Humor or no humor. How big is the difference in sense of humor between Dutch and foreigners, men and women? You can read it in this article.
What is humor?
Humanity has been trying to explain humor for millennia. For example, the Greek philosopher Aristotle claimed that humor arises from feelings of superiority. The idea that we are above someone else would make us happy. Another common explanation for humor is that we laugh because of incongruity. A story doesn’t turn out the way you expect and that confusion makes you laugh. Recently, the claim was added that humor is when something feels like a violation of how something should actually be done, but you know that violation is innocent. Perhaps humor is a feeling that is interpreted differently by each individual…
Difference in humor between countries
Humor differs from country to country and even within a country like the Netherlands, the audience in Brabant reacts differently than in Groningen when, for example, Youp van ‘t Hek performs. Our Dutch humor is mainly characterized by grumbling about everything that should be different. That is what makes Youp van ‘t Hek so typically Dutch. Surinamese people mainly laugh at recognition and the British mainly laugh at language and word errors.
Difference in humor between men and women
There is not only a difference in humor between different countries, but also between men and women there is a difference in what people find funny and what not. For example, men appear to laugh at schadenfreude and women do not. Women mainly laugh at recognizable situations.
The best and worst joke in the world
A number of years ago, a study was started at the English University into the best joke in the world. People from all over the world could submit their joke and rate others’. This resulted in a winning joke, but also the worst joke as well as insights into the differences in humor. Irish, British, Australians and New Zealanders appeared to have a strong preference for puns. Americans and Canadians are especially likely to laugh at jokes that feature victims, and Europeans most liked jokes about difficult topics such as illness, death and relationships.
The best joke in the world is: ‘2 hunters are out in the Woods when one of them collapses. He doesn’t seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, ‘My friend is dead! What can I do?’.The operator says ‘Calm down, I can help. First, let’s make sure he’s dead.’ There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says ‘Ok, now what?’
The worst joke in the world is : ‘Why did the chicken cross the street? To get to the other side.”
Further comment is unnecessary…
Humor about animals
Jokes often contain an animal as the subject. It is no surprise that we humans can laugh at animals. Just think of jokes about squirrels or funny Disney characters such as Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse and Pluto. The most comical animal on earth appears, after research at the University of Hertfordshire, to be the duck.