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I said something so dryly sarcastic, my English man thought I was serious

2010 February 13
by yankeebean

yankeebean

Well, I’ve done it.  I’ve reached another milestone in the living-in-England process.

Yesterday I said something so dryly sarcastic that my English man thought I was serious.

I did it!  I truly accomplished dry sarcasm!  WOOHOOOOO!! *bow*  *bow*

I know it’s only a glitch in the Matrix, really, and I’ll go back to my hammy ways faster than a you can say ‘yank’, but I DID feel like I’d really accomplished something, y’know?

I can’t even remember what I said now… BUMMER because I wanted to cross-stitch it onto a mini-pillow and hang it on the wall (kidding… kinda…).

I’m sure you’ll agree with me when I say that sarcasm is a beautiful thing.  I’m totally pro-sarcasm, whether it be American-large or English-dry.

I like ‘em both, but the two really don’t mix well.  I’ve found that if I go for yankee-sarcasm in the UK, I tend to get blank looks (sometimes almost looks of pity).  But if I’m too dry in America, I actually OFFEND people (I feel COMPLETELY horrified whenever this happens - racked with guilt… “deport me now”)

Actually, it’s one of the challenges about flitting back and forth between these two fine lands – one that I think about a lot.  The humour is SO flippin’ different and I don’t know how to switch from one to the other.  I wish there was some kind of sleep hypnosis tape that I could listen to for a week before I went back home – one that would help me change gears so the difference wasn’t so shocking.  It could include the latest slang and news, bouts of American humo(u?)r, the latest movie updates (since we get them 100 years late) and accent-therapy to bring back your full twang.

Hey, there could be something in this.  Are there any hypnosis gurus out there?  This could be your money maker!  You’ve got your first customer right here…

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  • http://sun-flowery.blogspot.com/ sunflowery

    It took my (British) fiancee and I some time in the early days to work out just why we had so many misunderstandings over the odd remark, or why my puns made him groan. Now, we can laugh about it all, but you summed it up beautifully!

  • MRK

    the difference between american and british humour is that Amercians believe that life is serious but not hopeless whilst the british believe that life is hopeless but not serious…

  • peacefulyorkshire

    Hi Mark,
    Welcome to the blog! I have always loved that quote too– I first read it in a book called ‘The Special Relationship’. I didn’t care for the book much but the quote always stuck in my mind….

  • http://michelloui.blogspot.com Michelloui

    Really funny post! And as I have been in the UK for a while I have no idea if you were using American or British humour, it was just funny. I was always told ‘Americans dont get irony but you do.’ I suppose it was the hours of All Creatures Great and Small, Fawlty Towers, Monty Python and Masterpiece Theatre I watched while growing up in the Mid-West… (training for my future life as a Yank in the UK).

  • http://thatbritishwoman.blogspot.com Gill

    My dh can be so dry at times its like sandpaper!!

    We Brits have a totally different sense of humour to the Canadians as well. Me and my boss (He’s Scottish, poor thing!!) would be rolling around in tears at something we would find funny while the rest of the staff (Canadians) would be just looking at us wondering what was wrong with us……….

    Yeah for the British sense of humour!!

    Gill in Canada

  • http://www.ladywholunches.net/blog Lady Who Lunches

    This happens to me all the time with my boyfriend. Sometimes I think…you’re supposed to understand that I’m not serious! And then, he really doesn’t believe that I’m not serious until I have to beg. Maybe that’s another problem?

  • Twitted by TheLadyLunches

    [...] This post was Twitted by TheLadyLunches [...]

  • http://www.seattleiteimagery.blogspot.com alisha

    Ha ha! The good old British humour vs American humor debate rages on…

    Anyway, I also wanted to say thanks so much for this blog. I wish I would have found it when I first moved to England, rather than three months before leaving.

    I just wrote a blog post about the goods and bads of living abroad, so please come check it out if you have the chance: http://www.seattleiteimagery.blogspot.com

  • I Love This Blog!

    Oh man, I’m a total American in this.. Dry humor goes WAY over my head. I love awkward humor, a la the original “The Office” but I miss the extra dry stuff- never know if it’s proper to chuckle!

    This is completely off-topic, but I’ve just clicked through a friend’s photo album where she attended a wedding in the Welsh countryside.. What’s the deal with women and hats? :) They look fantastic!

  • Steve Shawcross
  • Roxanne

    It’s weird since living in England all my 17 years that the only americans I’ve came across where the two mormons? I think that’s them.
    Anyway, I could never explain my love for Sarcasm<3 lol.
    But I've never really heard the version of American Sarcasm? Or I most likely have and didnt get it. Your blog's quite an insight :)
    Rox x

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