There are also a lot of non-native English speakers here. English is a tricky enough language when used sincerely, then add to that the fact that we English natives are huge fans of sarcasm, and I’m surprised misunderstandings don’t happen more often. (I had major culture shock moving to Japan and finding out sarcasm was not really a thing there. I always assumed it was part of the human condition.)
I should have said they have their own type of sarcasm but it’s different; you wouldn’t, for instance, respond to a simple question with the obvious opposite of the truth (e.g. “I just love the cold” when asked if you like winter).
I’ve met and known a fair number of Japanese people from spending a fairly significant amount of time doing Karate, and living in areas of the US with significant numbers of Japanese immigrants, 2nd 3rd or 4th generation.
Most of those I met were actually quite funny, making puns and jokes… in my experience, they would make a good number of jokes based around the difficulty they have learning/speaking English, and the difficulty English speakers have learning/speaking Japanese… like, very self-aware humor, self-deprecating sarcasm, sarcastic jabs, etc.
I actually learned the “Don’t touchee my moustache” ‘joke’ from a Japanese person … explaining to me that that had started as a common English speaker corruption of dou itashimashite… I remember feeling a strange kind of … 3rd hand embarassment, if that makes any sense.
… maybe we just met/knew different groups of Japanese people? I don’t think I met too many uh… salaryman types… ???
I mean, honestly what I think is that… well in America, I’m an introverted autistic nerd with a sense of humor that is too complicated and particular for most Americans. Compared to most Japanese I’ve met? I am a polite yet clever, outgoing goofball.
I think most Americans are just basically just extroverted assholes with fragile egos and projection problems, whose ‘humor’ is mostly based around genuinely insulting other people, but with flashy/evocative vocabulary.
There are also a lot of non-native English speakers here. English is a tricky enough language when used sincerely, then add to that the fact that we English natives are huge fans of sarcasm, and I’m surprised misunderstandings don’t happen more often. (I had major culture shock moving to Japan and finding out sarcasm was not really a thing there. I always assumed it was part of the human condition.)
Japanese people can be just as sarcastic as English speakers. It flies over your head unless you’re actually good at the language. Same as English.
I should have said they have their own type of sarcasm but it’s different; you wouldn’t, for instance, respond to a simple question with the obvious opposite of the truth (e.g. “I just love the cold” when asked if you like winter).
Oh, yeah, I’m a HUUUUGE fan of sarcasm.
… eh?
I’ve met and known a fair number of Japanese people from spending a fairly significant amount of time doing Karate, and living in areas of the US with significant numbers of Japanese immigrants, 2nd 3rd or 4th generation.
Most of those I met were actually quite funny, making puns and jokes… in my experience, they would make a good number of jokes based around the difficulty they have learning/speaking English, and the difficulty English speakers have learning/speaking Japanese… like, very self-aware humor, self-deprecating sarcasm, sarcastic jabs, etc.
I actually learned the “Don’t touchee my moustache” ‘joke’ from a Japanese person … explaining to me that that had started as a common English speaker corruption of dou itashimashite… I remember feeling a strange kind of … 3rd hand embarassment, if that makes any sense.
… maybe we just met/knew different groups of Japanese people? I don’t think I met too many uh… salaryman types… ???
I mean, honestly what I think is that… well in America, I’m an introverted autistic nerd with a sense of humor that is too complicated and particular for most Americans. Compared to most Japanese I’ve met? I am a polite yet clever, outgoing goofball.
I think most Americans are just basically just extroverted assholes with fragile egos and projection problems, whose ‘humor’ is mostly based around genuinely insulting other people, but with flashy/evocative vocabulary.
Those aren’t Japanese, those are American
I said I met a bunch of Japanese people from Japan, and also lived in areas with Japanese Americans.
… who often host visitors who are Japanese, from Japan.
Japanese nationals? Not that hard to figure out…