美式幽默篇一：美式幽默

美式幽默

Why Do People Do That?The Rationale behind Behavior

美式幽默

幽默是表達“非正式性”的方法之一。美國人視幽默為“破冰”之要, 它能打破僵局讓別人舒服，也建立了友好的氣氛。美國人常彼此建議要在報告或會議中加些幽默笑話。因為幽默可以讓大家拋開職位、立場的不同，打成一片。美國人常以其有趣的笑話或個人的丑事聞名，可是，很多亞洲人卻會將這種好玩的言詞，聽成一種批評的方式。不可否認(rèn)的，下至上司、公司董事長，上至美國總統(tǒng)，大家都無法避免的要幽默一下。

很多美國式的幽默跟亞洲一樣，都是借由雙關(guān)語或文字游戲來表現(xiàn)的。有時，很令人尷尬的一點就是你周圍每個人都聽得懂某個笑話，獨獨只有你一個人陷在迷霧之中。你可以裝成聽懂，跟大家一起笑，但心里卻覺得不舒服�；蛘吣憧梢圆蛔鋈魏畏磻�(yīng)，但心里卻覺得不自在。說實在的，在這種情形下，沒有什么所謂好的回應(yīng)辦法。唯一能做的，就是告訴自己要了解其他文化中的笑話，其實是一件最難的事。因此要是你可以聽懂另一種語言中的笑話，那就是表示你已非常熟悉那個文化了。

奧拉瑞先生被派駐在香港已兩個月了，他感到一切似乎都進行得很順利。有一天，當(dāng)大家都正在等最后幾個人員到齊開每周匯報時，奧拉瑞先生笑著對他的助理賴先生說：“小賴，你身上那條領(lǐng)帶真丑!我從沒看過這么難看的，你在哪

兒找到的?”賴先生頓時緘默起來，因為他沒想到老板會注意他的領(lǐng)帶，而且，就算他不喜歡這條領(lǐng)帶，也沒料到他竟會在公開的場合中說出來。奧拉瑞先生一看賴先生臉色不對，就知道自己說錯話了。雖然他絕非有意得罪，但說出來的話已經(jīng)不能收回了。

有一種嘲諷跟幽默有點關(guān)系，但沒有特定的名詞，我們姑且稱它為“善意的嘲諷”。善意的嘲諷就是口里說別人如何不好，但心里并不這么想。這種嘲諷在美國作了一天，你的同事可能會說：“你今天很混哦!”通常，美國人受到這樣的評論時，都會以同樣的善意嘲諷回應(yīng)過去。因此，上例中的賴先生，大可以回答說：“我只是不想讓你和我相比之下，顯得難看。所以，只好犧牲色相了�！� 對很多美國人而言，這種互動方式是表示：“我跟你的交情很夠，所以我可以講講你的壞話，而你也知道我只是在開玩笑而已。”這種溝通方式也表示我們不但彼此認(rèn)識，而且友誼很深厚。

不幸的是“善意的嘲諷”在亞洲卻總是行不通。因為大部分亞洲人對此的自然反應(yīng)都是感到驚訝和被傷害。 “怎么會有人這樣口無忌憚，不在乎別人的感受呢?”很多美國人都知道這招在亞洲吃不開，所以都盡量避免。但對有些美國人來說，真是積習(xí)難改。如果你跟美國人工作時，可能會受到這樣的嘲諷。一旦發(fā)生時，最好提醒自己是處于不同文化規(guī)則及語境的觀念中，而別只在那里生悶氣。

致勝絕招

如果有人用“善意的嘲諷”對你時，你有兩個選擇。一是以其人之道，還治其人之身。如此一來，會鼓勵別人將來也繼續(xù)用這一招對待你。一是裝得聽不懂一樣，說：“對不起，你說什么?”這樣的回應(yīng)會讓那個老美知道這種幽默方式

行不通。他們可能會跟你道歉或是跟你說他們只是跟你開玩笑而已。即使你心里覺得不高興，也要相信他們。你的這種回應(yīng)方式應(yīng)該會讓他們避免將來繼續(xù)這招“善意的嘲諷”對待你才是。

—引自喬 瓦拉治 & 葛兒 麥考夫著的《如何與老美共事》北京：機械工業(yè)出版

社：1999

Why Do People Do That?

The Rationale behind Behavior

A daily newspaper featured a front-page photo of the state

department’s leading international diplomat holding hands with an Arab diplomat of the same sex (male). Our international expert was using, appropriately, an Arab gesture to express friendship with an Arab. The intent of the goal here is to see the logic behind any example of cross-cultural behavior—however bizarre or perplexing the behavior initially may appear to culture-bound eyes.

When an individual attempts to satisfy a basic need he or she usually has to employ many interacting cultural patterns that form a relatively

cohesive structure. Some of these patterns are linguistic; others are not. For example, maintaining the respect of male peers in upper-class Guatemala City might involve skill in telling jokes and discussing literature, knowledge of English and of wines and liqueurs, having a resort home in which to entertain guests away from the city, and dressing conservatively.

The Motive behind Human Behavior

We hear “people are the same all over the world.” Yet there are obvious differences. How can we reconcile this universality of the species with the uniqueness of its many cultures?

People everywhere are impelled to satisfy certain basic needs such as for food and shelter, for love and affection, and for self-respect. People have banded together to meet these needs. Predictably, different bands of people have developed different ways of doing so. An Eskimo might convey love and thoughtfulness to an elderly person by helping the person’s friends and relatives hang him or her when he or she wishes to die. An American might manifest the same sentiment by attempting to prolong the life of an incurably sick elder in constant pain from cancer. The question students of intercultural communication can ask of any observed or reported behavior in the target culture is: What universal need is the

individual trying to satisfy?

Maslow’s sense of what motivates humans (he calls it “a holistic-dynamic theory”) begins with satisfying fundamental

physiological drives. “A person who is lacking food, safety, love, and esteem would most probably hunger for food more strongly than for anything else.” When physiological needs are relatively well gratified, a new set of needs emerges. Maslow calls these “safety needs”; Security;

stability; dependency; protection; freedom from fear, anxiety, and chaos; need for structure, order, law, limits; strength in the protector; etc. If both physiological and safety needs are fairly well gratified, “belongingness and love needs” will emerge. These needs evidence themselves as a “hunger for affectionate relations” within the

individual’s group or family. This individual will “feel sharply the pangs of loneliness, of ostracism, or rejection, or friendlessness, or rootlessness.”

Maslow maintains that in addition to physiological, safety, and belongingness and love needs, every healthy person also has “esteem” needs. There are two types of esteem needs: (1) the desire for strength, for achievement, for adequacy, for mastery and competence, and for independence and freedom, and (2) the desire for reputation, prestige, status, fame, and glory. Finally, Maslow says even if all of these needs are satisfied, one will still experience a “new discontent and

美式幽默篇二：美式幽默與英式幽默的區(qū)別

Humour is a phenomenon which is influenced by culture. It can be difficult to determine what aspects define a certain sense of humour. A nation’s wit is linked to the historical development of the country. How funny somebody finds a certain incident depends on many factors including age, personal experience, level of education and geographical location. Therefore humour is something which is not always transferable in another country.

What somebody from one area may find hilarious may not be amusing at all to somebody from another location. Whether or not someone gets a joke is determined by their interpretation, filtered by the cultural context.

What about when both countries speak the same mother tongue? Does that mean that they will then share the same sense of humour, or can differences still occur? Let’s take the example of Britain and America. Not only do Americans and British spell the word “humour” differently, most claim that American humor and British humour are quite

different in nature. Time and time again, people say that Brits and Americans don’t“get” each other’s sense of humour. To what extent is this true, if at all?

There’s a received wisdom in the U.K. that Americans don’t get irony. It is often believed to be one of the most common differences between the British and American sense of humour. This is of course not true. One of the major differences seems to be how often both nations use irony. Brits use irony on a daily basis. We use it as liberally as prepositions in every day speech. We tease our friends. We use sarcasm as a shield and a weapon. We avoid sincerity until it’s absolutely necessary. We mercilessly take the piss out of people we like or dislike basically. And ourselves. This is very important. Our brashness and swagger is laden with equal portions of self-deprecation. This is our license to hand it out.

But it is not the foundation of American humour. I think Americans understand British irony (most of the time anyway!); what they don’t understand is the need to use it so frequently. When Americans use irony they tend to state that they were “only kidding”. They feel the need to make a joke more obvious than Brits do, maybe this stems from a fear of offending people.

The American sense of humour is generally more slapstick than that in Britain. I think this arises from a cultural difference between the two. Their jokes are more obvious and forward, a bit like Americans themselves. British jokes, on the other hand, tend to be more subtle but with a dark or sarcastic undertone. There is usually a hidden meaning. This may stem from the fact that British culture is more reserved than American culture. Americans say, “Have a nice day” whether they mean it or not. Brits are terrified to say this. We tell ourselves it’s because we don’t want to sound insincere, but I think it might be for the opposite reason. We don’t want to celebrate anything too soo(來自:m.91mayou.com 蒲公英文摘:美式幽默)n. Failure and disappointment lurk around every corner. This is due to our upbringing. Americans are brought up to believe they can be the next president of the United States. Brits are told, “It won’t happen for you.”

Yet certain American comedies have gained huge success in Britain and vice versa. Therefore, although there are differences between both comic styles, there is still an appreciation and understanding of the other sense of humour. Both the British and America versions of the comedy The Office are hugely successful on both sides of the

Atlantic. Both shows have their own cultural differences, yet they portray a lifestyle which both Americans and Brits alike can relate to. Although both nations have subtle differences in their wit, they can both appreciate the other’s sense of humour.

美式幽默篇三：談笑風(fēng)聲：出國必備的十個美式幽默

談笑風(fēng)聲：出國必備的十個美式幽默

美國一些比較幽默的說法也許在日常生活中不是那么常見，但如果在適當(dāng)?shù)臅r機使用，必可收畫龍點睛之效。

1. Is she big-boned? 她是不是很魁梧��？

Big-bone看字面解釋就知道是指骨架很粗大。這對美女（美國的女人）來說是見怪不怪的。在電影Something about Mary中就有一句:“Is she big-boned?”

2. We have a female shortage here.

我們這里鬧女人荒。

理工學(xué)院的男女比例自然是不均勻，連老美也不禁如此感嘆。這樣的說法是不是聽來很特別？

3. You are a freaking Yankee. 你是怪怪的北方佬。

老美彼此之間很喜歡拿對方的出生地做文章。因為南北的差異，所以或多或少北方人看不起南方人，南方人也看不起北方人。Yankee是南北戰(zhàn)爭時北軍的士兵叫Yankee�，F(xiàn)在一般指北方佬。而freaking是說這人很怪，或者解釋成怪胎也可以。

4. I am laying low. 我貓起來了。

當(dāng)別人問How are you doing?的時候可以這樣回答。laying low就是說躲的低低的，怕被別人看到，就是想辦法混就對了。

5. I cut the cheese. 我放屁了。

一般人說放屁這個字都會用fart這個字，但是cut the cheese也有放屁的意思在里面，但這樣的用法似乎并不常用。

6. Do you go out with your gun loaded?

你要帶著你上膛的槍出門嗎？

此槍非彼槍。使用時機就是有些男人出去跟女人約會，滿腦子想的就是如何跟她上床，你要糗糗他，就可以這么說Do you go out with your gun loaded? She probably will get hurt.

7. She is a big gossip. 她是八卦夫人。

Gossip指的就是八卦新聞，但它也可以拿來形容一個人很八卦。或者說你也可以說，She is gossipy.

8. If the boys stare at you, they have guts to suck your teeth!

如果男生盯著你看，他們就有膽親你。

很有趣，但是像這種句子是小孩說的，難登大雅之堂。親嘴還有另外一個口語的用法：smooch. 例如：I didn’t smooch that girl last night.我昨晚沒有親那個女孩。

9. She is vertically challenged. 她向她的身高挑戰(zhàn)。

這樣的說法就是說人家很矮的意思，但是是比較婉轉(zhuǎn)的說法、什么什么challenged就是說心智障礙，也就是低能兒的意思。

10. Where can I dump these white elephants?

這些無用的垃圾我要丟到哪里？

比如說家中的286計算機用之無味，棄之可惜，放在那里一擺就是好幾年，這種垃圾就叫white elephant，只是這樣的說法真的很少見。

相關(guān)熱詞搜索：幽默 美式幽默的特點 美式幽默句子