It must be that DRY sense of humuor that we Americans don't have and ,Brits, Kiwis and Aussies use without harm or impunity to themsleves. There is GOOD humuor and BAD humour. I think we all know the difference.
Stupid Americans
by Mackin 61 Replies latest jw friends
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LittleToe
And there's part of the problem - I don't think you can be so general across international boundaries. What the people of one country see as bad humour (i.e. digs at the nation), another country sees as hilarious, with folks rising to the challenge and taking the p*ss out of their own and other nations with full impunity.
Personally I find humour about the mentally/physically disabled in poor taste, such as the picture I've seen posted on some threads stating that "Arguing on the Internet is like Competing in the Disabled Olympics...". I know quite a number of my American friends find that hilarious. Horses for courses...
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mrsjones5
hm like "Little Britian"?
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Dansk
I may be in the minority, Josie, but I can't stand that programme!
Ian
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nicolaou
To reach that conclusion you must be drunker than most other English men.
Do you mean to insult me fellow? For a certainty I can take your slings and arrows and slough them off with ne'er a thought for myself but you have insulted my countrymen sirrah!
Thou artless, hasty-witted, jack-a-nape!
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LittleToe
I was talking about personal tastes, rather than national ones, with that post...
There's no harm meant in humour, though its incredibly funny when someone else finds something offensive when it was clearly (at least to your own national sensibilities) a joke.
I think it's easier to determine the level of an individuals sense of humour by their ability to laugh at themselves and the things they hold precious, rather than their ability to laugh at someone else. Anyone can laugh at someone else, without injury, even chimpanzees...
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Dansk
For a certainty I can take your slings and arrows and slough them off with ne'er a thought for myself but you have insulted my countrymen sirrah!
Not bad for a Greek!
Ian
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LittleToe
Oh dear, Nic's drunk again, and it's not even a half past the hour
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mrsjones5
I may be in the minority, Josie, but I can't stand that programme!
Yeah, I can understand that. Some parts of the show are pretty gross, I won't go into detail. But in the US a show like "Little Brittian" would never make it to air, especially the skits about the guy in the wheelchair. Maybe on cable but never on the national networks. Can you say "protests and lawsuits"?
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Xena
Warning: Generalisation with Extreme Prejudice to follow...
From my own experience (on this Board, and from visiting the place) most Americans I've met take what you say literally before taking a second swipe at it to find the humour (the only caveat being in a situation where the circumstances are already humorous like at a Comedy Club or a conversation where the jokes have already broken out). It makes for a culture that is only a little more advanced than South Africa, on the "Humour scale". I find it ironic, because some of the funniest shows have come from that country. It's like its either switched on or switched off, rather than a steady flow from one to the other.
Nationalism is a serious business, and you'll be hard pressed to find an American who can consistently take the p*ss out of his own country with you, without him eventually getting his feelings hurt by taking it personally. I think it's to do with social conditioning from birth.
It can be endearing, though, when you crack a joke and they take a second or two to get it, before guffawing. Maybe Brits, and a few other nationalities, just start from the default position of anticipating humour, rather than switching to it. Gawd only knows how drab and dreary our lives would be if we didn't, after all we can't talk about the weather all day... can we???
..we can? Oh, yeah, we can!
just because we don't laugh at your jokes doesn't mean we don't have a sense of humor...we just might not find them funny
For the record, I don't get the bathroom humor brits seem to find so amusing.
