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We're all aware that there are stereotypes. The British are sharply sarcastic, the Americans are great at physical comedy, and the Japanese love puns. But is humour actually driven by culture to any meaningful extent? Couldn't it be more universal – or depend largely on the individual?
There are some good reasons to believe that there is such a thing as a national sense of humour. But let's start with what we actually have in common, by looking at the kinds of humour that most easily transcend borders.
Certain kinds of humour are more commonly used in circumstances that are international and multicultural in nature – such as airports. When it comes to onoard entertainment, airlines, in particular, are fond of humour that transcends cultural and linguistic boundaries for obvious reasons. Slapstick humour and the bland but almost universally tolerable social transgressions and faux pas of Mr Bean permit a safe, gentle humour that we can all relate to. Also, the silent situational dilemmas of the Canadian Just for Laughs hidden camera reality television show has been a staple option for airlines for many years.
These have a broad reach and are probably unlikely to offend most people. Of course, an important component in their broad appeal is that they are not really based on language.
Humor is no laughing matter. Levity can kill. But can it also bind us together?
(Score: 4, Informative) by SunTzuWarmaster on Friday May 05 2017, @01:39PM (3 children)
Firstly - you can make almost any engineering joke a German joke by making it nationalist. As an example, replace the accountant/businessman/engineer with brit/french/german:
A [frenchman], [englishman], and [german] were all to be executed by guillotine. The [frenchman] laid his head down, said his [typically french] last words, but when the guillotine was to strike his neck an behead him, it got stuck a mere 10 cm from him. It was pronounced a miracle and he was pardoned. The [englishman] laid his head down, said his [typically english] last words, but when the guillotine was to strike his neck an behead him, it got stuck a mere 10 cm from him. It was pronounced a miracle and he was pardoned. The [german] laid his head down facing up, because he wanted to die facing God. "Oh I see your problem right here!".
Next - there are the typical stereotype jokes such as "Everything has only one end... Only the sausage has two.".
Next - there are the German anti-jokes. As an example: How many Germans does it take to change a lightbulb? One. We are efficient and humorless.
As another - "You know what really grinds my German gears?" "Nothing, they are well-designed."
Next there are the WWII-related jokes. As an example: Angela Merkel arrives at Passport Control at Paris airport.
"Nationality?" asks the immigration officer.
"German," she replies.
"Occupation?"
"No, just here for a few days."
Then there are language-related puns, such as - "No matter how kind you are, German children are kinder." or "A German girl gave me her number - it was easy to remember - 999-9999".
Others exist, of course.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 05 2017, @03:49PM
Beware of Germans bearing gift.
In Russia, drugs are your friends.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday May 05 2017, @07:14PM (1 child)
That's a pretty good summary of the main types of jokes about Germans.
One that you missed however, for those who into more scatological humor -- for some reason, there's a lot of jokes about Germans and coprophilia. I don't know enough about actual German "tastes" in that regard to know whether this stereotype is based in factual preferences or not (compared to other countries). In my historical research, I have seen an inordinate amount of German scatological humor though, seemingly more than other European sources of the time.
(Score: 2) by Soylentbob on Friday May 05 2017, @08:42PM
That's an angle I saw some times, but never quite understood. I never consciously met a person into that, and never felt any tendencies in that direction myself.