ECSTRA/Humor
(1) Is humor in your nation used in formal situations?, e.g.
- 1. in business presentations
- 2. business conversations
- 3. conversations with administration officials
- 4. conversations with your professor
- 5. other situations
(2) If humor is used in these situations, what kind of humor is used?, e.g.
- A. puns
- B. humorous anecdotes
- C. irony
(Please remember our guidelines.)
AT: Austria[edit | edit source]
Vienna, Lower Austria (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) yes, in part, business conversations and colleagues; (2) irony, puns
BE: Belgium[edit | edit source]
Brussels (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) Yes, always appreciated; (2) irony related to politics, puns, funny anecdotes (ECSTRA-Q)
CH: Switzerland[edit | edit source]
Lausanne (French-speaking area) (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) yes, even sometimes considered good in business presentations or conversations, during courses, not ith administrative officials; (2) varying from person to person or from group to group
CZ: Czech Republic[edit | edit source]
Bohemia (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) very rarely, only when the partner is open for humor; (2) puns
DE: Germany[edit | edit source]
Bremen (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) yes; (2) B, C
south (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) no
Saxony (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) yes, (2) puns, irony
DK: Denmark[edit | edit source]
...
EE: Estonia[edit | edit source]
...
ES: Spain[edit | edit source]
Andalucía (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) Frequently; (2) A
Castilia y León (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) Humor is becoming more usual, but it's not expanded to all fields, administrative officials or talks with professors; (2) B, unimportant themes/questions, jokes
FI: Finland[edit | edit source]
West Finland (Swedish-speaking area) (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) sometimes in business conversations (to ease up the atmosphere), sometimes in presentations; (2) self-irony
Finnish-speaking area (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) sometimes, but not much and not by all; (2) anecdotes, puns; irony rarely
FR: France[edit | edit source]
Paris (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) Rarely. (2) Puns, funny anecdotes.
HR: Croatia[edit | edit source]
...
HU: Hungary[edit | edit source]
(1) 4 yes, but it depends on the topic; (2) A, B, C (ECSTRA-Q)
IE: Ireland[edit | edit source]
Dublin (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) Yes, (2) irony, wit
IT: Italy[edit | edit source]
Lombardy (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) in formal situations occasionally, but not very often; it is used; (2) C, words or expressions with double meaning, no vulgar humor
Sicily (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) No.
LT: Lithuania[edit | edit source]
(1) No. (ECSTRA-Q)
LU: Luxemburg[edit | edit source]
(1)Rarely, rather no. (ECSTRA-Q)
LV: Latvia[edit | edit source]
...
MT: Malta[edit | edit source]
(1) yes, (2) anecdotes, comments about something current in the news (ECSTRA-Q)
NL: Netherlands[edit | edit source]
...
NO: Norway[edit | edit source]
...
PL: Poland[edit | edit source]
(1) yes, but also dependend on partners' generation; (2) anecdotes, but also dependend on situation (ECSTRA-Q)
PT: Portugal[edit | edit source]
Alentejo (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) Sometimes, but not frequently; (2) puns, irony, anecdotes, jokes (ECSTRA-Q)
SE: Sweden[edit | edit source]
(1) Not necessarily but welcome if you can ease up the atmosphere a little without making it silly
SI: Slovenia[edit | edit source]
...
SK: Slovakia[edit | edit source]
...
UK: United Kingdom[edit | edit source]
Cambridgeshire (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) Yes, when it is relevant to the situation, i.e. not a random gag; (2) irony, sarcasm
Glasgow, Scotland (ECSTRA-Q)
(1) Not usually, depends on the person you are dealing with (sometimes in business presentations); (2) puns, jokes on recent events, self-irony
Non-European Nations[edit | edit source]
Australia[edit | edit source]
(1) Occasionally; (2) puns, jokes (ECSTRA-Q)
Colombia[edit | edit source]
(1) Colombians are famous for their sense of humor; (2) A, B, C (ECSTRA-Q)
Greece[edit | edit source]
(1) occasionally; (2) funny anecdotes, irony, funny comments on social/political matters (ECSTRA-Q)
Lebanon[edit | edit source]
(1) The Lebanese basically tend to use humor in any situation; (2) a mixture of A, B, C (ECSTRA-Q)