Humour across frontiers is a tricky thing. What is hilarious for a Brit may be a no-go area for an Arab, the wittiest French pun is incomprehensible to a Chinese, one’s most innocent anecdote may seriously offend a Turk. People have very different ideas about what is and what is not funny. If used with caution, humour can open doors and minds and create more connections. Sharing a good laugh will support your relationships. But use it wisely, since their are plenty of pitfalls in readily telling jokes and these can ruin your business deal.
In his book ‘Humour Across Frontiers, or Round the World in 80 Jokes‘ Richard Lewis has compiled a fine selection of jokes from many countries and he distinguishes between the various types of humour (e.g. situational, black) and puns (word play) you can find. Fun to read and validating the point that humour is not always understood by outsiders.
No humour, no glory
Anglo-saxon cultures are best known for their use of humour in every situation, from meeting to dinner table. British and Americans alike (pardon my comparison) start a presentation with a good joke, preferably mocking at their own capabilities. To an Asian or Arab audience making fun of yourself is just horrible, and making fun of someone else may even be worse. In either case, at least one party is losing face.
Of course, there are stark differences between the more subtle and sarcastic English humour and the quick-fired, exaggerated American style. Australians tend to imitate the Americans but dislike their boasting: ‘A Texan touring the bush farms of the Northern Territories tried to impress an Australian farmer as to the size of farms in Texas. “On my ranch we can take the best horses and ride full tilt across the property from dawn to dusk without ever reaching the boundary. What do you think of that?” “We shoot horses like that”, replied the Aussie.’
How about the Germans?
Some say Germans simply have no humour, but this is not true. Humour is mainly used outside of the business room. Business is serious matter and should be dealt with accordingly. Anglo-saxon humour does not work out well with Germans who have a tendency to take statements literally. A cartoon which showed a hippopotamus lying on a psychiatrist’s couch, saying: “I keep thinking it’s Tuesday” tickles the English sense of humour, but leaves a German clueless. It just doesn’t make any sense…
Laugh, please
Oftentimes a joke is just too context-specific for outsiders to understanding the gist of it, leaving them looking bewilderd or dumb-founded. In Japan and many other Asian countries people have the decency to laugh after you stopped telling a joke. In many cases the interpreter wil have warned them in advance: this foreigner is about to tell a joke, please laugh afterwards.
Love thy neighbour
Many countries feature jokes about their neighbours portraying them as dumb. The British do it to the Irish: ‘The Irish finally send a contingent of troops to the Gulf. When they got there, the Mexicans didn’t know what to do with them’.
The Swedes like to make fun of the simple Norwegians: ‘Why do Norwegians walk in the middle of the road? They are afraid of wild flowers’.
And the French and Dutch alike poke fun at their Belgian neighbours: “How do you know a Belgian is dead?” “When his bag of chips falls to the ground”.
International humour
Maybe there is one sort of humour that almost all people like; slapstick and practical jokes on display during a long flight. I thoroughly enjoy watching other passengers laugh at situations where unsuspicious souls are being fooled and consequently freak out. What’s better than sharing a laugh while sitting in a cramped spot in a thin-layered object 36000 feet (or 11 km) high together with 300 other people? In any case, we do cross frontiers with a smile.