ChinesePod
aChinesePod
@ 50240 中西方幽默
A 哎，我一不小心又把我女朋友給得罪了。她現在生氣不理我了，真鬱悶。
āi, wǒ yī bùxiǎoxīn yòu bǎ wǒ nǚpéngyou gěi dézuì le. tā xiànzài shēngqì bùlǐ wǒ le, zhēn yùmèn.
Agh, once again, I've gone and offended my girlfriend! Now she's angry and she won't respond to me. I'm really down in the dumps.
B 啊？怎麼回事呢？
á? zěnmehuíshì ne?
Huh? What happened?
A 我和她開個小玩笑，沒想到她還當真了，真是一點兒也不幽默。
wǒ hé tā kāi ge xiǎowánxiào, méixiǎngdào tā hái dàngzhēn le, zhēnshì yīdiǎnr yě bù yōumò.
I made a joke with her. I had no idea she would take it to heart. She has no sense of humor at all.
B 可能是理解上的偏差吧，才會把玩笑當真。不過玩笑也別開得太過火，否則就不是幽默啦。
kěnéng shì lǐjiě shang de piānchā ba, cái huì bǎ wánxiào dàngzhēn. bùguò wánxiào yě bié kāi de tài guòhuǒ, fǒuzé jiù bù shì yōumò la.
Maybe you two had different takes on it, and so she took the joke seriously. But you can't go overboard with the jokes, or they're not funny anymore.
A 可能吧。我很喜歡輕鬆詼諧的氣氛，所以有時會想一些笑話來逗逗她，可是她常常不懂得欣賞我的幽默，反而和我生氣。要知道我本意並不是要取笑她。真是弄巧成拙啊。
kěnéng ba. wǒ hěn xǐhuan qīngsōng huīxié de qìfēn, suǒyǐ yǒushí huì xiǎng yīxiē xiàohuà lái dòu dou tā, kěshì tā chángcháng bù dǒngde xīnshǎng wǒ de yōumò, fǎnér hé wǒ shēngqì. yào zhīdào wǒ běnyì bìngbùshì yào qǔxiào tā. zhēnshì nòngqiǎochéngzhuō a.
Yeah, maybe. I really like a relaxed, easy atmosphere, so sometimes I think of a joke or two to get her to laugh. But she often doesn't understand my humor. In fact, she gets angry at me! She should understand that I wasn't trying to make fun of her. I just really hit a nerve.
B 哈哈，幽默真算得上是一門藝術，懂得欣賞幽默可以讓你的生活充滿歡笑，不恰當的玩笑也會讓朋友反目成仇。看來講笑話時一定要講究場合和時間，不然很容易讓人以為你在故意諷刺或者冒犯他。
hāhā, yōumò zhēn suàndeshàng shì yī mén yìshù, dǒngde xīnshǎng yōumò kěyǐ ràng nǐ de shēnghuó chōngmǎn huānxiào, bùqiàdàng de wánxiào yě huì ràng péngyou fǎnmùchéngchóu. kànlai jiǎngxiàohuà shí yīdìng yào jiǎngjiù chǎnghé hé shíjiān, bùrán hěn róngyì ràng rén yǐwéi nǐ zài gùyì fěngcì huòzhě màofàn tā.
Ha ha, humor really deserves to be called an art. Knowing how to appreciate humor can fill your life with happiness and laughter. Making inappropriate jokes can make your friends have a falling out with you. Looks like you really need to pick the right time and occasion for telling jokes. Otherwise, it's easy for others to think that you're intentionally making fun of them, or even offending them.
A 是呀。我想這也是中西方文化的不同。以諷刺挖苦的口吻開玩笑在西方是很正常的。我感覺中國人比較好面子，所以比較忌諱別人拿自己的一些不足開玩笑。其實開玩笑的人並無意取笑這個缺陷，只是想用幽默的方式讓話題變得更輕鬆些。有時候善意的諷刺只是一種幽默。
shì ya. wǒ xiǎng zhè yě shì zhōngxīfāng wénhuà de bùtóng. yǐ fěngcì wākǔ de kǒuwěn kāiwánxiào zài xīfāng shì hěn zhèngcháng de. wǒ gǎnjué Zhōngguórén bǐjiào hào miànzi, suǒyǐ bǐjiào jìhuì biérén ná zìjǐ de yīxiē bùzú kāiwánxiào. qíshí kāiwánxiào de rén bìng wúyì qǔxiào zhège quēxiàn, zhǐshì xiǎng yòng yōumò de fāngshì ràng huàtí biànde gèng qīngsōng xiē. yǒushíhou shànyì de fěngcì zhǐshì yīzhǒng yōumò.
Yeah. I think that's the difference between Chinese and Western humor. In the West, it's normal to make sarcastic, cutting jokes. I think Chinese people are more concerned with ``face," so they're more sensitive about others making jokes about their short-comings. Actually, the person telling the joke really wasn't intentionally making fun of the short-coming. They're just trying to use humor to lighten the mood. Sometimes, well-intentioned satire is just a kind of humor.
B 我覺得普通的玩笑還好，有時和一些外國朋友聊天，發覺由於文化的差異，雙方對幽默的理解也會不同。他們的一些幽默方式，我有時也理解不來，看著他們哈哈大笑，我經常顧及面子，也會跟著乾笑兩聲，可心裡我一點兒也不覺得好笑。不過等你真正瞭解了他們的文化，就會慢慢理解他們為什麼會覺得好笑了。其實如果你懂得欣賞別人的幽默和笑話，真的會覺得其樂無窮。
wǒ juéde pǔtōng de wánxiào hái hǎo, yǒushí hé yīxiē wàiguópéngyou liáotiān, fājué yóuyú wénhuà de chāyì, shuāngfāng duì yōumò de lǐjiě yě huì bùtóng. tāmen de yīxiē yōumò fāngshì, wǒ yǒushí yě lǐjiě bulái, kàn zhe tāmen hāhādàxiào, wǒ jīngcháng gùjí miànzi, yě huì gēn zhe gànxiào liǎng shēng, kě xīnlǐ wǒ yīdiǎnr yěbù juéde hǎoxiào. bùguò děng nǐ zhēnzhèng liǎojiě le tāmen de wénhuà, jiù huì mànmàn lǐjiě tāmen wèishénme huì juéde hǎoxiào le. qíshí rúguǒ nǐ dǒngde xīnshǎng biérén de yōumò hé xiàohuà, zhēnde huì juéde qílèwúqióng.
I think ordinary jokes are OK. Sometimes when I'm chatting with foreign friends, I discover that because of cultural differences, our senses of humor are different. Sometimes I really don't get their style of humor. When I see them all in stitches, I laugh a little to save face. But inside, I don't think it's funny at all! But when you really understand their culture, you'll gradually understand why they think it's funny. Actually, if you really know how to enjoy other peoples' humor, it's endlessly entertaining.
A 是啊。難怪我平時講一些笑話，一開始大家都覺得不好笑，讓我很失落。可是過了一會，大家又都開始笑起來。這麼說以後講笑話的時候，得給大家一個理解的過程，這樣大家才會覺得好笑。
shì a. nánguài wǒ píngshí jiǎng yīxiē xiàohuà, yī kāishǐ dàjiā dōu juéde bù hǎoxiào, ràng wǒ hěn shīluò. kěshì guò le yīhuì, dàjiā yòu dōu kāishǐ xiào qǐlai. zhème shuō yǐhòu jiǎngxiàohuà de shíhou, děi gěi dàjiā yī ge lǐjiě de guòchéng, zhèyàng dàjiā cái huì juéde hǎoxiào.
Yeah. No wonder that often when I tell jokes, no one thinks it's very funny at first. I get really disappointed. But after a while, everyone starts to laugh again. Come to think of it, in the future, when I tell jokes, I should lead people along a little bit. That's the only way people will think it's funny.
B 哈哈，看來你很善於講“冷笑話”了。可能大家當時覺得不好笑，過一會大家想明白了又會覺得很好笑。我建議你講笑話的時候不妨自己加一些提示，幫助大家理解，這樣大家不是會懂得你的幽默了嗎？這樣還可以避免講笑話冷場的情況發生。要知道有些笑話真的很難懂。我看過好多西方幽默故事都是這種冷笑話，要想想才能明白。
hāhā, kànlai nǐ hěn shànyú jiǎng `` lěngxiàohuà" le. kěnéng dàjiā dāngshí juéde bùhǎoxiào, guò yīhuì dàjiā xiǎng míngbai le yòu huì juéde hěn hǎoxiào. wǒ jiànyì nǐ jiǎngxiàohuà de shíhou bùfáng zìjǐ jiā yīxiē tíshì, bāngzhù dàjiā lǐjiě, zhèyàng dàjiā bù shì huì dǒngde nǐ de yōumò le ma? zhèyàng hái kěyǐ bìmiǎn jiǎngxiàohuà lěngchǎng de qíngkuàng fāshēng. yào zhīdào yǒuxiē xiàohuà zhēnde hěn nándǒng. wǒ kàn guo hǎo duō xīfāng yōumògùshi dōu shì zhèzhǒng lěngxiàohuà, yào xiǎng xiang cái néng míngbai.
Ha ha, looks like you have a knack for telling dry jokes. Maybe at the beginning, nobody thought it was funny, but after a while, they ``get" it, and then they think it's funny. I recommend that when you tell jokes, you give a few hints to help people understand. Won't everyone get your jokes that way? And that way, you can avoid uncomfortable silences when you tell jokes. You should know that some jokes are really hard to understand. I've seen a lot of funny Western stories that are all dry jokes like this. You really have to think them over before you get it.
A 你的建議真不錯。我今天真是遇到了知音了。對了，你有聽說過“聰明人說有，笨蛋說沒有”的故事嗎？
nǐ de jiànyì zhēn bùcuò. wǒ jīntiān zhēnshì yùdào le zhīyīn le. duìle, nǐ yǒu tīngshuō guo `` cōngmingrén shuō yǒu, bèndàn shuō méiyǒu" de gùshi ma?
Your advice is right on. I've really run into someone who understands me today. Oh, right-- have you heard the story about how smart people say they have, and stupid people say they haven't?
B 沒有。你說來聽聽......啊！我上當了！！
méiyǒu. nǐ shuōlai tīng ting......a! wǒ shàngdàng le! !
No, I haven't. Tell me...hey! You got me!
A 哈哈哈哈......
hāhāhāhā......
Key Vocabulary
得罪 dézuì to offend
鬱悶 yùmèn melancholy
詼諧 huīxié humorous
弄巧成拙 nòngqiǎochéngzhuō to outsmart oneself
反目成仇 fǎnmùchéngchóu to have a fall out and become enemies
冒犯 màofàn to offend
挖苦 wākǔ to ridicule
忌諱 jìhuì to avoid as taboo
其樂無窮 qílèwúqióng unlimited joy
冷場 lěngchǎng awkward silence at an occasion; cold reception (as to a joke)
知音 zhīyīn understanding friend
Supplementary Vocabulary
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