Americans Get Irony

Living in England is a tonic. The gray skies contrast sharply with the twinkle in everyone's eye. Yesterday, everywhere I turned something funny was happening.

Two American girls asked the bus driver how to get to Harrods. He said "you need to get the bus on the other side of the street". One looked at the other and said "what did he say?". He threw me such a look!

A policeman came up to me and "just started chatting". Then he said "what do you do?" "I'm a market researcher, I get paid to ask people questions." Then we both laughed - so does he!

There's a brilliant book on the subject - 'Watching the English. The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour' by Kate Fox:

"Many English people seem to believe that we have some sort of global monopoly, if not on humour itself, then at least on certain 'brands' of humour - the highclass ones such as wit and especially irony. My findings indicate that while there may indeed be something distinctive about English humour, the real 'defining characteristic' is the VALUE we put on humour, the central importance of humour in English culture and interactions."

"...most English conversations will involve at least some degree of banter, teasing, irony, understatement, humorous self-deprecation, mockery or just silliness. Humour is our 'default mode'."

Yet Americans too use irony for comic effect. Here's Hugh Hewitt:

"Today's Lost Angeles Times, that circulation giant and revenue engine of the Tribune Company, runs a 24 column inch, page A-3 story on a "new" book by British author Philippe Sands, "Lawless World." "

An American 'Air Force Wife' writes:

"I have to wonder - what IS it about funerals that sends common sense packing? For instance, what is the criteria for choosing the people who speak the eulogy and those who make other speeches? Is it political clout? I’d always thought the pall-bearers and eulogizers should be intimates of the deceased. "

"I mean, if I've been operating under the wrong assumption about funerary arrangements, I am going to have to make a change from expecting my husband to sob through a speech about what an asset to society I was and expecting my kids to carry my heavy-ass coffin to it's final resting place. I mean, if those things that I thought were basic items of propriety are no longer necessarily enforced, I can have quite a lot of fun with this."

Then there's PJ, who's an honorary Brit after starring in all those British Airways commericals:

"All over the Muslim world there are riots and boycotts of Danish products. And I join the Muslims in solidarity (although, come on, you're Muslims, you shouldn't be drinking Carlsberg anyway). "

"...But I'm sure these depictions of Muhammad will infuriate me as much as they infuriate Muslims, if for somewhat different reasons. The cartoons are badly drawn and not very funny. I know that sight unseen, because the cartoons are European."

"I feel sorry for the angry mobs setting fire to the embassies. They should at least have gotten a good chuckle before they set out with their matches and gas cans. However, on a personal and professional note, I want to thank the angry mobs for showing up."

"I've put in some time as a satirist myself. It is the fondest dream of every wiseacre to get a really dramatic reaction from the public. Nothing is as disheartening to a humorist as having his most sardonic jibes, his most telling thrusts "laughed off." And the violent protests against Denmark, which have now become violent protests against almost all the nations of Old Europe, prove that humor truly is a form of communication that transcends all languages and cultures. The Europeans have made their little joke. The Muslims get it."