You had to be there (foreign-language humour)

One of the most difficult things to 'get' in a foreign language is humour. In case you did not understand the title of this blog, it is a reference to something people say when a joke is not found funny by the hearers. In other words, background information ('being there') is required in order to find something funny.

Often jokes function by saying something unexpected.

Here's my first joke for today. Two Irishmen are talking and one says to the other, "What do you think about the Covid 19?" His friend answers, "Ach, they are probably innocent; they should all be set free."

This joke - in case you don't 'get' it - is based on several high-profile court cases in the United Kingdom, when groups of men, designated as 'the Birmingham Six' or 'the Guildford Four' etc., were accused of terrorist crimes and later exonerated (found not guilty). The joke is based on someone thinking Covid 19 is another such case of wrongly accused men. It is made funnier by non-standard use of 'the' ('the Covid-19' rather than 'Covid-19') - which is typical for Irish speakers of English. 

The point is that humour relies on background information. Without this information, the hearer does not share the expectation and so is not surprised - and so doesn't laugh.

Here's another joke. A man walks into the Lubyanka (KGB headquarters in Moscow)
- "I am a spy and I have come to hand myself in."
- "British or American?"
- "American."
- "That's room 5."
- He finds room 5 and says, "I am an American spy and I have come to hand myself in."
- "Have you got a weapon?"
- "Yes, I have a weapon."
- "Okay, third floor, room 8."
- He goes up the stairs, finds room 8 and says, "I am an American spy, I have got a weapon and I have come to hand myself in."
- "Do you have a secret radio device?"
- "Yes, why?"
- "That's not here then. Second floor, room 4B."
- So he goes downstairs, but you can only get to the second floor by going down to the first floor and then going up another staircase to the second floor. He finally finds room 4B. "I am an American spy, I have got a weapon and I have come to hand myself in. Oh, and I have a secret radio device."
- "Have you been given a mission?"
- "A mission? Yes, I have been given a mission."
- "Well get on with it then; can't you see we are all busy?"

This joke is really funny to Russians, because it reminds them of local bureaucracy and endless visits to government offices which can take hours and you often leave without getting what you need.

So, what does this mean for language learning? We need to build up as much background knowledge as we can, so that we can 'get' what people mean - especially when it comes to humour. The most straightforward way is to spend extended periods of time in the country in question. However, talking to native speakers, watching films etc. can be a reasonable substitute. This base of background knowledge will be invaluable for understanding where native speakers of your foreign language are 'coming from' (what their point of view is and what they mean).

Maybe you have some similarly culturally-conditioned jokes to share. I am always up for a laugh!


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My name is Russell Phillips. I offer online video language tuition for English and Russian - and also German, Italian and French.

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