Sarcasm

Daily Thought: One need a considerable understanding of the cultural background to understand sarcasm.

Sometimes I find it hard to catch the jokes or sarcastic remarks uttered. People thought that I am stern and serious which maybe cause me to be devoid of naming games or mockery. Or because I don’t know how to respond accordingly thus practically I am not a fun guy. I guess I may be just a bit less intuitive in ribbing but now I think there are more cultural reasons to that.

Ford Prefect is the alien from Betelgeuse in the sci-fi “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. He looks just like an ordinary Earthman with normal appearance. One thing is that after staying on earth for 15 year he still quite often fails to notice sarcasm unless he is concentrating. Not that he is unintelligent or have not master the language, he just don’t have the cultural background of a human to comprehend the apparent opposite meaning of Arthur’s words.

Bearing Prefect’s image in mind, now I think I am just like an alien trying to blend himself with the environment, attempting to make sense of jokes and sarcasm. I still thought that “Loser” is nothing more than just “a person that lose” until I check the dictionary to find out its derogatory connotation. And I always have to refer back when reading Scott Adam’s comics.

Implication: When learning a new language, you can always gauge your cultural understanding by reading the jokes section.

王力宏 - 不可能错过你

口白： can you speak english?...那讲中文... 可是我的中文也不太好...对... 而且你的笑话我都听不太懂....不好意思 有时候只需要　一首歌就能　让我自在 忘掉要排队　空气湿答答　店员很坏 就是这个时候　有一朵玫瑰在我心盛开 就在这个时候　阳光跟着撒下来　看见整个城市　在恋爱 不可能错过你　缘份这件事有够奇怪　我不期待　却偏要来 不可能错过你　爱情总叫人迫不及待　多么愉快　自由自在 （我就是自由自在）