英美文化小貼士：老外笑我聽不懂，我笑老外笑點低

It is beyond awkward when everyone around you bursts out laughing at a joke that you do not find funny, especially if it』s a joke told in a foreign language.

世間最尷尬的事莫過於周圍的人都被段子（笑話）逗得哄堂大笑，只有你還沒發現笑點。如果這段子是用外語講的，那麼尷尬值增加一萬點。

While Chinese students find it easy to adapt to a foreign lifestyle, socializing with locals is much harder, according to a recent study. Researchers looked at how well Chinese students integrated into communities across the world. Of all the activities they struggled with, understanding jokes was considered the toughest.

最近一項研究發現，中國學生很容易適應國外的生活方式，但和老外打交道就沒那麼簡單了。研究者對中國留學生如何融入世界各地群體進行了分析。在留學生面對的所有問題中，理解笑話被認為是最難的。

Most of the time, jokes are funny only for people who share a common cultural background or perceive humor in the same way.

多數情況下，笑話只有在文化背景相同或幽默感知方式相近的人中間才有笑果。

Chinese-American comedian Joe Wong found this out first-hand. He had achieved huge success doing stand-up comedy in the US, but when he returned to China in 2008 for his first live gig in Beijing, he discovered that humor doesn』t translate. People didn』t think his Chinese jokes were as funny as his English ones, the Global Times reported.

美籍華裔脫口秀主持人黃西對此感同身受。他在美國脫口秀節目中一炮而紅，不過2008年，當他回到中國在北京開第一場現場脫口秀時，他發現幽默是無法被翻譯的。《環球時報》報道說，大家覺得他的英語段子比中文的有趣。

Being able to understand local jokes can help students feel a sense of belonging. But even without the ability to understand jokes, students should not feel any less confident about themselves.

理解當地人的笑話能讓留學生更有歸屬感。不過就算聽不懂老外的笑話，也不必喪失自信。

「It』s OK if you don』t get the jokes. Don』t doubt yourself [because] a lot of the times, it is not a problem of language ability; it』s a matter of the known and unknown,」 said Christine Han, who was once an overseas student and is now an Australian permanent resident.

曾在澳洲留學、現在是澳大利亞永久居民的克莉絲汀?韓說：「理解不了笑話也沒關係。不必自我懷疑，（因為）這不是語言能力的問題；這是知道就知道，不知道就不知道的事兒。」

Australian humor

澳式幽默

The fact that Australia is called 「Down Under」 is funny by itself. Australia is ready-made for jokes, thanks to its history as a colony for convicts, its peculiar accent, the Outback and its strange cuisine. However, to most Chinese overseas students, understanding jokes about sports is the biggest headache.

事實上，澳大利亞的別稱「在南方的下面」（ 英語里北為up，南為down，澳大利亞在舊大陸的南邊）本身就很有趣。它曾是流放犯人的殖民地，它的古怪口音，它的內陸和奇葩菜肴，都讓澳大利亞的笑話俯拾皆是。不過對大多數中國留學生來說，最頭疼的還是理解和體育有關的笑話。

「The hardest jokes are related to rugby because I know nothing about rugby,」 said Melody Cao, who was once a student in Australia. 「When I heard jokes I didn』t get, I just laughed along.」

「最難懂的笑話是和橄欖球有關的，因為我對橄欖球一無所知，」曾在澳洲留學的梅洛迪?曹說。「當我聽不懂笑話時，我就跟著大家一起笑。」

Sport is an important part of Australian national identity. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 16 percent (2.8 million) of the population aged 15 years and over watched Australian football in 2010. About 9 percent (1.6 million) attended a rugby league game.

體育是澳大利亞民族認同的重要部分。據澳大利亞統計局數據，全國15歲及以上人口中有16%（約280萬）觀看了2010年的澳式足球賽，9%（約160萬）參加過橄欖球聯賽。

The rugby jokes are usually about how immature and dumb rugby players are, like in these two dialogues:

橄欖球的段子常常拿那些水平欠佳，不太靈光的球員開涮， 比如下面兩段對話：

A: 「Why don』t rugby players have mid-life crises?」

A：「為什麼橄欖球運動員沒有中年危機？」

B: 「They stay stuck in adolescence.」

B：「因為他們被困在了青春期。」

A: 「Why do rugby players like smart women?」

A：「為什麼橄欖球運動員喜歡精明的女人？」

B: 「Opposites attract.」

B：「因為異性相吸。」

British humor vs American humor

英式幽默vs 美式幽默

British actor and comedian Simon Pegg discussed the differences between British and American sense of humor in a column for The Guardian. He believes that while Brits use irony on a daily basis, the Americans do not see the point of using it so frequently. He wrote: 「British jokes, on the other hand, tend to be more subtle with a dark or sarcastic undertone... the [American] jokes are more obvious and forward, a bit like Americans themselves.」

英國喜劇演員西蒙?佩吉曾在《衛報》專欄探討過英式和美式幽默的區別。他認為英國人每天都會用反諷的幽默，而美國人用的卻不是很多。他寫道：「換句話說，英式笑話更隱晦，伴有黑色和諷刺的潛台詞……而美式笑話更明顯、直白，和美國人的個性很像。」

Pegg illustrated his point by transcribing a joke he heard a British friend make, in the wake of family tragedy.

佩吉轉述了他從英國朋友那聽到的一個笑話，調侃的是一出家庭悲劇。

A: 「I had to go to my granddad』s funeral last week.」

A：「上周我去參加了我爺爺的葬禮。」

B: 「Sorry to hear that.」

B：「節哀順變。」

A: 「Don』t be. It was the first time he ever paid for the drinks.」

A：「別這麼說。這可是他第一次掏錢買喝的。」

In her book Watching the English – the Hidden Rules of English Behavior, Kate Fox, a British social anthropologist, describes her country』s humor rules. She argues that irony, understatement and self-depreciation are ingrained in the English mindset. 「Humor is our 『default mode』... We do not have to switch it on deliberately, and we cannot switch it off,」 wrote Fox.

社會人類學家凱特?福克斯在她的書《英國人的言行潛規則》中描述了英國的幽默方式。她認為，諷刺、輕描淡寫和自黑是英國人骨子裡根深蒂固的東西。她寫道：「幽默是我們的『默認模式』……我們不必刻意啟動它，當然也不能關掉它。」

「American humor is more straightforward like the punchlines in the famous TV show Friends,」 an Internet user named 「Zac」 wrote on Zhihu. 「You burst out laughing immediately when you watch American humor, and then you forget about it quite quickly, but it takes time to digest English humor, and it may be funnier when you reminisce about it.」

知乎網友Zac說：「美式幽默一般直白、淺顯，如《老友記》的笑料。」「美式笑料屬於當場大笑，笑過就忘，而英式幽默屬於細嚼慢咽型，回味或許比看的當下更覺得好笑。」

【文章來源：騰訊博客】