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When Japanese People Say “American Joke” — 12 Comments

  1. Reminds me of Time Travelers

    http://youtu.be/RBHUBObw6O0

    “American Joke” flag hanging in the background

    ピザを注文したら店員が8枚切りにしますか?
    6枚切りにしますか?って聞きやがるのさ。
    だから俺は言ってやったね。8枚も食えないから
    6枚切りにしてくれ、

    ☆笑い待ち☆

    Everyone laughs

      • The joke is that you are cutting the pizza in 8 slices instead of 6 slices. The person says that eating 8 slices would be too much. But actually, it’s still the same amount of pizza!

        • Ahh I see, thanks! I was confused because I thought 切る meant something else than “cut” in this case, like the person was ordering 8 pizzas or something. I think this was because where I live they never cut the pizza for you – you have to do it yourself!

  2. I’m wondering how much sarcasm is actually used in the Japanese language. Or if it’s a western concept – hence them not getting it. Really curious to know.

    • Sarcasm is of course way more common in Western humor (especially American). However, that doesn’t mean it has zero existence in Japan.

  3. I remember reading somewhere that Japanese didn’t understand sarcasm at all. It just seemed weird to me. I guess it’s just uncommon. All my jokes are sarcasm. :-(

    • It does exist, just many people don’t like that form of humor compared to the way it is welcomed open arms in many Western countries.

      • This is actually interesting. Just like Adam said, I think it’s a matter of culture and maybe exposure, not so much about “not getting it”. I haven’t paid attention to this before, but recently I’ve become aware of how common sarcasm is in the Western culture. Nowadays I often find many people unnecessarily sarcastic, even though I used to love heavily sarcastic humour. Now it often seems less funny and kind of mean.

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