Robert Gowty
Aug 28, 2024

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I can't think of a specific joke, but physical humour, such as the bucket on the door, works across cultures because it's not reliant on language, "bolt" for example.

Self-defeating, or what we'd more usually call self-deprecating humour is very common in Australia and has somewhat of a reverse impact to what you describe. It's often used by confident, social people as a way of making people feel included, which is in tune with egalitarian values. A kind of "don't worry, I don't think I'm better than you." It's often subtle and doesn't make sense to other cultures, particularly Americans.

This was voted the best cross cultural joke: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_funniest_joke

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Robert Gowty
Robert Gowty

Written by Robert Gowty

Extemporal Explorer. Music, art, fiction, science fiction, culture and technology. Tasmanian Existentialism. Aficionado of the number seven.

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