中西文化差異:老外笑點(diǎn)我不懂
It is beyond awkward when everyone around you bursts outlaughing at a joke that you do not find funny, especially if it’s ajoke told in a foreign language.
世間最尷尬的事莫過(guò)于周圍的人都被段子(笑話)逗得哄堂大笑，只有你還沒(méi)發(fā)現(xiàn)笑點(diǎn)。如果這段子是用外語(yǔ)講的，那么尷尬值增加一萬(wàn)點(diǎn)。
While Chinese students find it easy to adapt to a foreign lifestyle, socializing with locals is muchharder, according to a recent study. Researchers looked at how well Chinese students integratedinto communities across the world. Of all the activities they struggled with, understanding jokeswas considered the toughest.
最近一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，中國(guó)學(xué)生很容易適應(yīng)國(guó)外的生活方式，但和老外打交道就沒(méi)那么簡(jiǎn)單了。研究者對(duì)中國(guó)留學(xué)生如何融入世界各地群體進(jìn)行了分析。在留學(xué)生面對(duì)的所有問(wèn)題中，理解笑話被認(rèn)為是最難的。
Most of the time, jokes are funny only for people who share a common cultural background orperceive humor in the same way.
多數(shù)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 successdoing stand-up comedy in the US, but when he returned to China in 2008 for his first live gig inBeijing, he discovered that humor doesn’t translate. People didn’t think his Chinese jokes were asfunny as his English ones, the Global Times reported.
美籍華裔脫口秀主持人黃西對(duì)此感同身受。他在美國(guó)脫口秀節(jié)目中一炮而紅，不過(guò)2008年，當(dāng)他回到中國(guó)在北京開(kāi)第一場(chǎng)現(xiàn)場(chǎng)脫口秀時(shí)，他發(fā)現(xiàn)幽默是無(wú)法被翻譯的?！董h(huán)球時(shí)報(bào)》報(bào)道說(shuō)，大家覺(jué)得他的英語(yǔ)段子比中文的有趣。
Being able to understand local jokes can help students feel a sense of belonging. But even withoutthe ability to understand jokes, students should not feel any less confident about themselves.
理解當(dāng)?shù)厝说男υ捘茏屃魧W(xué)生更有歸屬感。不過(guò)就算聽(tīng)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 aproblem of language ability; it’s a matter of the known and unknown,” said Christine Han, whowas once an overseas student and is now an Australian permanent resident.
曾在澳洲留學(xué)、現(xiàn)在是澳大利亞永久居民的克莉絲汀•韓說(shuō)：“理解不了笑話也沒(méi)關(guān)系。不必自我懷疑，(因?yàn)?這不是語(yǔ)言能力的問(wèn)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 strangecuisine. However, to most Chinese overseas students, understanding jokes about sports is thebiggest headache.
事實(shí)上，澳大利亞的別稱“在南方的下面”( 英語(yǔ)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(nèi)陸和奇葩菜肴，都讓澳大利亞的笑話俯拾皆是。不過(guò)對(duì)大多數(shù)中國(guó)留學(xué)生來(lái)說(shuō)，最頭疼的還是理解和體育有關(guān)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(guān)的，因?yàn)槲覍?duì)橄欖球一無(wú)所知，”曾在澳洲留學(xué)的梅洛迪•曹說(shuō)。“當(dāng)我聽(tīng)不懂笑話時(shí)，我就跟著大家一起笑。”
Sport is an important part of Australian national identity. According to the Australian Bureau ofStatistics, 16 percent (2.8 million) of the population aged 15 years and over watched Australianfootball in 2010. About 9 percent (1.6 million) attended a rugby league game.
體育是澳大利亞民族認(rèn)同的重要部分。據(jù)澳大利亞統(tǒng)計(jì)局?jǐn)?shù)據(jù)，全國(guó)15歲及以上人口中有16%(約280萬(wàn))觀看了2010年的澳式足球賽，9%(約160萬(wàn))參加過(guò)橄欖球聯(lián)賽。
The rugby jokes are usually about how immature and dumb rugby players are, like in these twodialogues:
橄欖球的段子常常拿那些水平欠佳，不太靈光的球員開(kāi)涮， 比如下面兩段對(duì)話：
A: “Why don’t rugby players have mid-life crises?”
A：“為什么橄欖球運(yùn)動(dòng)員沒(méi)有中年危機(jī)?”
B: “They stay stuck in adolescence.”
B：“因?yàn)樗麄儽焕г诹饲啻浩凇?rdquo;
A: “Why do rugby players like smart women?”
A：“為什么橄欖球運(yùn)動(dòng)員喜歡精明的女人?”
B: “Opposites attract.”
B：“因?yàn)楫愋韵辔?rdquo;
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 Americansense of humor in a column for The Guardian. He believes that while Brits use irony on a dailybasis, the Americans do not see the point of using it so frequently. He wrote: “British jokes, on theother hand, tend to be more subtle with a dark or sarcastic undertone... the [American] jokes aremore obvious and forward, a bit like Americans themselves.”
英國(guó)喜劇演員西蒙•佩吉曾在《衛(wèi)報(bào)》專欄探討過(guò)英式和美式幽默的區(qū)別。他認(rèn)為英國(guó)人每天都會(huì)用反諷的幽默，而美國(guó)人用的卻不是很多。他寫(xiě)道：“換句話說(shuō)，英式笑話更隱晦，伴有黑色和諷刺的潛臺(tái)詞……而美式笑話更明顯、直白，和美國(guó)人的個(gè)性很像。”
Pegg illustrated his point by transcribing a joke he heard a British friend make, in the wake offamily tragedy.
佩吉轉(zhuǎn)述了他從英國(guó)朋友那聽(tīng)到的一個(gè)笑話，調(diào)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?shù)脑岫Y。”
B: “Sorry to hear that.”
B：“節(jié)哀順變。”
A: “Don’t be. It was the first time he ever paid for the drinks.”
A：“別這么說(shuō)。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 socialanthropologist, describes her country’s humor rules. She argues that irony, understatement andself-depreciation are ingrained in the English mindset. “Humor is our ‘default mode’... We do nothave to switch it on deliberately, and we cannot switch it off,” wrote Fox.
社會(huì)人類學(xué)家凱特•?？怂乖谒臅?shū)《英國(guó)人的言行潛規(guī)則》中描述了英國(guó)的幽默方式。她認(rèn)為，諷刺、輕描淡寫(xiě)和自黑是英國(guó)人骨子里根深蒂固的東西。她寫(xiě)道：“幽默是我們的‘默認(rèn)模式’……我們不必刻意啟動(dòng)它，當(dāng)然也不能關(guān)掉它。”
“American humor is more straightforward like the punchlines in the famous TV show Friends,” anInternet user named “Zac” wrote on Zhihu. “You burst out laughing immediately when you watchAmerican humor, and then you forget about it quite quickly, but it takes time to digest Englishhumor, and it may be funnier when you reminisce about it.”
知乎網(wǎng)友Zac說(shuō)：“美式幽默一般直白、淺顯，如《老友記》的笑料。”“美式笑料屬于當(dāng)場(chǎng)大笑，笑過(guò)就忘，而英式幽默屬于細(xì)嚼慢咽型，回味或許比看的當(dāng)下更覺(jué)得好笑。”
