Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2011/06/07/humourless_germans/
Germans completely humourless: Official
Survey confirms stone-faced national stereotype
Posted in Bootnotes, 7th June 2011 11:43 GMT
A survey of 30,000 people across 15 countries has confirmed what the world knew all along: Germans are completely humourless.
The poll for social networking site Badoo.com found that the national stereotype of Germans as ruthlessly efficient in matters of manufacturing and football, but entirely inadequate in the wit department, is in fact true.
However, before the Inselaffen among you run cheering to the pub for a round of German jokes washed down with real ale, you should know that we Brits aren't rated much funnier by the international community.
Disgracefully, we came fourth on the roster of lol-free shame, pipped only by our Teutonic cousins, Russia, and Turkey. The remainder of the top ten comprises America, France, Poland, Belgium, Holland and Canada, in that order.
Badoo.com spokesman Lloyd 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.”
Or maybe not. The fact that the French and the Belgians are considered to have a better-developed sense of humour than the British leads to the obvious conclusion that the entire survey is seriously flawed.
As the Telegraph notes, humour doesn't translate too well, so it's a bit difficult for the average Johnny Foreigner to understand just how complex and advanced we are in this most challenging of fields.
Having said that, the pollees were spot on about the Germans. ®