九游体育 -4蘢桭脈它篡紆厰诒馈781

　　English Humour Vs. American Humor:九游电竞

　　Is There a Difference?

4蘢桭脈它篡紆厰诒馈781

By Emma Gervais ∷ 敖冰嫣选注

　　幽默在很大程度上都受文化的影响，不同的文化、历史与社会因素决定着你对幽默的理解程度。那么，在母语都是英语的美国和英国，人们对幽默的理解又有着哪些本质区别和共通之处呢？

　　Humour is a phenomenon which is influenced by culture. It can be diffcult to determine what aspects define a certain sense of humour. A nation’s wit is linked to the historical development of the country. How funny somebody finds a certain incident depends on many factors including age,九游官网入口 personal experience, level of education and geographical location.1Therefore humour is something which is not always transferable2in another country.

　　What about when both countries speak the same mother tongue? Does that mean that they will then share the same sense of humour, or can differences still occur? Let’s take the example of Britain and America. Time and time again, people say that Brits3and Americans don’t “get” each other’s sense of humour. To what extent is this true, if at all?

　　1. 一个人发现某件事的可笑程度要依赖很多因素而定：年龄、个人经历、受教育程度以及地理位置。

4蘢桭脈它篡紆厰诒馈781

　　2. transferable: 可转移的。

　　3. Brit: 英国人。

　　There’s a received wisdom in the U.K. that Americans don’t get irony.4It is often believed to be one of the most common differences between the British and American sense of humour. This is of course not true. One of the major differences seems to be how often both nations use irony. Brits use irony on a daily basis5. We use it as liberally as prepositions in every day speech.6We tease our friends. We use sarcasm as a shield and a weapon.7We avoid sincerity until it’s absolutely necessary. We mercilessly take the piss out ofpeople we like or dislike basically.8And ourselves. This is very important. Our brashness and swagger is laden with equal portions of self-deprecation.9This is our license to hand it out.

　　4. received: 普遍承认的； irony: 讽刺，反讽。

　　5. on a daily basis: 每天。

　　6. 我们在日常对话中大量地使用反讽，就如同使用介词一样频繁。liberally: 大量地，丰富地；prepositions: 介词。

　　7. 我们把嘲讽当作盾牌和武器。

　　8. take the piss out of: 取笑，嘲弄。

　　9. 我们的自以为是与得意忘形其实也满载着同等程度的自嘲。 swagger: 得意忘形，妄自尊大； self-deprecation: 自嘲，自贬。

　　The American sense of humour is generally more slapstick10than that in Britain. I think this arises from11a cultural difference between the two. Their jokes are more obvious and forward, a bit like Americans themselves. British jokes, on the other hand, tend to be more subtle but with a dark or sarcastic undertone.12There is usually a hidden meaning. This may stem from the fact that British culture is more reserved13than American culture.

　　Therefore, although there are differences between both comic styles, there is still an appreciation and understanding of the other sense of humour. Both the British and America versions of the comedy The Office14are hugely successful on both sides of the Atlantic. Both shows have their own cultural differences, yet they portray a lifestyle which both Americans and Brits alike can relate to.15

　　10. slapstick: 充满胡闹的。

　　11. arise from: 起源于，由……产生。

　　12. 另一方面，英式幽默往往会更加微妙，但却带有一种阴郁隐晦或嘲弄挖苦的意味。undertone:（言行的）含意，意味。

　　13. reserved: 拘谨的，内向的。

　　14. The Office:《办公室》，美国的一部喜剧片，该片根据大受欢迎的英国BBC同名喜剧改编，记录了九游网址一群办公室白领的日常生活。

　　15. relate to: 发生共鸣，认同。

以上内容节选自《英语学习》杂志，更多精彩，尽在2017年《英语学习》。

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