{"id":537,"date":"2009-04-28T16:16:58","date_gmt":"2009-04-28T20:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/?p=537"},"modified":"2009-04-28T16:16:58","modified_gmt":"2009-04-28T20:16:58","slug":"polish-sense-of-humor-or-lack-thereof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/polish-sense-of-humor-or-lack-thereof\/","title":{"rendered":"Polish Sense of Humor or Lack Thereof"},"content":{"rendered":"

I went to Grycan<\/a> today (yeah, czas na lody<\/strong> \u2013 time for ice cream) with one of my pals and he (oh, hi Martin!<\/em>) had some interesting things to say about how he perceives our (as in: Polish) sense of humor. But before I proceed any further, just to make things absolutely clear – Martin is German. That will explain many things, I\u2019m sure. I hope.<\/p>\n

He reads this blog and he even left maybe two comments once upon a time, sometime last year. But he\u2019s been a keen, faithful reader since this blog began, and because he was passing through my town this week, we decided to meet for coffee (or rather – ice cream).<\/p>\n

So, we ate ice cream and talked. And here\u2019s the kicker \u2013 based on the comments left on this blog by my Polish readers, Martin says that we, as a nation, give the impression of having no sense of humor whatsoever. What puzzles him is that Poles have a great sense of humor if one deals with them in person, he says.<\/p>\n

Apparently, judging from the comments on this blog, we come across as a dull nation obsessed with grammar and taking immense pleasure in pointing out other people\u2019s (Poles) mistakes. He says that this linguistic one-upmanship can be rather amusing for an outsider to watch.<\/p>\n

Yikes! Are we really THAT bad? If so, I sincerely apologize, just in general on behalf of all my Polish readers and commenters.<\/p>\n

But then Martin went on to say that fortunately, Polish people are quite delightful and funny when you talk to them in person. Now, that\u2019s better! With that, I can completely agree.<\/p>\n

What I think the problem is, is that Poles have a very specific sense of humor, one that is not so easily understood by non-natives. Of course, that a sense of humor can be country-specific is true of pretty much any nation in the world, even including Germans.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d be the first one to admit that we tend to laugh at things that may seem\u2026 well\u2026 strange, I guess. Anyone (anyone foreign, that is) who has ever tried to watch \u201cSami swoi<\/em>\u201d knows exactly what I\u2019m talking about. My husband to this day doesn\u2019t understand what\u2019s so funny about this film.<\/p>\n

So, here\u2019s a very serious question to my non-Polish readers \u2013 do we, Poles, have a sense of humor? Or don\u2019t? And how does it come across to foreigners?<\/p>\n