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Poll: Can you make jokes in your second language? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Can you make jokes in your second language?".
This poll was originally submitted by Julian Holmes. View the poll results »
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Julian Holmes 
Japan
Local time: 01:32
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
| You tampered with my poll! | Jan 19, 2014 |
It was originally:
Can you make jokes in your second language?
Yes, people love them
Yes, to a certain extent
Yes, but they don't go across well
No, they fall flat
Other N/A
This is no joke! 
Added the following:
The notification to me states, "!Note that your Quick Poll may have been edited. Slight or substantial modifications are sometimes ma... See more It was originally:
Can you make jokes in your second language?
Yes, people love them
Yes, to a certain extent
Yes, but they don't go across well
No, they fall flat
Other N/A
This is no joke!
Added the following:
The notification to me states, "!Note that your Quick Poll may have been edited. Slight or substantial modifications are sometimes made by site staff members for purposes of simplification, clarification, or to prevent overlap with other Quick Polls that have or will be run."
Ahem. You botched it and butchered it.
[Edited at 2014-01-19 08:20 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Mary Worby
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:32
German to English
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| Telling jokes | Jan 19, 2014 |
I'm not that good at telling jokes in my first language! But I can make (what I hope are) amusing comments in either!
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William Murphy
Italy
Local time: 18:32
Member (2009)
Italian to English
+ ...
| Yes, but they don't (always) go across well | Jan 19, 2014 |
Maybe it's just my particular sense of humor but I seem to notice that what amuses one culture may be simply offensive or too far outside of the contextual norm to generate an automatic response. And, of course, when you have to explain something....
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| People that speak many languages | Jan 19, 2014 |
fluently like translators, I assume, don't have a second language.
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| Can you tell jokes | Jan 19, 2014 |
dasein_wm wrote:
Maybe it's just my particular sense of humor but I seem to notice that what amuses one culture may be simply offensive or too far outside of the contextual norm to generate an automatic response. And, of course, when you have to explain something....
in Italian or German? I thought the poll was about what you do, not what people do.
That some don't understand jokes in told by a person from a different culture is not a sign that there is anything wrong with the teller's language, but rather that the audience cannot appreciate different cultures. A large percentage of the society does not get jokes in any language.
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My husband used to love my jokes in Portuguese. I even impressed him by making some good puns.
But that was a while ago. My spoken fluency has declined over the years.
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but, like Mary, I'm not very good at it, not even in my first language...
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Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:32
Hebrew to English
LilianBNekipelo wrote:
fluently like translators, I assume, don't have a second language.
Of course they do. We all have an L1, many of us went on to learn an L2. Not every translator is a "true" bilingual, nor do they need to be. (I would actually guestimate that the majority of translators aren't true bilinguals, but learnt a second language in childhood/early adulthood).
Sorry - off topic.
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Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:32
Hebrew to English
I'm sure I can be funny in my second language (L2 - for the avoidance of doubt), whether intentionally or not. When it comes to jokes, that's a bit more tricky....
I always shy away from making jokes in Hebrew because humour is a bit of a minefield, not only (and not so much) in a foreign language but more so in a foreign culture. e.g. I've told jokes in English that have SERIOUSLY fallen flat with an American/Canadian audience.
So I would answer that ling... See more I'm sure I can be funny in my second language (L2 - for the avoidance of doubt), whether intentionally or not. When it comes to jokes, that's a bit more tricky....
I always shy away from making jokes in Hebrew because humour is a bit of a minefield, not only (and not so much) in a foreign language but more so in a foreign culture. e.g. I've told jokes in English that have SERIOUSLY fallen flat with an American/Canadian audience.
So I would answer that linguistically/technically, I can make jokes in my second language (and also appreciate jokes which can be just as difficult), but I tend to tread carefully before I attempt cracking one. ▲ Collapse
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 18:32
Spanish to English
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But not everybody gets them. A lot of humour, I'm thinking of jokes in particular, relies on shared cultural knowledge and assumptions, which can be an obstacle.
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Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 18:32
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Since my "second" language has become my "second first" language some four decades ago, people in both cultural environments laugh at my jokes...provided they're funny.
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not in all my second languages: only in Russian and only to a certain extent. And probably only in the family or close friends circle.
I'm not very good at it in my mother tongue anyway!
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Erzsébet Czopyk
Hungary
Local time: 18:32
Member (2006)
Russian to Hungarian
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
I have a nice collection of jokes in different languages very useful when you discuss with the client a quote. Laughing is always good
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My favourite jokes are the ones only understandable by people with a similar language combination. For example, a joke in Finnish which only other Finnish-speaking Spaniards or Spanish-speaking Finns can get. They sound quite pretentious though, but actually they use to be really bad jokes. I love bad jokes .
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