those american jokes never work on me

[exciar28]

Each day, posters post and they say "it's amazing", "best thread ever" to each other. I assume that it's pretty funny but I don't understand why it is funny at all.

Many days ago, I met a novelist who I admire so much with a bunch of his admirers. Someone asked, "Why don't you write in English? Your novel is on the top level of world literature (seems so flattering, but I do think so) but because of your pretty dialectal words, non-Korean readers, even some Korean readers never see you clearly. Your words, your ideas will be diluted awfully when it's translated by another so then, you can write it by yourself."

His answer was simple: I don't laugh when I'm watching an American comedy show (he refered a name of some famous show but I can't remember). That's why I don't (and can't) write in English.

 

[Helm]

The "best thread ever!!! thumbsup!111" thing, as I understand it, is ironic. Some english jerk thought that when stating the opposite of truth in a level manner people will explode in uncontrollable laughter and he was wrong

A lot of internet humour is annoyingly post-modern in that people think they're funny in not being funny.

 

[xfer]

but most of the time the reason that's funny isn't because it's ironic. it's because it's making fun of the possibility that it would be used ironically (that's also behind some of the racial jokes). internet humor is so multi-layered nowadays, and i sympathize with su-bin because there's NO WAY i could pick up the nuances needed to figure out what people are REALLY laughing about/saying if i had had to learn English.

 

[avi]

sometimes the running inside jokes on here are pretty complex

 

[Helm]

That kind of uh, nested recursion? and awareness of the attempt at joking are post-modern too I think. Much of this internet humour stuff isn't funny on most levels anyway, as much as it is an excuse to somehow create a situation where if someone doesn't get your obscure reference to an insider situation or established coined phrase or whatever, he's beneath you and you go 'am I right guys?' and the guys go 'yeah, lol'.

 

[goatschool]

actually i don't think "best thing ever" or "amazing" is used ironically, or at least, in the majority of cases where i see those used.

i would say that american culture is both accelerated, and diluted, to the point where a sudden jolt of "interest" (as a catchall term) is marked by a word that means something more at that point in time than it will, sadly, a few days or hours past the point it was expressed.

i have seen "best thread ever" used many times as a derogatory/sarcastic bullet (in an attempt to weaken the motion of the thread), but i think su-bin should note the distinction between the two uses?

 

[FalseTodd]

the question is does su-bin understand why he himself is fucking hilarious (this is me complimenting, not me pointing and laughing)

 

[goatschool]

great thread.

 

[xfer]

yes, Helm, but what I mean is that it isn't necessarily done ironically. sometimes people reply in order to fulfill an expectation (and not necessarily what they themselves are expected to do, like azal making a negro joke or something). like at a certain point in the thread, someone might post "post n00dz" not to ironically say "post n00dz", but not actually wanting n00dz posted. (although that's a bad example because "post n00dz" has too many lowbrow [ha!] connotations to work well as seven-layer humor).

 

[FalseTodd]

i think alot of humour derives from the fun of following the stream of consciousness often present

 

[avi]

you said "humour" you patsy brit

 

[NAD]

I say "best thing ever" all the time, because I think hyperbole is insanely hysterical and the best thing ever.

 

[FalseTodd]

it's probably the worst thing you do

 

[goatschool]

i still can't get by the fact that exciar's name spelled backwards is NIBUS

 

[Helm]

someone might post "post n00dz" not to ironically say "post n00dz", but not actually wanting n00dz posted. (although that's a bad example because "post n00dz" has too many lowbrow [ha!] connotations to work well as seven-layer humor).

That makes no sense. Is the second "not" in there an error?

i think alot of humour derives from the fun of following the stream of consciousness often present

I can see how this might be so.

 

[xfer]

It makes sense, but the second "not" could be expanded to "but neither".

 

[Helm]

and I thought you were an english teacher?

 

[xfer]

it's more correct the way I originally wrote it!

 

[inkybmistro]

yeah i've often wondered if excair knows he's funny as shit too.

anyway, i think predictable personalities are hilarious.

 

[xfer]

time to shave my pubes and ogle an Indian girl