English humor is a concept so abstract and at the same time sublimely aristocratic that it is customary to write off all unfunny jokes on it. Meanwhile, the English have the most ordinary humor. Only it has a very pronounced national flavor and therefore is more understandable to the British themselves than to the inhabitants of other countries.
Instructions
Step 1
Odessans have their own rather capacious answer to the question of what English humor is. "This is when one respected gentleman says something to another respected gentleman that no one understands, and they laugh at it."
Step 2
Indeed, the concept of "English humor" is surrounded by an aura of some kind of mystery, sophistication and sublimity. They say that not everyone can understand the jokes of the British. To do this, you must have special refined mental abilities and be a man of noble birth. Is it really?
Step 3
Jerome K. Jerome once said, "In order to understand English humor, you have to be born an Englishman." And he was right. Indeed, the peculiarities of any national folklore, which in many respects belongs to humor (anecdotes, couplets, aphorisms and puns), are based on two things: language and traditions. It is very difficult to understand anything without their knowledge. And English humor, unlike, for example, Russian or American humor, in the literal sense of the word, is based on these two whales.
Step 4
First, a lot of English humor is built on a play on words. And therefore, to understand it, even foreign language knowledge of the English language is not enough. And secondly, due to their conservatism, the British too respect and carefully preserve their many centuries-old traditions. At the same time, they are always not averse to laughing at them. And how can a person laugh at what he does not know? And thirdly, the English mentality. Russians willingly believe what they are told about the peculiarities of the British mentality. But to believe that it really is …
Step 5
Among other things, the presence of some distorted perception of some concepts imposed by Russian literature and cinema also affects. For example, such a wonderful and, as it seems, very revered by the British dish, like oatmeal. Almost every movie about the British (be it a television series about Sherlock Holmes, a fairy tale about Mary Poppins, or Agatha Christie's detectives) certainly contains oatmeal. One gets the impression that oatmeal is the British favorite delicacy. But in fact - an ordinary, long-boring dish, which has become the hero of numerous jokes. Bad weather outside the window - oatmeal. Sadness and boredom are porridge. The vacation was not a success - not a vacation, but a solid oatmeal.
Step 6
Mikhail Zhvanetsky has two wonderful miniatures about crayfish, which are large. But yesterday. But five. And today they are small. But three each. But today. And the same story, as it were, translated into English for Americans. So what? Are they laughing at it there?”- sums up the American boss at the end. “They are getting cuddled up,” the manager replies.
Step 7
So, if Odessa was the size of Great Britain, perhaps the whole world would have puzzled over the phenomenon of Odessa humor, not English.
