The British Sense of Humour

The British are known for their sense of humor. However, it is often difficult for foreigners to make sense of their jokes. The main thing to remember is that the British like to make fun of themselves as well as others. 【小题1】 Another key to understanding British humor is to know that the British often use understatement.

Understatement means saying less than you think or feel. For example, if someone is very impolite and shouts at another person, someone else might say, 'She isn’t exactly friendly.' Understatement is often used in unpleasant situations or to make another person look silly. 【小题2】

The British like to make fun of many other things. They often laugh about the silly and terrible things that happen to us every day, like when someone accidentally falls over in the street. They also like to make jokes about people from different classes of society. 【小题3】Finally, the British love to watch comedies about people who do not know how to behave in society. The comedy programme Mr. Bean is a good example of this kind of humor.

【小题4】In pictures, he almost never talks, and instead he uses his body movement and facial expressions to make people laugh. Perhaps what makes Mr. Bean so funny is that he does things that adults in the real world cannot do. For instance, once Mr. Bean bought a large chair. He needed to take it home, but it was too big to fit in his small car. His solution was to put the chair on top of his car. 【小题5】Mr. Bean is popular in many countries around the world because you do not have to speak English to understand the humor. Because of this, many people can better understand the British sense of humor.