Статья для дополнительного чтения в старших классах Sly English Humor

Sly English humor

«A joke is a serious thing»

(Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister)

What is humor? It is an ability to see the funny side of life. Most British people consider humor essential: everyone needs to be able to laugh at themselves sometimes, and to recognize that the situation they are in may look funny to others.

It is considered a serious criticism of somebody to say that they have no sense of humor. 'In English eyes one may be pardoned for all manner of social sins if one is able to laugh about them' (Miall A. Milsted D, Xenophobe's Guide to the English).

It is common to hear foreigners use the phrase: 'typical English humor' or 'subtle English humor', or 'sly good humor', but what exactly does it mean?

• FIRST PASSENGER: Is it train to Brighton?

• SECOND PASSENGER:I hope so.

The great majority of English humor cannot be understood by foreigners, is often taken the wrong way, or misinterpreted. English humor often stuns the unaccustomed. 'Some people have a dry sense of humor, and can keep a straight face (not smile) and let their voice sounds as though they are being serious when they are joking. Other people are said to be witty (show a very clever type of humor). A person's sense of humor is influenced by many things, including family and social background and age' (Oxford Guide to British and American Culture). There is of course an element of pleasure in this, as you could be sarcastic and not be discovered, here lies the epitome of humor in Britain.

In fact, what distinguishes English humor is the way the Englishmen convey it to others: is an Englishman raises his eyebrow this mean that you are allowed to laugh alongside the joke, whereas a frown means you are about to be attacked with sarcasm, if the hand starts moving you need to sit down as this is going to be a long joke, and if the person jumps up to tell the joke you may as well nod off and wake up half way through.

Since the English have an island culture, quirky and self-contained, we have figured out some common features discovering the secret of this 'typical English humor':

• simplicity;

• imperturbability;

• common sense;

• self-irony (though with a deep respect for oneself);

• the ability to laugh at oneself, at one's own faults;

• self-criticism - a very healthy sign;

• self-deprecation - the ability and willingness to depreciate pomposity and pride;

• innuendo (making an indirect suggestion of something rude);

• double entendre (using a phrase that can be understood in two ways, one of which is usually sexual);

Moreover, it is also important to figure out the basic components of English humor, which include understatement, irony, sarcasm, word play (the pun), black humor, elephant jokes, toilet humor, etc.

George Mikes. Famous British humorist who had been studying the British for a long time, wrote in one of his works - 'How to be a Brit' - that proved to be the fruits of forty years of field research to all aspirant Brits: 'Foreigners have souls; the English haven't. The English have no soul; they have the understatement instead'.

Most of English humor is based on this dry, almost sarcastic understatement, seasoned with a wry smile of imperturbability. Understatement is deeply rooted in their souls, behavior, way of life and respect for privacy. It is a device which serves to underline the insignificance of what we speak about. In other words, it is a statement that is not strong enough to express how good, bad, impressive etc. something really is. A typical understatement, for instance, is the current expression 'It will cost you a pretty penny' which in reality implies not a penny, but perhaps many pounds (or Euros), certainly a large sum of money. Thus, understatement is lessening, reducing, weakening the real characteristics of the object of speech:

• It's a bit chilly, isn't it? (is used when it's terribly cold) or

• I'm just a bit tired(when you're absolutely exhausted).

It is widely known that understatement is typical of the British manner of speech, in opposition to American English in which hyperbole seems to prevail. A vivid example of this is the analysis of a dialogue between an English girl and an American girl climbing a steep mountain in the Alps. The English girl says: It's a bit exhausting, isn't it? Whereas the American echoes: Why, sure, it's terrific!!!

Understatement in its turn is closely connected to a more general term: irony - saying the opposite of what you think or feel with a wry smile.

• Turned out nice again, didn't it? (is to be used when it is raining heavily, or the weather suddenly turns bad after you leave the house without a coat or umbrella).

The English love irony and expect others to appreciate it too:

• FIRST HILL WALKER: It's only six miles by the map, yet your navigation made it ten.

• SECOND HILL WALKER: Yes, but doing it ten gives one a much greater feeling of accomplishment.

Irony is closely associated with sarcasm which is frequently referred to as the 'lowest form of wit', 'but the highest form of humour'. Sarcasm is a way of speaking or writing that involves saying the opposite of what you really mean in order to make an unkind joke or show that you are annoyed.

She was an hour late.

'Good of you to arrive on time', he said, with heavy sarcasm.

Or

'I appreciate your help' (no help was provided to the speaker).

'There was never anyone as educated' (in describing someone who is uneducated).

A lot of English jokes include witty word-play: misunderstood words, sarcasm, ignorance, pun answers, ambiguous word order, etc. For instance:

• You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen, it said 'Parking Fine'. So that was nice.

• STRANGER: I'm looking for a man with a wooden leg called Johnson.

• LOCAL: What's his other leg called?

• DINER: Waiter! Will my hamburger be long? (TIME)

• WAITER: No, it will be round and flat, sir. (SIZE)

Or

• HUSBAND: Don't bring me any more bills. I simply can't face them.

• WIFE: But, dear, I don't want you to face them. I want you to foot them.

There are also many other different types of English humour, such as

• Black humour (where the topics that are usually treated seriously - death, suicide, madness, sickness, rape, war, terrorism etc. - are treated in a humorous or satirical manner);

• Banana skin humor (very primitive, hackneyed jokes);

• Shaggy-dog stories (rather long and uninteresting stories, in which the funny side is based on illogicality and ineptitude);

• Elephant jokes (almost always an absurd riddle or conundrum and often a sequence of such, that involves an elephant). Elephant jokes are especially popular among the children. They were a fad in the 1960s, with many people constructing large numbers of them according to a set formula. Sometimes they involve parodies or puns. Two examples of elephant jokes are:

Q: How can you tell that an elephant is in the bathtub with you?

A: By the smell of peanuts on its breath.

Or

Q: How can you tell that an elephant has been in your refrigerator?

A: By the footprints in the butter.

• Toilet humor (this relates to the English smut level, and that a great majority of their humor relates to sex, taboo bodily functions and the rest has the innuendo of it. The Austin Powers film series features lots of toilet humor. A character name Fat Bastard is even dedicated to it. Very mild examples:

• 1^st MAN: I've just bought my wife a bottle of toilet water for 100 pounds.

• 2^nd MAN: You could have had some from my loo for nothing.

Or

I would rather have a cup of tea than sex - it is hot and sweet and lasts a hell of a lot longer.

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