My girlfriend complained

Why makes this Joke funny?

The humor in the joke "My girlfriend complained I never took her anywhere, so we went to the Grand Canyon so she felt valley dated" stems from the play on words and the unexpected twist in the punchline:

• Wordplay on "validated" vs. "valley dated": The term "validated" means to recognize, affirm, or establish the worthiness or legitimacy of something (or someone). "Valley dated" is a phonetic play on this term, breaking it down into "valley" (a reference to the Grand Canyon being a massive valley) and "dated" (referring to going out on dates).
• Set-Up and Punchline: The setup involves a common complaint that one partner doesn`t take the other out enough. The expectation is that the response will involve a romantic or standard outing. Instead, the punchline twists this expectation with a pun related to the Grand Canyon.
• Exaggeration: The joke also plays on the idea of taking someone`s complaint to an extreme, i.e., instead of a simple date, they are taken to a major landmark like the Grand Canyon.

The recognition of the unexpected connection between wanting to be taken out and being "valley dated" at the Grand Canyon provides the humor in the joke.