British Humour

Andy Keedwell

Is it true that the British laugh at different things from people in other countries？ Let’s have a look at what we laugh at in Britain.

1. To the British， the powerful and important are often figures of fun. It’s not just politicians who make us chuckle （the BBC’s satirical news programme Have I Got News for You， for example）， but anyone whose job it is to tell other people what to do and who take themselves too seriously. We laugh at our class system too—especially those who try to present themselves as ‘better’ than they are. Just take a look at Fawlty Towers on the Internet， especially the episode ‘A touch of class’.

2. We giggle at authority， but also， sympathetically， with anyone who is downtrodden. We know they can’t win， but if they do so occasionally， it’s even funnier. Our clowns are often silly people doing silly things—Mr Bean， for example—while in America， they are often clever people doing clever things—and winning.

3. The British laughing when other people might despair is one of the oddest things to appreciate about British humour. People say that the British are reserved and reluctant to show their feelings and this is expressed in our humour. I don’t really think that’s true but I know that we do have a strong sense of irony. ‘Not very pleasant，’ we say after some terrible experience and that’s perhaps why we sometimes laugh at things that should be taken seriously—accidents or funerals， for example. Coupled with this is our love of understatement. ‘It’s a bit windy today，’ we might say in the middle of a typhoon， or ‘There’s a slight problem，’ when something has gone very seriously wrong. This is related to the old-fashioned British ‘stiff upper lip’： don’t express strong emotion， just ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’.

4. We are also known for a very ‘broad’ sense of humour. Traditionally， holidaymakers would send smutty （rude） postcards back home. Many other nationalities find this kind of humour quite childish—but we continue to snigger. We laugh at what we ordinarily find embarrassing—perhaps we laugh because we are embarrassed.

5. A stand-up comedian （someone who tells jokes for a living） will often begin by saying ‘Have you ever noticed…？’ We find humour in ordinary， boring life， especially its negative aspects. A great example is Rhod Gilbert， a down-to-earth Welsh comedian， ranting about his washing machine. We also find it amusing to tell jokes about things that have gone wrong for us， rather than not mentioning them in case we look stupid. Our stories might start with ‘I’m such an idiot， I did something really stupid yesterday’.

6. Another thing that can make it difficult to understand ‘British humour’ is that we don’t always laugh or even smile when we say something funny. We often ‘keep a straight face’ or use an unsmiling， ‘deadpan’ expression even when we’re making a joke.

7. One final thing. Lots of British humour is based on word play. It is very easy to ‘pun’ in English because lots of words have more than one meaning or sound like other words. The results are often enough to make you groan. For example， what do you do if you feel hungry when you’re on the beach？ Eat the sand which is there. Get it？ Sand which is there： sandwiches there. See， I told you punning was groan-worthy.

So， is the British sense of humour unique？ Well， all national humour is unique， isn’t it？ Like the people. In the British case， it is the combination of all the above factors that make the British laugh and my friends from other countries ask， ‘Why is that funny？’

Word of the week

Deadpan （adjective）

If you tell a joke or a funny story without smiling or laughing， you are being deadpan.

Answers

Activity 1

1 a 2 b 3 g 4 d 5 c 6 f 7 e

Activity 2

Funny： chuckle， giggle， snigger， find （something） amusing. Sad/annoying： despair， groan

Activity 1

Match the headings with the paragraphs in the article.

a We laugh at authority

b We laugh at losers—but we hope they’ll win

c We laugh at ourselves

d We laugh at things that are rude

e We laugh at word play

f We sometimes don’t laugh when we think things are funny

g We sometimes laugh when others might cry

Activity 2

Look at these verbs from the article. Which verbs are used to talk about something funny and which ones to talk about something sad or annoying？ Write （F） or （S）.

chuckle ........

despair ........

giggle ........

snigger ........

groan ........

find （something） amusing ........

Find the words in an English dictionary to check their meaning.

Over to you

Do you think this joke is funny？ Is it your kind of humour？

Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are on a camping trip in the countryside. Late at night， Holmes and Watson are lying on their backs looking up at all the stars in the sky. Sherlock Holmes says， ‘Doctor Watson， look at all the stars and tell me what important question we have to ask.’ Doctor Watson says， ‘Well， OK. There are millions and millions of stars in the sky. No one knows exactly how many. There are planets out there that no one has seen with a telescope. Maybe there is a planet somewhere that is just like Earth. I think the question we have to ask is， ‘Is there life in another part of our universe？’ And Sherlock Holmes says， ‘Watson， you idiot！ The question we have to ask is： WHERE IS OUR TENT？’