a perfectly crafted dad joke.

The setup taps into a universal, almost primal (Review) frustration: the broken pencil. We've all been there, scribbling away when suddenly—snap!—our train of thought is derailed by a useless wooden stick. This joke takes that tiny moment of annoyance and turns it into a sigh-worthy pun. It's a perfect fit for the classic, predictable format of a knock-knock joke, which has been a playground staple for nearly a century, serving up simple groaners just like this one.