When a person is too close to the principle being violated in a joke, they may be offended.

Using his theory, Veatch gives a possible reason as to why some things may not be perceived as funny. According to him, "that's not funny!" has two meanings:
(1) "It is offensive" or (2) "So, what's the point?"

1. For a perceiver to find a situation offensive, he might be too close to the principle being violated. The person is unable to make light of it, or to appreciate the funny side. For example, racist and/or sexist jokes. These are often perceived as offensive. The people who feel offended are too committed to the principles behind or against racism/sexism to be able to find jokes on them humorous.

2. When a perceiver has the question, "So, what's the point?" it indicates that she has no moral/emotional attachment or commitment to the principle being violated. There is no V-element in the formula that Veatch proposed, and thus the situation is not perceived as humorous.

Veatch says that by increasing the number and intensity of the elements of humor, the emotional intensities and incongruities in the situation are increased and thus, there is a higher degree of perceived humor. This supplies a plausible answer to "Why are some things funnier than others?" The important points to focus on increasing for optimal funny-ness are: complexity, pleasure and familiarity.

Complexity: Several hidden violations in a joke add to the complexity and tends to increase the degree of humor. In the same vein, added normal perceptions within a situation can also increase the degree of humor. Veatch uses the example of Doonesbury cartoons, "where the final development of the situation or story line presents a dead-pan perspective where the moral violation of the previous frames is interpreted as being normal; thereby building and developing the humor of the cartoon."

Pleasure: The violation of a person, group or practice which is disliked results in "upping" the degree of funny-ness. The reason this is so, is that dislike for something provides a certain amount of detachment from the violated principle, and thus it is not seen as offensive.

Familiarity: situations and/or jokes sometimes are perceived as more funny when there is a connection between it and the perceiver's experiences that may be similar. The understanding of the violated principle is thus increased. Familiarity, in this case, breeds laughter!