BS: Jokes people don't get

Subject: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 12:21 AM

An example. There is a well-known phrasebook of Australian usage, "Let's Talk Strine" by Afferbeck Lauder. No-one else to whom I have mentioned it had, until I pointed it out, got the significance of the author's pseudonym.

Did you?

Any similar examples?

~Michael~

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Little Hawk
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 01:57 AM

No idea what it means, mate.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 02:17 AM

my mrs reckons americans still have poorly developed sense of irony
which maybe explains why they are so troubled by British sarcasm and friendly piss taking.

I think HBO shows evidence that an advanced american sense of humour
is progressively atempting to more than disprove this...??


Unfortunately some older more conservative mudcat mods
are maybe more inclined to my wife's version of american humour reality.


But I am forever an optimist and cant resist mischieviously testing their boundaries.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 02:28 AM

LH ~ Try saying the name aloud...

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: GUEST,999
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 03:28 AM

"Jokes people don't get"

Mitt Romney

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: gnu
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 05:32 AM

Right... fill me in too eh. Offer back? Off her back?

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 05:35 AM

As usually, Wikipedia has the solution, and also the correct title of the book. Both are not meant to be understood by us bloody furrnz (or "international persons" - as I was once addressed Down Under, meant as a euphemism), that's the fun of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 05:40 AM

Yes, MtheGM - that's been around for ages. But then so have we.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: GUEST,giovanni
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 05:48 AM

Must be a real hoot round MtheGM's house, eh lads?

g

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Little Robyn
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 05:51 AM

There's also a book of New Zild, similar to Strine but there are differences.
I used to like Charley Chum Puck - you know, the Aussie song asks where he sat....
Where sat Charlie Chum Puck?
Also the noisy fellow, Whisperoo Des........
Hush, hush, Whisperoo Des, Christopher Robin is saying his prayers.
I'm not sure where my copy is now - we used to speak it quite a lot back about 45 years ago but the memory is fading.
Robyn

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 05:54 AM

The danger is that Mitt Romney is a joke that people are likely to get.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 06:10 AM

I've got Let's Talk Strine, and I love it. But the joke of Afferbeck Lauder depends on pronouncing Lauder as 'Lorder'. It could after all be pronounced 'Louder' in which case the joke is lost.
I also like the lady often alluded to in shops, Emma Chisit.
and the girl from the well-known nursery rhyme, Lilma Smarfit.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Little Robyn
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 06:29 AM

Found it - New Zild and how to speak it by Arch Acker - A Kiwi's answer to Strine. He has a dedication too - To Ellen Beck.
There are a few songs mentioned - can you recognise them?

Near Whizzy Air,
Aloha low, who shall I defriend,
Few news oozy,
Wider while a view,
There loys spear Ninglan,
Orlon eye skirls lava sailor,
Whole my end, I missed ranger in Parrot-eyes,
Eyesore Yule a snide ingot the dole feeling,
Thug hurler dye Mary,
I minim Hoover laugh,
Heavier wear verbena cross this eat awhile end?
And of course, the NZ National anthem, Gaudy fair Newzild.

It helps to say them out loud.
Robyn

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: kendall
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 06:38 AM

When you say "Americans" you are taking in a huge territory. Maine is known for its sense of humor; so is Texas and Vermont. Utah, not so much.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: gnu
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 06:43 AM

"depends on pronouncing Lauder as 'Lorder" Yes, of course. How silly of me!

Now, how should I pronounce/break down "Afferbeck"?

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Little Robyn
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 06:49 AM

Hint - the books are printed as dictionaries - A, B, C etc.
in afferbeck lauder.
Robyn

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: gnu
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 06:54 AM

Kendall... timing is everything!

I wonder how many will "get" that joke on all levels.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Bill D
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 09:55 AM

His books make a certain point...once you learn to read them.

What *I* wonder is whether those who talk like the examples actually get the point. Don't people have ANY idea that some of their speech is almost unintelligible to those outside their cultural group?

(Books have been done about Texas, Maine, etc., that use the same basic technique. There even used to be a semi-regular feature in The Saturday Evening Post magazine about a guy who told stories in some unnamed 'dialect'. The one I remember was about going to Florida and and driving over the "Phonecian Cow Sway" [Venetian Causeway])

Texas 'joke': "Ah wuz drivin' cross mah wrainch, when mah truck broke down, so Ah got out a wrainch to fix it, but Ah got mah hands pretty dirty and had to wrainch 'em off, and then when Ah tried to put the wrainch away, Ah wrainched mah elbow."

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Bobert
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 10:13 AM

Well, back in the late 60s there were a ton of stupid jokes that my parents and their friends though were funny that weren't funny at all... Just stupid...

The one that comes to mind that had them howling was:

What's the difference between a duck???

Answer: One of his feet is both the same...

I mean, that is one stupid joke... It could be explained if my parents generation was into drugs but they weren't... Heavy drinkers, however...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Ed T
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 10:29 AM

"Jokes people dont get" is different from, "jokes people dont understand", and "jokes people dont find funny". I also suspect there are (to mention a few factors) regional, generational, cultural and historic differences in what is seen (broadly) as funny.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 10:59 AM

The whole point of What is the difference between a duck? and its British variant Why s an orange? is that there's nothing to get; the whole proposition is absurd. Our grandparents and great-grandparents loved absurdity, which s why we have Alice in Wonderland and the Oz books, the verse of Edward Lear and the entire oeuvre ofGilbert and Sullivan.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: gnu
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 11:23 AM

I prefer Malice in Blunderland by Allan Fotheringham.

Not in a million years would I have guessed alphabetical order. I still don't see how it can be twisted that way so I guess I have never heard a proper Aussie accent.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Bill D
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 12:15 PM

..and more precisely, the difference between a duck is: "Because either of his legs is both the same."

No wonder you didn't get it, Bobert...they didn't know the answer.. ;<)

Oh... by the way... did you hear about the Polar bear who came up out of a hole in the ice and said "radio!"?

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Little Hawk
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 12:15 PM

It took me ages to get it. Finally did. Alphabetical order, is it?

If so, I think it's been stretched a bit too far. I don't find it funny, just odd.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 12:32 PM

Two parrots on a perch.
One says "I smell fish!"

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 01:16 PM

I had to go to Wikipedia to get the translation of Aferbeck Lauder.
Most peculiar.


Does anyone remember "candles in the ears, you know!"

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 01:24 PM

No, Q, but I do remember 'four candles' by the two Ronnies.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 01:31 PM

By the way, I imagine the 'radio' joke is similar to the 'Mornington Crescent' on "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" with Humphrey Littleton. In fact, on reflection, I bet quite few non-Brits would find the whole series of "Round The Horn", I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again" etc completely unintelligible! For a start, one needed to know what Paroli is (Julian and my friend Sandy), and the songs of Rambling Sid Rumpole make no sense at all, but are screamingly funny and rather rude. Even the Goons are a mystery to many.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 01:55 PM

For a start, one needed to know what Paroli is
Guest, Eliza, the word is Polari, and I think it can best be described as "The queens' English"

Cheers

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 02:06 PM

One from Crackerjack, at least 40-odd years old:



What do Jimmy Edwards and Lulu have in common?


They both have moustaches, except Lulu.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 02:11 PM

Of course it is, sorry Nigel! I believe Paroli is a betting system!

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: GUEST,Stan
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 02:14 PM

The old jokes are not always the best. Anyone remember "Send three and fourpence, we're going to a dance"?

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Bert
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 02:22 PM

If a 'joke' is so obscure that most people don't get it, then it really isn't (or maybe is) really a joke.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 02:34 PM

Stan, yes, I remember that one. And to me, it IS funny! (In case anyone doesn't know it, it's supposed to be "Send re-inforcements, we're going to advance", but the words got garbled en route.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: YorkshireYankee
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 02:43 PM

For those not already familiar with it: "Four Candles" by the Two Ronnies

Enjoy!

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Joe_F
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 08:01 PM

Sometimes not getting it is the point of the joke. Once upon a time one American student said to another, "My car can hold 71 people -- two in front and 69 in the back." After a pause, a Chinese student asked, "What does 'two in front' mean?"

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Ebbie
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 08:04 PM

Not a joke, at all. Reminds me more of Brits' so persistent (and not teddibly cute) mangling of words. "Afferbeck Lauder = alphabetical order": Alfabeckl awder. huh

Kind of a reach, wouldn't you say?

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Bugsy
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 08:35 PM

"I believe Paroli is a betting system!"

No Eliza, "Paroli" is what Italians get when they get out of prison early.


Cheers

Bugsy

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 11:07 PM

Ebbie ~~ Not Brits in this case. Point is that it is an Oz book...

~M~

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 11:42 PM

"What does 'two in front' mean?"
This indicates a cavalier ignorance of what's coming up behind.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Little Hawk
Date: 30 Jul 12 - 01:22 AM

I told my budgies the one about the 2 parrots on the perch. They stared at me in befuddlement. It seems that most birds don't have a very acute sense of smell, and most of them wouldn't even notice the smell of a fish, so they didn't get the joke.

Now two dogs sitting on a perch would definitely notice the fishy odor! I've known dogs to go miles to find a dead fish to roll in.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Bugsy
Date: 30 Jul 12 - 03:45 AM

Little Hawk, that post brought to mind the joke about the Jewish dog and the Catholic dog.
They were walking along the road together and when they stopped at the corner, the Jewish dog cocked his leg up and piddled all over the Catholic dog.

The Catholic dog shook himself and said, "If this wasn't a Friday, I'd bite your balls off!"

Not many people get that one either.

Cheers

Bugsy

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Ebbie
Date: 30 Jul 12 - 03:51 AM

MtheGM, that's what I meant: it "reminds me more of Brits'" than I think of New Zealanders.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 30 Jul 12 - 04:09 AM

One of the worst insults to an Australian boasting her or his dialect is replying "Yeah, that's what we say in Sheffield too!" - or Corkshire - or, worst, Kansas.

YorkshireYankee (29 Jul 12 - 02:43 PM): luved it. Though the customer only got one four candle.

Polite non-locals should praise the local dialect as colourful and imaginative - wherever they travel. And let them have their fun, if they have nothing better to be proud of ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 30 Jul 12 - 06:09 AM

"It seems that most birds don't have a very acute sense of smell, and most of them wouldn't even notice the smell of a fish, so they didn't get the joke"

A recent news item claimed that research has shown that birds have such a good sense of smell that they can tell which other birds are close relatives, and so choose mates from a different gene pool.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 30 Jul 12 - 06:15 AM

LOL Bugsy!

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 30 Jul 12 - 06:21 AM

-----MtheGM, that's what I meant: *it* "reminds me more of Brits'" than I think of New Zealanders.-----
,..,.,

*What* does, Ebbie? & where do NZ-ers come into it ~ who mentioned them?

Regret I do not understand your post at all. Could you clarify, please, if not too much of a bore?

Best

~Michael~

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: Ebbie
Date: 30 Jul 12 - 03:50 PM

MtheGM, that's what I meant: *it* "reminds me more of Brits'" than I think of New Zealanders.-----

OK- first, the New Zealanders designation was an error, from another thread.

I was saying that the Aussie author's name reminded me more of the linguistic shortcuts that Brits make than of Australian speech. And yes, I do know a few Stralians.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 30 Jul 12 - 04:59 PM

I think I've never laughed so much as I did when I first saw Vic & bob's Badger Watch. What made it even funnier is that we had a friend over at the time, who sat silently through the whole thing, permanently wearing a mildly perplexed quizzical expression while we were doubled up, in tears, howling throughout. I love funny stuff, not so much a fan of the 'da da' punchline style joke though.

Subject: RE: BS: Jokes people don't get
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 30 Jul 12 - 05:56 PM

We often have stuff about the kind of humour which people in Britain go in for, but which Americans in particular are said not to get.

It would be interesting to see some examples of types of humour which Americans (or oters) find hilarious, but has been found to leave people in Britain bemused rather than amused.