# Jokes wherein your countryman brings home the bacon



## Cracker Jack

I was just wondering if you are fond of cracking jokes telling tall tales about your countryman pitted against others in an international competition in which no matter how adverse his status is, he will always emerge winner hands-down.  A friend of mine told me that it may also exist in other cultures.  And since it is just telling tall tales, there is no need to be stingy about the achievement of one's countryman, i.e. he gains the top rung in a superhuman way.

I would like to know if you all tell these types of jokes too.  In my culture, it is always my countryman against an American, a Japanese and a Chinese.  Sometimes if the theme borders on sexuality, instead of just 1 American, there will always be 1 white American and 1 black American.  Still however, they are no match to my countryman.

Thanks a lot.


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## danielfranco

Yes, sometimes, but the nationalities in the joke vary in order to better insult the listeners (or the forer@s).


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## The MightyQ

Canadians are always happy to make jokes at the expense of others, the target seems to shift to the latest wave of immigrant nationalities. Americans are always fair game. Newfoundlanders and Québecois are often the butt of english-canadian jokes. Multiculturalism at it's best.
If I can hijack this slightly,  I would question the use of "bringing home the bacon".  I have always thought this meant being the prime wage earner, being the one to "put bread on the table". Have I been missing something?


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## belén

Here in Spain, this kind of joke starts:

Había un inglés, un francés y un español...

Cheers

Belén


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## Lombard Beige

In Britain, there are "Englishman, Scotsman and Irishman ..." jokes ...

In France, there are jokes about Belgians, like the Newfies in Canada ...

In Italy, the jokes are about the Carabinieri (Police), for example: "Why do the Carabinieri always go around in a team of two?"
Answer: because one can read and the other can write ...

Also in Italy, the jokes about stinginess refer to the Genoese, in Spain to Catalans and in Britain ... well it's proverbial so I won't be more specific.

regards


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## lalola

Hi, it is true that in Spain we have also regional yokes, highlighting common places from each province. Eg. There was an Andalusian, a Catalan and a man from Madrid...This splits hairs....


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## Chazzwozzer

In Turkey, you can usually find: "American, Englishman, French, German and Turk" jokes a lot where the Turk always deliveres the punchline. Turkish guy is almost always Temel, who is from Black Sea Region, where people are considered to be smart and have a joyful life, and a very popular figure in jokes.


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## optimistique

In the Netherlands there are jokes about a Belgian, a German and a Dutchman, with the Belgian being the silliest, than the German and the Dutchman being the most normal (and I believe in belgium they tell the same jokes, only there the roles are reversed). Germans and especially Belgians appear also separately in jokes.


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## Lombard Beige

Hi optimistique:

I had some contacts with people from Flanders and I know they call the Dutch, jokingly, "cheeseheads" (kaaskop/en? /s ?) and are called by you "eaters of French fries / chips / pommes frites", right? 

I know its against the rules to advertise, but I'm desperately searching for a Dutchman to explain the phenomenal success of the Dutch Wikipedia (see the Non-English Wikipedias thread ...

regards


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## Chaska Ñawi

Moderator Note:  Cracker Jack did not ask for a list of jokes, or information about stereotypes appearing in jokes.  He asked about the phenomenon of one's countryman or countrywoman being the hero of the joke and triumphing over other nationalities.  Please return to the topic at hand now.

Thanks, all.


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## Lombard Beige

Well that's what I believe the Flemish-speaking Belgians do in their jokes about the Dutch, but also about the French-speaking Belgians ... 

Against the Dutchman and the "Frenchman", the Fleming wins out ...

regards


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## Outsider

Cracker Jack said:


> I was just wondering if you are fond of cracking jokes telling tall tales about your countryman pitted against others in an international competition in which no matter how adverse his status is, he will always emerge winner hands-down.  A friend of mine told me that it may also exist in other cultures.  And since it is just telling tall tales, there is no need to be stingy about the achievement of one's countryman, i.e. he gains the top rung in a superhuman way.


Jokes where nationals are pitted against people of other nationalities are common in Portugal, but not with the Portuguese as a superhuman. 
Usually, he "wins" (or not) in some underhanded way which epitomizes our traditional flaws.


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## sdr083

In Norway the jokes are about a Norwegian, a Swede and a Dane. 
Some jokes are only about the Swedes, but whether they make jokes about us or the Danes I don't know (any people form Sweden or Denmark here?).  Most of these jokes are not really that good though, but children usually find them funny and keep them alive.


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## Lugubert

sdr083 said:


> In Norway the jokes are about a Norwegian, a Swede and a Dane.
> Some jokes are only about the Swedes, but whether they make jokes about us or the Danes I don't know (any people form Sweden or Denmark here?). Most of these jokes are not really that good though, but children usually find them funny and keep them alive.


We (Uh, other Swedes than me, of course) tend to concentrate on demeaning Norwegians. But there's a whole set of jokes, where appears a Swede named "Bellman", probably not to be confused with our national bard, then a German, and a Russian, both of whom get national names not recognized by any official list.

"Det var Bellman, en rysk och en tysk..." 'Now there was B., a Russian and a German...' "Rysk" is an adjective; in this connection it should have been "en ryss". This really sets the scene. You would have guessed it, Bellman outsmarts the others, _but_ in a way that makes him an even greater jerk.

I think it will be difcult to find a nation that has no similar jokes on their neighbours. Or for that matter, jokes between cities and/or regions within a country. A few years ago, an enterprising German published a booklet with jokes aimed at the north-western part of Germany. A success. Reaction. So, he brought out another little book, "Der Ostfriese schlägt zurück" (I think), 'the guy from Eastern Friesland strikes back', with jokes aimed at the general German public. Another success, quickly followed by for example one on the Swiss people.


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## ireney

We don't go for neighbours in our jokes. When we want to joke about someone being stupid we "attack" Greeks from a certain region. When we want to show how clever (or, most of the times, how sly) a Greek is, we randomly choose some Europeans, mostly from Western Europe, often depending on the kind of the joke.

These jokes, sometimes actually funny and clever but most times inane, are part of the whole stereotyoing buisness and a very useful tool for perpetuating such steretotypes. That's why you may hear some of these jokes in different countries with every detail but the nationalities the same.


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## .   1

Aussies prefer this type of joke but with the Aussie as the mug.
We use a Yank and a Pommie and an Aussie.  The Yank is technical and the Pommie is old fashioned then the Aussie walks into a tree.

.,,


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## Victoria32

. said:


> Aussies prefer this type of joke but with the Aussie as the mug.
> We use a Yank and a Pommie and an Aussie.  The Yank is technical and the Pommie is old fashioned then the Aussie walks into a tree.
> 
> .,,


What, no calling New Zealanders sheep-sh*ggers? 

(New Zealanders aren't in my experience that good at laughing at themselves... they prefer to go for we Poms...  )

Vicky


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## .   1

Victoria32 said:


> What, no calling New Zealanders sheep-sh*ggers?
> 
> (New Zealanders aren't in my experience that good at laughing at themselves... they prefer to go for we Poms...  )
> 
> Vicky


I've never really seen the subtelty or humour in sheepshagger jokes but maybe I just haven't heard the funny ones.
We use Kiwis for the rustic element.
The Yank does something from the city and the Kiwi does something from the farm and the Aussie hits himself in the ear with a brick.

.,,


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## Victoria32

. said:


> I've never really seen the subtelty or humour in sheepshagger jokes but maybe I just haven't heard the funny ones.
> We use Kiwis for the rustic element.
> The Yank does something from the city and the Kiwi does something from the farm and the Aussie hits himself in the ear with a brick.
> 
> .,,


You're right of course, they aren't really funny... But they are a stereotype!

Vicky


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## .   1

Victoria32 said:


> You're right of course, they aren't really funny... But they are a stereotype!
> 
> Vicky


The funny thing about stereotypes is that some are funny.

Robert


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## Victoria32

. said:


> The funny thing about stereotypes is that some are funny.
> 
> Robert


That's true... I get exercised about the 'whinging Pom' stereotype here, but that being said, my father _could_ sound like one sometimes ...and some of my Asian students resemble the Asian nerdy-student-trendy-girl one... but as you say, some _are_ funny! 

Vicky


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## Venezuelan_sweetie

Cracker Jack said:


> I was just wondering if you are fond of cracking jokes telling tall tales about your countryman pitted against others in an international competition in which no matter how adverse his status is, he will always emerge winner hands-down. A friend of mine told me that it may also exist in other cultures. And since it is just telling tall tales, there is no need to be stingy about the achievement of one's countryman, i.e. he gains the top rung in a superhuman way.
> 
> I would like to know if you all tell these types of jokes too. In my culture, it is always my countryman against an American, a Japanese and a Chinese. Sometimes if the theme borders on sexuality, instead of just 1 American, there will always be 1 white American and 1 black American. Still however, they are no match to my countryman.
> 
> Thanks a lot.


I don't know how to answer that without breaking forum rules, since the answer might be: (a) yes or no, according to your two "if" sentences; or (b) a list of nationalities that my fellow countrypeople include in their jokes...

So, if (a), yes. My Venezuelan bros and sis love jokes of the sort. There are some *really *funny ones! Pity it's all about prejudices and stereotypes...

If (b), when the Venezuelan guy beats the others, it goes like this: if it is about being dumb vs. witty, then there is a Spaniard ("Gallego") in the story; if it is about being brilliant in business vs. simply cheating, there are an American and an Asian one; if it is about being crazy vs. sane, there is a nutty Italian one; if it is about being rude and ill-mannered, there is a German one; if it is about being 'criminal' (mainly about stealing, lying or drug-dealing), there is a Colombian one; if it is about being discriminated, there is an "Arab" one... and there are others, but I think these have been offensive enough (sorry, that's just how people are, in here, I'm just 'reporting'...  )

However, we also have lots and lots of jokes based upon regional stereotypes: the "gochos" (from the Andes) being dumb; the "orientales" (from the East coast) being sunburn fishermen; the "llaneros" (yes, from the Llanos) being superstitious horse-riding chauvinists; the caraqueños (from the capital) being violent coffee-lovers and madly scared of bugs; and so on...

If not (a) nor (b), could any mod (or CrackerJack) reformulate, please, so that I could get back in track? Thank you...


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## badgrammar

This is an interesting topic, I don't think the French do this, it would be too boastful to make the French guy the hero every time.  Usually they will leave the star role for whatever nationality best fits the action, according to national stereotypes.  This could work both ways.  

The Italian, for example, might be the only guy crafty enough to figure a plan-B out of a sticky situation, or he might be one of the guys who loses out because he's such a Mama's boy.  In both cases, the salami he has been hiding in his pocket (for example) may also be involved. 

In the USA, I'd say it's the same thing.  

The exception to this is when they are no longer simple "Three guys walked into a bar" jokes, but rather become _rivalry jokes_.  These can be based on nationality, region, school, sports teams, political affiliation, whatever...  And in these jokes, it is inevitably your rival who loses and you who have... _la part belle.... _.

So, my questions to Cracker Jack are: Does this same schema apply to even the "Three guys were in an airplane" type jokes, or only to jokes that are rivalry jokes?  And in spite of the guy being the hero of the story, does the hero ever look ridiculous himself?


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## Cracker Jack

First of all, I would like to thank you for your overwhelming replies.  I was not disappointed because it turned out that this joke is replicated all over the globe.  I just would like to comment on some points.



Venezuelan_sweetie said:


> I don't know how to answer that without breaking forum rules, since the answer might be: (a) yes or no, according to your two "if" sentences; or (b) a list of nationalities that my fellow countrypeople include in their jokes...


 
You are right Vswee.  The title is answerable by yes or no.  But I still posted it because I know that there is more to just a yes or no than what meets the eye as an answer.  I was thinking that people would give more explanations reflective of their repective cultures and their vies of other people.  I was not really intending in fomenting rancor because after all, the nature of the matter in question is a joke.  And I am thankful that by far, no bitterness has ensued. LOL.

Indeed there was an enumeration of nationalities or ethnic groups, but it went beyond just a mere list.  The others offered some minor details why they were able to arrive at their choice.  In fact some even presented an inter-country regional groupings.

badgrammar, I think the airplane thing would still be applicable even though it would involve a rivalry.  But I would rather call it a competition than a rivalry because it is just one-time telling.  Don't you think so?

Again thanks Vswee and baddie.  They're really appreciated.


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## Thomsen

In America, it's typically all Americans, but from different ethnic backgrounds, usually with implication that they are more or less "off the boat" (immigrants) or second-generation.  I don't think there is usually one set winner but Polish guys are sometimes the losers.  Don't know why!


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