Unit-8-humor-interpretation-in-intercultural-encou

Unit8humorinterpretationininterculturalencountersEnglishgasstationAllGreektome:Meaninglessandincomprehensiblelikesomeonewhocannotread,speak,orunderstandanyoftheGreeklanguagewouldbe.AllInTheSameBoat:Wheneveryoneisfacingthesamechallenges.AnArmAndALeg:Veryexpensive.Alargeamountofmoney.英格兰人谈论苏格兰人和爱尔兰人的3则笑话:1.一个爱尔兰人给旅游公司打电话：“我坐飞机到伦敦将用多长时间？”办事员想看看飞机时刻表，对他说：“（请等）一分钟，先生！”“非常感谢！”爱尔兰人满意地答道并挂上了电话。2.一个苏格兰人从英格兰回到了家。家人问道：“在伦敦怎么样？”苏格兰人答道：“还行！就是那些英格兰人很奇怪。我住在旅馆时，他们像疯子一样在我隔壁敲了一夜墙。”“那你当时干什么呢？”“我没干什么！我只是吹了一夜笛子！”3.一个爱尔兰人前来伦敦度假，住进一家高级饭店。服务生拿起箱子，带他去房间。爱尔兰人生气地说：“看着点儿！别以为我来自爱尔兰，就让我住进这么个小房间！”服务生连忙解释道：“别生气，先生！这是电梯。”UnitedNationsSurveyLastmonth,aworldsurveywasconductedbytheUN.Theonlyquestionaskedwas:Wouldyoupleasegiveyourhonestopinionaboutsolutionstothefoodshortageintherestoftheworld.Thesurveywasahugefailure...InAfricatheydidn'tknowwhatfoodmeant.InEasternEuropetheydidn'tknowwhathonestmeant.InWesternEuropetheydidn'tknowwhatshortagemeant.InChinatheydidn'tknowwhatopinionmeant.IntheMiddleEasttheydidn'tknowwhatsolutionmeant.InSouthAmericatheydidn'tknowwhatpleasemeant,andIntheUSAtheydidn'tknowwhattherestoftheworldmeant.EnglishgasstationATasteOfYourOwnMedicine:Whenyouaremistreatedthesamewayyoumistreatothers.BeatADeadHorse:Toforceanissuethathasalreadyended.BeatingAroundTheBush:Avoidingthemaintopic.Notspeakingdirectlyabouttheissue.HumorFailuretounderstandhumorisacommonoccurance.“Youarealsohuman”AcomplimentinAmerica,butcauseembarrsementinChina.HumorasapathwaytointerculturalcommunicationcompetenceHumorgoesbeyondlanguage.Learninghowtoexplainhumorandhowtoaskquestionsabouthumorisimportantforinterculturalcommunication.Atwo-stageprocessisinvolvedinsharinghumorbetweennativeandnon-nativespeakers.Stage1:makingnewconversationalrules.Therearemanyreasonswhyitishardtoexplainhumor.ElementsthatmayhinderourunderstandingofEnglishhumourVocabulary“Quid”isthemodernwordforwhatwasoncecalledashilling”.Underpantsarecalled“wellies”.friendsarecalled“tossers”.Ifyouarefondofsomeone,youshouldtellhimheisa“greattosser”--hewillbetouched.Sayingsandidomsascloseasanoyster嘴很紧polishtheapple讨人欢心;拍马屁Backgroundknowledge“We’renotamused.”ThiscelebratedremarkwasfromQueenVictoria,whowasexpressingherdissatisfationtowardsomethingmeanttobehumourous.SomestereotypedimagesScientistsareconsiderednerdyandugly.RulefornonnativespeakersItisembarassingformostofustoadmitthatwedidnotunderstandajoke.Theimpressionofincompetenceorinadequancy—“whentheyalllaughsohard,Ididn’twanttoaskstupidquestionsandspoilthefun!”Nonnativespeakersmustabandontheoldrule:“admittingIdonotunderstandandaskingquestionsabouthumorisstupid”Makearulerule:“askingquestionsabouthumorisacceptableanditisasignofcourageratherthanincompetence”It’sbettertobestupidforthreeminutesthanforanentirelifetime—confucius.CulturalandpersonalidiomaticverbalandnonverbalexpressionsIdiomaticverbalexpressionsit’swayovermyhead!Ididn’tgetit.Itleftmeoutinthecold.whoa!Thatwastooquickforme.IdiomaticnonverbalexpressionsA“T”gesture.RaisingthepalmofthehandbeginningatthemiddleoftheforeheadupovertheheadaccompaniedbyajetlightsoundRulefornativespeakersIttakestwopartiestoconverse;italsotakestwotochangeconversationalrules.Oldassumption:checkingweatherthepartnerunderstandshumoristreatinghimorherlikeachild.Anewsetofrules:activelycheckingincomprehensionandencourageingquestionsassistsinterculturalunderstanding.“Inadequatebehavior”Step2:explaininghumor“Outoftheordinary”Cultureisusuallyimpartedinatacitway.tacit['tæsit]adj.心照不宣的,缄默的,默示的Theyhaveatacitunderstanding.他俩心照不宣。ComparisonofsyllogismandenthymemeSyllogismMajorpremise(s)minorpremise(s)ConclusionEnthymeme…minorpremise(s)…premise['premis,'premis,pri'maiz]n.前提Iwonderwhetherthewholepremiseisright.我怀疑整个前提是否正确。syllogism[‘silədʒizm,’silə.dʒizəm]n.三段论法,演绎推理,诡辩Asyllogisminvolvesathree-stepformalreasoningprocessassociatedwithformallogic.Itconsistsofthreepremises.enthymeme[‘enθə.mi:m]n.省略推理法,省略三段论法Piecesofsyllogismareusuallymissing.Theyareassumedtobeunderstood.Aspeakerhastorelyonhisorheraudiencetoprovidethemissingpremisestoreachtheconclusion.syllogismScientistareusuallynerdyandugly.(themajorpremise)Samuelisascientist.(theminorpremise)Samuelisquitenerdyandugly.(theconclusion)enthymemeMajorpremise(s)missingminorpremise(s)provied(humorortext)Conclusionmissing