Cross-Culture Humor Faliure

Filed under: Uncategorized — Jeff in Korea at 7:29 pm on Tuesday, December 28, 2004

An example of a frustrating conversation. There is something intrinsically frustrating and aggravating about explaining things like this.

Me: A man was giving a speech at a meeting. He got a bit carried away and talked for two hours. Finally, he realized what he had done and said, "I’m sorry I talked so long. I left my watch at home." A voice from the back of the room replied, "There’s a calendar behind you . . . "

Korean Friend: i don’t get it why calendar?

Me: He talked so long, he didn’t have to look at a watch… he should look at a calendar to see how long he talked.

Korean Friend: he talked for two hours

Me: that’s a long time…nevermind.

Korean Friend: what’s the related thing with the calendar?

Me: just a funny way of saying he talked too long. it was only two hours, but it was so long it FELT like days.

Korean Friend: it doesn’t make sence completely~~

Me:  Ugh…

7 Comments »

Comment by iqwm

28 December 2004 @ 10:12 pm

i totally got it, if that helps any.

course, i’m in Ozarkia….

Comment by Neil

29 December 2004 @ 9:04 am

I’ve been trying to explain sarcasm to my older Korean students. Those who’ve travelled understand sarcasm but the others haven’t got a clue. Strange.

Comment by ders

29 December 2004 @ 6:44 pm

Students often seem to believe that sarcasm is the same as irony (perhaps this has something to do with it).  Once they accept that they’ve been misled by their trusty dictionaries, they usually catch on.

Ironically, Koreans use sarcasm quite a bit in their own language.

Comment by SDCarroll

29 December 2004 @ 9:26 pm

My wife equates sarcasm with lying.

“Why would you say one thing but mean the opposite?”

My response: “I’m sooo glad we’re having this conversation” didn’t go over too well, either.

Comment by Drambuie_man

1 January 2005 @ 8:25 pm

Take these posts and the “harmful things list”. Perhaps the commitee on youth protection is deathly serious about the existance of Goblin Condoms.

Comment by miki

20 January 2005 @ 6:21 pm

i think it’s really funny, though i can’t speak and understand english fully. So this might be a problem with your friend’s sense of humour :]

Comment by Young

12 February 2005 @ 4:18 pm

It happens often. I can fully understand but it also might has something to do with the lack of your friend’s sense of humor. Sometimes, I find same problem of understanding spoken/written in English jokes.

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