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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I like the Brits.  Many I've met have that dry sense of humor.

very witty

I can appreciate smart humor![/quote]

They say something insulting or mean spirited and then defend it by saying it's their "British humor". 
 
Wit is smart, being condescending or insulting under the guise of 'humor' is not.[/quote]

That particular aspect of British humor is called "winding you up" or "taking the piss" and it's practically a hobby. Not to be confused with the Monty Python-type wit you're probably also familiar with, or even something like Absolutely Fabulous.

FWIW, The British version of The Office is a lot darker than the American Version (which Gervais contributed to, btw). [/quote]

I loooove the British Office (and think it far superior to the [quite frankly horrendous] American version) but this is not about that. I'm good at "taking the piss" as well, but that's different from being outright rude and condescending.  That's not a different kind of humor, that's being a jerk.

Many, many Americans really enjoy and understand dark humor- hence the popularity of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia or Curb Your Enthusiasm.  But Americans still manage to retain a level of friendliness to their fellow man which I frankly don't see in Britain (generalizing, of course)[/quote]

I'm the PP who posted about the British Office and I like it a lot too. But it is a lot darker. The long moments when Gervais' character humiliates the Pam
character are just painful, but there's more real drama there too. I also enjoyed the American Office. Somebody did a comparison of national identities based on their versions of The Office (the French Office is really bureaucratic, apparently). I think the author concluded the American version was more optimistic about finding happiness in the workplace, whereas other nationalities were pretty pessimistic. I'm at work now, and I provided the AA Gill link, so if anybody else is interested they will have to dig it out.[/quote]

I just finished the AA Gill link, and it was wonderful and I agreed with all of it.  This is what bothers me so much about all the dismissal of Americans as being "dumb"- it seems so patently, obviously untrue.  As are most generalizations, seeing as it's a country of 300 million people that spans across a continent and has vastly different climates and states.  But it's just kind of accepted "dumb Americans"- and if you object, you're in denial or obnoxiously patriotic.

I can definitely see that generalization of the different versions of The Office.  I've also heard that British humor is mostly characterized by "a sad man getting beaten down time and time again" (as you see in The Office) and American humor is kind of characterized by "stupid underdog wins in the end"- I'm paraphrasing, but that does seem to be true in a sense, and certainly holds to the "American optimism" that most people observe.  Curb Your Enthusiasm and other shows that buck that trend aside...

BTW, for some reason that link (thank you for sharing, btw- really, really wonderful and a great informative read) did not work for me and said the article was removed, which i think has to do with some weird hotlinking glitch thing happening.  If anyone wants to go through google, it shows up easily, and the title is "America the Marvelous" by A.A. Gill.  Definitely worth looking up and thanks to the PP for sharing it. [/quote]

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