中國網站品牌欄目（頻道）
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 Germany has been voted the least funny country in the world in an international poll. |
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As Mark Twain observed, a German joke is no laughing matter. Sadly for the nation that brought us everything from Beethoven to lederhosen, it seems that everyone agrees. Germany has been voted the least funny country in the world in an international poll. But before you permit yourself a dry British chuckle at the news, we came fourth from bottom – apparently, we’re simply not as funny as we think we are. The survey of 30,000 people in 15 countries was conducted for social networking site Badoo.com, whose spokesman Lloyd Price said: ‘Germans are brilliant at so many things, including making cars and beating us at football. 'Unfortunately, telling jokes isn’t always one of them. If only there was a comedy World Cup, we might stand a chance against them.’ The stereotype of German humourlessness is believed to derive from their reputation for efficiency, punctuality and rationality, presumed to be at the expense of humour. Examples of German jokes include: ‘Yesterday, I met my friend Horst at the hospital. He’d swallowed a sponge. He says it doesn’t hurt but he’s always thirsty.’ If that left your ribs untickled, try this: ‘Plants grow very well if you speak kindly to them. Which is why I sometimes go into the garden and insult the weeds.’ Of Britain’s place near the bottom of the list, Mr Price said: ‘If we’re no good at football and no good at comedy either, it’s a bit of a pie in the face for us.’ (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
就像馬克?吐溫說的那樣，德國笑話一點都不好笑。 而大家似乎都同意這種說法，對這個擁有貝多芬和皮短褲的全能國家來說是個遺憾。 在一項跨國民意調查中，德國被評為全世界最無趣的國家。 但是在你看到這一消息想發出幾聲英國式干笑之前，請注意英國人的幽默感排名倒數第四。顯然，英國人根本不像自己所想的那么幽默。 這一涵蓋了15個國家、3萬人的調查是社交網站Badoo委托開展的。Badoo的發言人羅伊德?普萊斯說：“德國人在許多方面都很出色，包括制造汽車和足球賽。” “不幸的是，講笑話并非其中之一。要是有一個幽默世界杯，英國人也許還有機會贏他們。” 調查認為，對于德國人缺乏幽默感的成見來自他們在效率、守時和理性上的名聲，這些被認為是以失去幽默感為代價的。 德國笑話的典型例子包括：“昨天，我在醫院遇到了我的朋友霍斯特。他吞下了一塊海綿。他說，吞下海綿后并不覺得痛，但他老是覺得很渴。” 如果你不覺得這有什么好笑，試試這個：“如果你友好地對植物講話，植物就能長得很好。這就是為什么我有時會去花園辱罵雜草。” 對于英國人幽默感排名幾乎墊底的狀況，普萊斯先生說：“如果我們既不擅長踢足球，也不擅長喜劇，這對我們還真是有點丟臉了。” 相關閱讀 （中國日報網英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯：馮明惠） |
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Vocabulary: lederhosen: 皮短褲，德國男人的傳統服裝 chuckle: to laugh quietly（低聲輕笑；輕聲地笑） left your ribs untickled: 讓你覺得不好笑。tickle somebody in the ribs意思是“逗某人笑”。 a pie in the face: an act to embarrass and humiliate someone（讓某人丟臉的事） |
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