chrisim101010:The funnest part of these jokes is the need for explanations. Where else can someone say a joke with explanations and get away with it!

This is because national jokes can not be international if they touch national matters which only the natives understand well.

MiEstasDavid:

It seems that this convention (nodding for "yes") is not universal: The greek use the opposite convention.

Wow, very interesting. I had no idea. I supposed I need to see a little bit more of the world before I make any assumptions.

It also doesn't help that the Greek word for "yes" is "ne" (written ναί), and the Greek word for "no" is "oĥi" (όχι, reminds you of "okay").

ceigered:Haha, nah I meant nod for yes. La universala lingvo ne estas tiom universala

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RE Targanook's joke, think of it like this:

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An aide with broken English is looking for the Hungarian diplomat at a social event, so he can escort him to an important conference.

He comes up to a man with grey hair and a bushy moustache.
"Are you hungary?"
"No, I'm-a the Italian diplomat"

He then proceeds to another typical looking European man.
"Are you hungary?"
"Nah, sorry mate, I'm here from Australia"

The man then finds a bespectacled man in his late 50's.
"Are you hungary?"
"I surely am, I've been waiting for someone to ask me about that!"

The aide laughs at the joke, and escorts the diplomat to the conference hall. Upon arriving, the diplomat is met with many confused looks from his colleaguges.

"Who is this man?!" they ask the aide, even though they should know him.

The diplomat speaks up - "I tell you, in Romania when we ask if a man's hungry we give people food not blank stares!"

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It's a crap joke coz I only just came up with it, but same principle. - In tarnagook's joke they man is asking if he's cold/hot etc and the man misunderstands and says his name instead.

A friend of mine lodged two Italian daughters of some friends for a month so they could build up some fluency in English. They had been strictly warned by their mothers not be any trouble to him, and to do all the housework and cooking etc. He works hard for a living and would hide himself away in another room when he came home. Invariably they would appear at the door in five minutes asking, "Are you angry?" "No," he would reply, "just a bit tired." About two weeks into the trip they said one day, "You must be very angry today. You ad no breakfast before you left the ouse."

ceigered:Haha, nah I meant nod for yes. La universala lingvo ne estas tiom universala

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RE Targanook's joke, think of it like this:

------

An aide with broken English is looking for the Hungarian diplomat at a social event, so he can escort him to an important conference.

He comes up to a man with grey hair and a bushy moustache.
"Are you hungary?"
"No, I'm-a the Italian diplomat"

He then proceeds to another typical looking European man.
"Are you hungary?"
"Nah, sorry mate, I'm here from Australia"

The man then finds a bespectacled man in his late 50's.
"Are you hungary?"
"I surely am, I've been waiting for someone to ask me about that!"

The aide laughs at the joke, and escorts the diplomat to the conference hall. Upon arriving, the diplomat is met with many confused looks from his colleaguges.

"Who is this man?!" they ask the aide, even though they should know him.

The diplomat speaks up - "I tell you, in Romania when we ask if a man's hungry we give people food not blank stares!"

-----

It's a crap joke coz I only just came up with it, but same principle. - In tarnagook's joke they man is asking if he's cold/hot etc and the man misunderstands and says his name instead.

Haha, cool! Thanks I get it now

barat:

ceigered:...RE Targanook's joke, think of it like this:...

Your joke is based on bad English. Targanook's one is based on ambiguity of colloquial Polish - the question "jak ci?" can mean both "How do you feel (cold or warm)?" and "What's your name?". Of course the situation was quite clear, but the nude man chose the second meaning which is pure nonsence in this case - that's the whole fun in it. There are milion of such jokes in every language. So it seams that misunderstanding also can be funny as anything else.

Even though it was based on bad English spelling, the words "hungry" and "Hungary" are, at least in my dialect, pronounced the same way. So really, speaking wise, ceigered's joke was the same type of joke as Targanook's. And it really helped me to understand it better XP

chrisim101010:The funnest part of these jokes is the need for explanations. Where else can someone say a joke with explanations and get away with it!

True that, true that

erinja:

MiEstasDavid:

It seems that this convention (nodding for "yes") is not universal: The greek use the opposite convention.

Wow, very interesting. I had no idea. I supposed I need to see a little bit more of the world before I make any assumptions.

It also doesn't help that the Greek word for "yes" is "ne" (written ναί), and the Greek word for "no" is "oĥi" (όχι, reminds you of "okay").

Geez, that's confusing @_@

MiEstasDavid:Even though it was based on bad English spelling, the words "hungry" and "Hungary" are, at least in my dialect, pronounced the same way

Same here - as a kid I thought "Hungry Jacks" (a burger chain similar to Burger King, since it was actually a runaway offshoot of it) was in some way Hungarian...

@Cisksje: pure gold!

ceigered:

MiEstasDavid:Even though it was based on bad English spelling, the words "hungry" and "Hungary" are, at least in my dialect, pronounced the same way

Same here - as a kid I thought "Hungry Jacks" (a burger chain similar to Burger King, since it was actually a runaway offshoot of it) was in some way Hungarian...

@Cisksje: pure gold!

Oh, the joys of being young BTW, I didn't know there was a place called Hungry Jacks in Australia, it looks a lot like Burger King.

Altebrilas: It seems that this convention (nodding for "yes") is not universal: The greek use the opposite convention.

I aways understood that smiling is universal - is this so?

1Guy1:

Altebrilas: It seems that this convention (nodding for "yes") is not universal: The greek use the opposite convention.

I aways understood that smiling is universal - is this so?

Not to gorillas and other primates - they sometimes interpret smiles as a sign of peace, not wanting to get in a fight, or accepting the other individual's authority or higher status (some communities of gorillas shake their heads too, as if saying "hey man, I don't think hostile relations are a good idea, let's be friends *smile*")

Wait, hang on, that's pretty much why people smile too... IT IS UNIVERSAL!

(long story short - smiling is an instinctual response than may have various interpreted meanings, but rest assured one of them is a sign of peace and happiness )

Head shake

Nodding

Both from Wikipedia

ceigered:

1Guy1:

Altebrilas: It seems that this convention (nodding for "yes") is not universal: The greek use the opposite convention.

I aways understood that smiling is universal - is this so?

Not to gorillas and other primates - they sometimes interpret smiles as a sign of peace, not wanting to get in a fight, or accepting the other individual's authority or higher status (some communities of gorillas shake their heads too, as if saying "hey man, I don't think hostile relations are a good idea, let's be friends *smile*")

Wait, hang on, that's pretty much why people smile too... IT IS UNIVERSAL!

(long story short - smiling is an instinctual response than may have various interpreted meanings, but rest assured one of them is a sign of peace and happiness )

I think he meant universal among humans but that works too. lol, very interesting.