As a foreigner, how to joke with british in office when you know little about culture?
Answer:
it is always safest to make fun of yourself. Joke about your quirks or things you may have done in the past.
Other than that, play it safe and don't joke around.
Swear and be generally abusive about every aspect of your collegues appearance/wife/table manners/lack of genetalia
When one talks to a british citizen they must not forget to act gay.... Or you may be ignored....
Don't.
Don't joke, that's easier
I wouldn't if I were you. The British aren't really into joking and comedy.
Slag of the French, moan about the price of fuel, any gags mentioning toilet behaviour of farting should do the trick.
i wouldn't even try. my husband is turkish and his joke was mistaken as sarcasm and i gave him a hard time for a week!!!!!
I work in a very multicultural office and it's quite hard. I'm white english and my colleagues are arabic, indian, turkish - all sorts. The funniest stuff is when the Turkish guy tries to make a joke that isn't really funny but has a good go. We laugh with him rather than at him and at every attempt he gets better! The lebanese is quite an intelligent person and doesn't try and make jokes but we all end up having a laugh so that's cool. The Indians on the other hand tend to keep themselves to themselves and generally come across as miserable b*stards.
Regardless of whether you are a foreigner (whatever that is- aren't we all "foreigners"?) or British, joking is a quirky verbal exchange that anyone can do or fail at a moment's notice. Why not observe your new friends for now and just be yourself? Just as you can joke with your family and friends you can also joke with your office friends once you understand them a bit more. Relax and don't worry!
oh, and ignore those people who answered your question with stupid answers that are NOT funny.
good luck
Get your knob out,that usually breaks the ice,and the British love that sort of thing,im sure once you get it out and wave it around a bit,your office chums will treat you like one of their own,I hope this helps,good luck
well according to yo it's me we are not into comedy what uk are you in mate come up to scotland we'll show you a sense of humour. we have one of the best comedians in the world
billy conally ya Muppet!!!!!!
If you need lessons in humour, I wouldn't bother. Wit and sharpness is not something you get free with a BigMac.
This British guy I knew, well, we hate each other. He's a foreigner here. I don't know whether its british humour or just his own, but his way of joking is sarcasm, putting people down, making fun of ppl in my country, shagging non stop (he's a teacher here and spent half his time shagging his students) and saying mean things. I find him utterly PATHETIC. If the Brits there are as such, I ll say dont stoop so low just coz you wanna blend in. To me, being mean like that just shows ya of a much lower class.
Miss Georgia, I lived in the UK and you just described the Queen's subjects to a Tee.
Take a sh*t in your bosses lunchbox, or on his desk, or both.(preferably while he/she isn't looking.)
While this behaviour wouldn't necessarily be the best career move you could make, I'm sure your work colleagues would find it most amusing, as it incorporates our favourite type of humour (i.e. toilet) in it's purest form.
This will work especially well if your boss is a b*stard.
Don't. Trying to copy someone else's culture or society is offensive. Be yourself.
I see you've given up the idea of emigrating to Japan.
just act yourself
Its difficult - the Brits have a strange sense of humour. I was in an office with a ceiling fan and a tall Brit came in and the fan near took his head off. I laughed my socks off and couldn't stop. It was the Managing Director and he had no humour whatsoever - he gave me a black plastic bag to empty my desk when I only owned one Biro
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