From Italian Meaning Little Joke: We’re going to talk about the Italians’ sense of levity. In any case, I’d want to discuss how comedy works in Italian and see if you can comprehend the jokes before reading the explanations since humor is obviously a human skill that is independent of the Spoken language.
As a rule, people believe that jokes work best when they are kept to a manageable length, with only as much information as is necessary to set up the punchline. Riddle jokes and one-liners leave only the dialogue and punchline to be verbalized because the setting is implicitly understood. The shaggy dog story, for example, is an anti-joke that, despite masquerading as a joke, has a protracted narrative of time, place, and character, rambles through several useless additions, and ultimately fails to deliver a punchline despite defying these and other standard guidelines. Not all humor may be classified as a joke. Anecdotes and slapstick are other forms of humor that don’t involve jokes being told out loud. Slapstick and stand-up comics use comedy timing and rhythm to elicit laughs, as well as relying on the vocal punchline. “A comic says funny things; a comedian says hilarious things,” is a well-known statement that expresses this difference.
A joke is a show of humor in which words are employed in a specific and well-defined narrative framework to make others laugh and is usually not meant to be taken seriously. Punch lines are common, and the plot is usually told through dialogue. The audience is only made aware of the story’s second, competing for meaning in the punch line. Puns and other word games, such as sarcasm and irony, can be used to convey this message. [1] Robert Hetzron, a renowned linguist, explains: …The punchline of a joke is a short, funny piece of spoken writing in which the funniness culminates… The most important requirement is that the suspense builds to a crescendo near the finish. There shouldn’t be anything further added to break up the tension. For the “oral” part, the fact that jokes may be printed does not necessitate that they are reproduced verbatim, as in poetry.
How does an Italian have a sense of humor?
There are many definitions of humor. The Treccani dictionary states that humor is “the faculty of recognizing and expressing the most intriguing parts of reality that can elicit smiles and laughs from the human audience with human participation, comprehension, and sympathy.” If you’re even remotely amusing, you’ll get the gist of what we’re getting at.
Humor can be particularly difficult to decipher when spoken by someone who does not have the implicit information required to understand it. This is why if you are learning a foreign language, you already know that comprehending a joke in your target language is often difficult: sometimes it is necessary to explain the joke to grasp it, and we all know that if a joke is explained, it is not that funny any more…… Basically, today I’m going to tell you a few short jokes and explain them to you so that you can see whether you’ve gotten them correctly. In the meantime, let’s have some fun together! (pestkill.org)
In the beginning, “Cosa fa…?”
The first joke I’d like to share with you is from the “Cosa fa…?” category. While there are many variations on the theme, my personal favorite is the one that begins, “Cosa fa…?”
- “What do two identical sexes have in common?” I shouted, “SASSOMIGLIANO!”—
- “What are two identical stones used for?” – “They’re alike, aren’t they?”
Is that clear? The irony is in the answer, which is “si assomigliano,” which becomes “s’assomigliano” when the vowel I am omitted, resulting in the term “Sasso,” which mirrors the question’s subject. Aural similarities between the words are readily apparent to us since we can hear them in context.
The second joke falls into the same category as the first:
- When his wife dies, what does a pastry chef do? – – “The Cream”
- “What does a pastry chef do when his wife dies?” is the literal translation. He cremates her. — “The cream”
When a noun, “cream,” is preceded by a definite article, humor is offered, the entire answer can have two interpretations. As a matter of logic, “the pastry chef creates the cream”. Taking the answer in a new light, the second meaning is revealed: “la” becomes an object pronoun referring to his wife, while “crema” is the third singular person of the verb “crema,” which means to “decompose a corpse into cinders.” As a result, “the pastry chef cremates the wife (who is dead)” has this interpretation.
Type two: “Por què…?”
- To see if you’ve gotten it, here’s the third joke, which begins with “Perché…?”
- Is there a reason why the Pomodoro can’t sleep? – “Why the Russian salad?”
- Translation: “Why is it so hard for the tomato to go asleep?” The salad snores, thus. It’s all because of the Russian salad!
Specifically, the irony here stems from a term with a polysemy of meaning: “Russia,” which in one sense is the third singular person of the verb “russare” (=” to snore”). This provides us with an explanation for the tomato’s inability to sleep. When used as an adjective, the term “russa” can mean “Russian salad,” which is a traditional Italian dish created with boiled potatoes, carrots, pickles, and pea ingredients and then blended with mayonnaise. In this situation, “Russa” can be used as a singular feminine adjective.
There are four jokes that fall into the same category:
- “Why does the bread not have any issues?” What’s the matter, li-Evita?
- “What’s up with bread?” This is because it avoids them, or this is because it rises.
The irony is a key element in this joke, and it comes from the answer’s dual meaning: in the first case, “li Evita” (=”it avoids them”) is written as two separate words, meaning that the bread avoids problems because it doesn’t have any, while in the second case, “lievita” (=” it rises”), it refers to a property of bread, namely that it rises in volume as a result of the yeast fermentation process. Thus, “the bread rises.”
“Professions” is the third type.
Jokes about specific occupations fall into a specific category, and the following is an example:
- Do you know of anything that could stop the screams? – “No no, tossisca pure!”
- Do you have a problem with people coughing? —Doctor Not at all! – “It’s all right, go ahead and cough.”
Because “to have something against something” means “to have a problem with something” in both English and Italian, the English version makes this joke much easier to understand. When asked if he had “anything against coughing,” the patient means “cough medicines,” but the doctor responds that he does have a problem with coughing, which is the other meaning the patient intended.
“Dove…?” is the fourth type
In the category of “Dove…?” jokes, the sixth one begins as follows:
- “Where did the Egyptian children go to school?” “All’asilo Nilo!” — the call goes forth.
- “Where do Egyptian youngsters go to school?” is the literal translation. – “They attend a daycare facility”;
“Asilo Nilo” is not a real item, but it echoes “Asilo Nido,” which is the name of the school for children under 3 years old, i.e. “daycare,” in the answer. Why is the name “Nilo” being used? The Nile, Egypt’s most important river, is known in Italian as Nilo. That’s why it’s ironic that “Nilo” and “Nido” sound so similar. It all makes sense, right?
Aside from this, there are many more types of jokes, some more popular and some less well-known. These were six of my favorite jokes, and I hope they brought a smile to your face at the very least. Please share your favorite Italian jokes with me. If so, please share them with us in the comments section below!
