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strange," said the customer who was left standing at the bar.
"Yes," said the publican. "Wonder what's happened? Previously, he only drank lemonade!””
When the author has told this joke Westerners generally think it funny partly because it is so ridiculous, but also because it is just about impossible. But most Chinese, unless very westernised, have been unable to appreciate it. To Westerners, it tends to be not just 'funny ha ha' but also 'funny peculiar.'
Chinese tend not to be able to visualise easily the bar scene. Indeed if one uses the word 'pub' and 'publican' many Hong Kong Chinese might not be too clear what you mean. They are not common Hong Kong words. Harking back to what was written at the start of this paper, Bloom (Wu, undated; 3) contended that language inevitably affects the thinking processes of people. Another comment made by a professor of comparative Chinese/English linguistics at Taiwan National University was: 'You know, English has a whole complex of ways of talking, and hence thinking, on an abstract, theoretical level, which Chinese doesn't have (Bloom, 1981; 35). We speak and think more directly.' Similar comments have also been not infrequently heard by others who appear qualified to judge. If thinking is indeed affected in this way then speech must also affect senses of humour.
Lifestyle is important and many Chinese jokes are centred around the circular, Chinese banquet table. That is part of their everyday life and they can easily picture the situation. There a man turns his glass upside down and rubs his finger around the bottom. When asked why he was doing that he replied, it was to make the glass shorter. 'But why make it smaller?' he was questioned.
"They give us so little to drink here,' came the answer, 'there is no need to have such a big glass!'
Some argue that Chinese do not generally see the funny side of the joke about walking up the pub wall because Asians tend to see things in complex, contextual, all-embracing ways (Waters, 1991; 35). With Chinese landscape painting more attention is paid to the overall
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strange," said the customer who was left standing at the bar.
"Yes," said the publican. "Wonder what's happened? Previously, he only drank lemonade!””
When the author has told this joke Westerners generally think it funny partly because it is so ridiculous, but also because it is just about impossible. But most Chinese, unless very westernised, have been unable to appreciate it. To Westerners, it tends to be not just 'funny ha ha' but also 'funny peculiar.'
Chinese tend not to be able to visualise easily the bar scene. In- deed if one uses the word 'pub' and 'publican' many Hong Kong Chi- nese might not be too clear what you mean. They are not common Hong Kong words. Harking back to what was written at the start of this paper, Bloom (Wu,undated;3) contended that language inevitably af- fects the thinking processes of people. Another comment made by a professor of comparative Chinese/English linguistics at Taiwan Na- tional University was: 'You know, English has a whole complex of ways of talking, and hence thinking, on an abstract, theoretical level, which Chinese doesn't have (Bloom, 1981;35). We speak and think more directly.' Similar comments have also been not infrequently heard by others who appear qualified to judge. If thinking is indeed affected in this way then speech must also affect senses of humour.
Lifestyle is important and many Chinese jokes are centred around the circular, Chinese banquet table. That is part of their everyday life and they can easily picture the situation. There a man turns his glass upside down and rubs his finger around the bottom. When asked why he was doing that he replied, it was to make the glass shorter. 'But why make it smaller?' he was questioned..
"They give us so little to drink here. ' came the answer, 'there is no need to have such a big glass!'
Some argue that Chinese do not generally see the funny side of the joke about walking up the pub wall because Asians tend to see things in complex, contextual, all-embracing ways (Waters, 1991;35). With Chinese landscape painting more attention is paid to the overall
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