The nature of Polish jokes?

An odd one this.

Don't ask me for examples right now, but, I think there is a very distinctive trend as to what constitues a typical Polish joke.

Jokes in English often rely on wordplay, quirky observation, stereotyping, surrealism...anything really. Often a punchline, sometimes not.

Maybe it's me, but I've noticed that polish jokes tend to be more what I would call a "wry observation" a kind of beard stroking "Ah yes.Very good. I'm with you" type of thing. Not even designed primarily to elicit laughter necessarily.

Rooted maybe in anti-communist satire rather then laugh out loud.

Does anyone know what I mean?

I think it's a matter of translation and a good joke teller.




That applies to Polish jokes too. It depends on a joke really.


By the way, do you understand those Monty Pathon and other sketches about buying in stores some odd stuff with an accurate and odd description which are never avilaible? Could someone explain it to me?

Of course, I should have mentioned that too and it can make a big difference.

Still, I do have the impression that I mentioned above. I'll pay close attaention the next few times I hear them. I can almost bet in advance that they will be semi-political, cynical etc though : )


I'm not sure what you mean exactly but if it's monty python-esque, there is probably no feasible explanation really. Funny because it's ridiculous, funny because it's so over the top, funny because it's so abstract...

The only "cleverness" in Python are the references sometimes. Jokes/sketches etc are rarely in themselves sophisticated.

Almost impossible to analyse comedy anyway usually. In fact, for me, the funnier it is, the less likely I'm able to explain it : )

english man, scottish man and an irish man..... the joke was always on the irish man.

in Poland there is: a German, a Russian and a Pole, the joke is always on the Pole

no, not always

ok sometimes on a Scot too if he appears ;)

Actually this means: "This joke has already grown its beard that big"...

No,it's not.It's most often on the Russian.
Plenty of retards on PF today.

Much the same. Humour can be universal. Polish humour isn't often political however I liked this one:

Q. What's the difference between the Second Republic in Exile and Kaczynski's Fourth Republic?
A. In the Second Republic the people were in Poland and the government escaped to London, in the Fourth Republic the government are in Poland but the people have escaped to London.

I know what you mean but it's not what I meant.

Think more "Hmmm" slightly smiling, eyes slowly closing, fingertips of both hands pressed together...

the second WW - some hard knocking on a steel door of a Russian bunker - the Russians ask - kto tam? (who's there) - swoi? (pronounces sva-ee)(friends) - a skolko was (and how many of you are there) - ein-und-zwanzig :)

Good one! but it's not a Pole,Russian and a German joke.

A passenger plane experiences mechanical problems. The captain says it must lighten its load if it is to reach the nearest airport for an emergency landing and asks for male volunteers so maybe the women and children on board migth be saved. An American steps forward, opens the door (I know decompression would take place, but this is only a joke!), shouts 'God bless America!' and jumbs. A Frenchman follows suit, shouts 'Vive la France' and jumps. A Brit shouts 'God save the Queen!' and also does his duty. And finally a Pole steps forward, shouts 'Niech żyje Polska!' and pushes out a Russian.

Teffle, can you elaborate any more? I think I follow but could use more examples so as not to have to second guess you and pretend to be sure. I really don't get the humour here sometimes. I often do but some Poles laugh at the most unfunny things. They are just different.

I've never heard it before. Very amusing! Have you some more to illustrate this thread (and not only on the Fourth Republic which is going to be back on the 9th of October this year, but also on the Third Republic which is going to disappear on that very day)?

Seanus:


Not sure. I think the only thing is to try and remember the next joke I am told by a Pole.

The Russians turns to the Pole and says "You are forbidden to leave the plane!" The Pole says "F**k you!" and jumps out.

I always love making jokes about the intelligence of Polish women.

Why would there be jokes about them? It's not their Polishness that counts but their character.

There are some Polish women that study at my school and they are...a little behind mentally.

Well, here's a quick joke that I made up about English women just off the cuff. Not funny, no, but it makes a point.

An English woman goes to a shop to get sth to eat for the day. After looking around, she settles on some baked product. 'I'd like some rolls, please', she says. The shop keeper looks at her and says 'by the looks of you, you've got too many already' :) :)

Some Polish women are stupid but that goes for almost any nation you care to mention.

you would be surprised but there is already a joke on PO voters :) I can't rember it quite well though and would have to spend some half an hour to translate it into English though

I knew what you meant. I just could not resist.

In the process of growing up, a person's sense of humor changes as well. I no longer like "Polish, German, Russian" jokes - unless .... There are some exceptions, like this one:

English, Irish and Scot drink beer in a bar. Three flies dive into their mugs.
English: Pushes away a mug in disgust and asks for another beer.
Irish: Fishes and throws away the fly and continue drinking.
Scot: Fishes the fly, looks it in the eye and says: Give it back you thief!

Hehehe, that's a good one :) Us Scots tend to be light-hearted and can laugh at ourselves. Quite a few Poles can too but many turn it into a mini-thesis as to why people think that way about them. They don't look for the humour but for the 'slight' against them.

I find most of them dirty or a laugh at other cultured lol!
And I have ALOT of experience with polish people

Dirty in what sense, Mina? Sexually or just crude?

four guys meet somewhere for a social meeting an American, a Russian, a Norwegian guy and a Pole - there is plenty of drink - and finally in the middle of the night it starts getting philosiphical and some pauses begin to appear

then American guy says - You know, in Alaska we have such frigid winters that when you spit your spit freezes before it drops

after a smaller pause the Russian guy says - This is nothing, We in Siberia have such frigid conditions that when you go out in the night to take a ****, you have to watch cause it freezes solid into a an arc and it can actually catch you ;)

after another shorter pause the Norwegian guy says - this is nothing actually, when I worked on an off-shore platform the "Golfsztrom" froze (Gulfstream - definitely needs to be in Polish/German (or maybe Norwegian) because: ...)

good on the bloody Jew - the Pole says to that :P;)

what is that: it's big, it's black, it hangs on a Jew's neck???

Well, I'll try to shed some light on the nature of Polish jokes. There are many categories (I once opened a thread here about Polish Highlanders' jokes). Abstract jokes are in its own league, and there are many levels of abstraction. But they all involve visualization of a scene being described and a word play, of course. Repetitiveness can be also used to a good effect: by its mundane nature, one is able to convert a not-so-funny story into a hilarious joke.

I will start with this one.


Is it funny? This is definitely different type of humour. It all depends on audience and their state of mind.

This is not that abstract...

Polish joke - two safety pins walking along the road

'goodness I am hot'
'undo yourself then'

another one

a little boys goes fishing with his dad and his dad falls out of the boat and drowns

the police get into a boat and dredge the water trying to pull out dad
they pull him into the boat and eels have been eating the body
they have been squirming through his clothes and have eaten their way into his
body and are tumbling out of the drowned man into the boat

the policeman asks the little boy 'is this your father?'
he nods sadly and then says to the policemen
'tell you what lads, you don't fancy throwing him back in for a couple of minutes? we might catch some more'

Krakow joke - Krakowians are considered mean

little boy comes home out of breathe
'why are you out of breathe son?'
'I was running after the tram so I did not have to buy a ticket and here is the 2 zloty I saved'
father slaps the boy round the head
'next time run after a taxi'