Understanding a joke is not so easy in a different language.
Understanding the nuances of humor in a language that is not your first is not so easy. The other day, I saw the sign at left for the snow and ice warning. Hand written on the sign was the comment: Du kan bli kines which I understood to mean you can become Chinese. What I did not get was why it was written there on the sign.
I figured it was a joke, but I did not understand it and neither did my German friend Nici. It took Swedish Roger (Nici’s brand-new fiance) to fill us in. “The sign says Warning for RAS-RISK as ras in Swedish means falling ice and also race (such as Chinese, Indian or German). Thus the writer thought it was funny that you have a risk of becoming Chinese if you step around the sign.”
OK, so now I get it and after all that explaining, maybe the joke is just not so funny anymore. I guess you could say the humor was lost in translation.
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