Questions tagged [humor]
For questions about humor in Chinese language and culture.
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Why did my "你很有名" joke not work, and is it salvagable?
王伟和外国朋友一起填表格。
王伟：“我姓王，所以我在‘姓’的旁边写‘王’。”
外国朋友：“哦，我姓‘Lee’，所以我写‘李’。”
王伟：“然后，我们在‘名’的旁边写自己的名字，我写‘伟’。”
外国朋友：“哦，我的名字是‘Christopher’，所以我写‘克里斯托弗’。”
王伟：“哇～你很有名！”
I wrote the above joke. Christopher Lee is a ...
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How do I understand ChatGPT's joke: 为什么音乐家总是迟到？因为他们总是在调音！?
I asked ChatGPT (3.5 turbo) for some examples of 双关语 = "puns". Among its examples is:
为什么音乐家总是迟到？因为他们总是在调音！
Why are musicians always late? Because they're always tuning. [my translation]
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What's wrong with my joke 这位外科医生不礼貌，他总是说脏话, and how can I salvage it?
这位外科医生不礼貌，他总是说脏话。
Today I attempted to make the above joke on my WeChat 朋友圈. It's meant to be a play on words, with 脏话 meaning "profanity", but also 脏 (zàng) referring to bodily organs. ...
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A: 回来用隔离不 ("when you return, do you need to isolate?") B: 不用，我直接用粉底液 ("no, I directly use liquid foundation"). Why is this funny?
My teacher sent me this screenshot from WeChat
A: 我8号生日你几号回来啊
B: 6号下午吧
A: 大概几点？
A: 回来用隔离不
B: 我等下看下票
B: 不用
B: 我直接用粉底液
I'm told it's funny because of some words have the same pronunciation. It ...
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When Confucius cannot answer a question, why do the students joke 谁说你的知识很丰富呢 and not 为什么你这么聪明呢?
In HSK5级 应试指南 (pages 68 and 69), there's an exercise about Confucius (孔子). Two children are arguing about whether or not the sun is closer to the earth during the day. Confucius doesn't know how to ...
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Cantonese Joke About Dealing With Mandarin Elitists?
Came across this on Reddit/Jokes today
An Englishman is hiking in Scotland and he pauses to drink from a stream. A passing shepherd calls out "Dinnae drink frae that, it's all fulla coo piss an ...
Mou某♦
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Are there typical jokes formed by adding 之一 at the end of an otherwise innocuous sentence?
之一 (zhīyī)
CC-CEDICT: one of (sth) / one out of a multitude / one (third, quarter, percent etc)
之一 may be added at the end of a sentence, and can completely change its meaning (appending "one ...
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How do we correctly translate the XKCD comic snippet "Good News: You recently had close contact with someone who has not tested positive for COVID"?
I feel this XKCD comic:
Good News: You recently had close contact with someone who has not tested positive for COVID.
cropped from XKCD comic 2342: Exposure Notification
is incorrectly translated:
...
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Is it possible to quip "My package went to Nanjing, but I'm in Beijing; that's the complete opposite Jing"?
I'm trying to quip
My package went to Nanjing, but I'm in Beijing; that's the complete opposite Jing.
For it to be funny in English, the reader would have to know that 京 in Nanjing 南京 and Beijing ...
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Does (western) humor exist in Chinese culture? How do you use the language to make friends with Chinese?
Some Chinese, especially those in China, have no concpets of western humor and their interpretation could be unexpected. Satire can be interpreted as personal attack and self mocking can be ...
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