Humor (Russian Humor that is)

Humor is a big part of our everyday lives. Where would we be without a good laugh at least once a day?

Something I have learned is that all humor is not created equal.

Even for Americans, something that I might regard as so funny that I end up rolling on the floor and my gut hurts from laughing so hard for so long, may not be funny at all for the person standing behind you in the supermarket checkout line.

So it is the same for Russians and every other country in the world. My point is simply that funny is not always funny to everyone, cut and dry.

This brings me to my next point. A Russian who translates a Russian joke to English never quite understands why we Americans don’t laugh at their jokes.

Coyote vs Roadrunner

Simply, they are not funny to us. My conclusion is two-fold. One, I am not Russian and therefore don’t understand why they think it is funny and two, I feel there is always something lost in the translation. I could say there is a third, and say the joke was not funny to begin with, but I am not Russian and therefore can’t judge what Russians think is funny.

So, here we are. What are we gonna do? Are we going to get divorced over Russian jokes? I don’t think so. But how do we communicate funny things to one another? This is not a simple question, not at all.

Lena and I have been married for 5 wonderful years. A lot of different things have happened to us over the years, mostly good, a few not so good. But we’ve managed and we love each other tremendously. Lena speaks, reads and writes English almost as well as her native language. She understands American humor quite well probably for 3+ years. I applaud her for this! I on the other hand still know little Russian. So, as I stated earlier, I still don’t understand Russian humor. But maybe someday, I will have more insight as to what is funny and not funny to Russians.