Meaty Trumps’ ‘British Nonces’
No, not endorsing it in the slightest. But there’s a certain admiration for the ingenuity. And, of course, for the Englishness.
This might be something that’s more apparent to an expat like myself (as are many readers here of course). But one of the ways that Johnny Foreigner thinks that we English (perhaps British, not really sure) are very odd is that we will and do joke about absolutely everything. You can thoroughly confuse a German business meeting for example, entirely packed with those completely fluent in English, simply by introducing an Englishman into it. Who will try to break the ice by having a chat and making a few jokes about whatever: and our Germanic friends will be going “Jokes? What? This is a business meeting!”.
It might be a coping mechanism, might simply be a cultural trait, but we really do joke about everything and often, the worse it is, in reality, the more we’ll joke about it.
All very true. It’s not just the fact that Johnny Foreigner doesn’t think we take the meetings seriously, it’s also a problem that they have no idea when we’re joking and when we’re being serious. Of course, a lot of the time when we’re joking we’re making a very serious point, and once this was pointed out to me on a cultural awareness course, I could understand how this was likely to be a problem. I’ve found that the French generally give me a bit of a wide berth, with some thinking they’ve let some kind of lunatic into their midst. This is probably not helping my career much, but I’ve realised my non-attendance at a Grande Ecole and papa not owning a vineyard is keeping me where I am more than my daft remarks in meetings.
Looking back at some of my jokes when in German company – business meetings, I fear I may have been partly responsible for setting back the cause of European integration. These days, thankfully, we are all a lot more reticent.
Bet Meaty Trumps can’t believe the incredible free advertising the Mail Online’s “outrage” has generated for them!
I see the Mail has found a “victim” to be “offended”.
At manufacturing synthetic outrage we’re world beaters.
Except that any humour in this has been ruined by self-important blatherings of the pompous twat behind this, who says its “a satirical piece of situationist art about power structures”.
Mmmm…
But ‘Meaty Trumps’ has exactly that “in your face grossness” & obviousness the German sense of humour seems to prefer.
What seems to confound yer furriner is not being sure yer comedic Brit’s jestin’.
As a future emigrant, and someone who enjoys the darker and drier end of the humour scale (even by British standards), I do rather worry what trouble I might get myself into.
Still, whilst Jonny F often doesn’t get when/why we’re laughing (or, perhaps as often, not laughing), he does tend to know that the British sense of humour is a renowned and splendid thing.
Except that any humour in this has been ruined by self-important blatherings of the pompous twat behind this, who says its “a satirical piece of situationist art about power structures”.
I think he’s taking the piss, Del.
WP – mayhaps his “Tory Scum” game suggests not…
Go read what he says, WP.
Have you never played Cards Against Humanity? Our left-pondian cousins are rapidly catching up on our sense of humour.
@TimN, you’ve been in France all of 15 minutes. Isn’t being “kept where you are” normal for that sort of tenure, or does career advancement really go that quickly in your field?
I seem to do more training than business meetings these days, raising a laugh or two is important everywhere. If you can get Swedes laughing, you’ve won.
And, coming back from opening mouth to change feet in meetings is a skill you can learn.
Germans take their stools very seriously, so lavatorial humour is not appreciated. Also, I will never forget the shocked silence from our German hosts when my brother-in-law quipped that the waitress (whose hair evidently needed re-colouring) was clearly anti-racist because she was showing her black roots.
The DM also runs a story in which it describes a 22 year old who had consensual sex with two 15-year-old girls as a paedophile. I hope he sues…
These books might help cope with international foreign relations.
Do’s and Taboos of Humor Around the World: Stories and Tips from Business and Life
Gestures: The Do’s and Taboos of Body Language Around the World
http://www.amazon.ca/Communications-Paperback-Roger-E-Axtell-Books/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A935562%2Cp_lbr_books_authors_browse-bin%3ARoger%20E.%20Axtell%2Cp_n_binding_browse-bin%3A2366374011
I played Cards Against Humanity with some female friends a while back. Its a measure of them (and me) that they didn’t know what bukkake meant, and I did………………I tried to get out of explaining on the grounds of decorum, but they said they definitely 100% wanted to know what it was. And now what is known cannot be unknown!
TimN, you’ve been in France all of 15 minutes. Isn’t being “kept where you are” normal for that sort of tenure, or does career advancement really go that quickly in your field?
I’m going backwards. I’m doing a job with less responsibility than I was 4 years ago. Meanwhile, I have to watch Frenchman who have never set foot in the country telling me, as project managers, what building an LNG plant in Russia is like and how to “properly manage” Russian contractors. Fortunately, they keep paying me rather well only for what is anyone’s guess.
“they keep paying me rather well only for what is anyone’s guess”: maybe you’ll find out when everything goes wrong and you get the blame.
Tim Newman
Take Dearieme’s advice.
Any outfit where the managers take the credit and the engineers rake the blame…. Run
dearieme and BiF,
Quite correct. Which is why I’m digging my heels in, covering my arse as much as I can, and looking for the first exit that comes my way. I know damned well this lot are more than capable of instructing you to do one thing on the Monday and swearing blind they did no such thing on Tuesday. I have worked in places with fewer scruples or principles, but they were not household names.
Wouldn’t a pseudonym be advisable for such detailed comments on your employer?
On the offchance they’re reading this, let ’em fire me. I assume they know French employment laws.
One of the benefits of Tim’s blog not being indexed on google….