Do you LAUGH even when you don't understand the JOKE?
By I_LUV_U
@I_LUV_U (2519)
India
August 22, 2007 10:11am CST
Imagine yourself to be sitting in a Movie hall along with some friends( suppose, not so close ones). You are in no mood to watch the movie, you just came over there because you are too sweet a person to say "No" to your friends' kind gesture of offering you a free cinema and also because you had enough of time to spend with them.
Your eyes are watching that BIG SCREEN in front of you, but just with half-hearted concentration. All your friends are thoroughly enjoying the movie. Now,
All of a sudden,
HaHaHa......everyone's Laughing out Loud.......HeHeHe
You find all the people around you laughing out loud Non-stop. Since you were not completely immersed in the movie, you did'nt get that sensitive comic punch. You are disturbed.
you did'nt understand the joke, but your insight tells that there's something hilarious being told, that's why everyone's laughing. In this situation,
What will you do?
Just keep looking at others' face like an innocent animal and wonder why they are all laughing?
OR
Start laughing because others are also laughing?
OR
Ask the person sitting besides you, what the joke was?
(this will be the most embarassing thing, atleast for me)
OR
Something else?
Not to forget, i shall remind you that when we all laugh, we human beings usually see each other's faces, especially when we are not sitting with strangers, is'nt it?
So, when you are responding, consider this factor also i.e your friends might look at you while laughing.
Have you ever laughed when you had not understood the joke, just for the sake of others, to show that you too have a good sense of humour?
((((BE FRANK))))
29 people like this
107 responses
@nickventere (1420)
• Zambia
23 Aug 07
Just like me! I will not "laugh along", as it were. I will just light up a smile, a curled one, just wondering what did I miss and how. Many times it would be due to lack of concentration. usually, that laughter kind of jerks me back into reality.
But when I am "wide-awke" and I just genuinely miss the joke, I will ask the next person, "Hey, I didn't catch that? What was it they said?"
1 person likes this
@mamasan34 (6518)
• United States
23 Aug 07
Yes I am pretty guilty of that, if someone tells me a joke and I don't really understand it I will laugh just so they don't tell it again. Sometimes I laugh even though I don't understand something, but everyone else is laughing and it makes me laugh.
3 people like this
@abroji (3247)
• India
23 Aug 07
To be frank I have done this several times, just not to be seen odd. This reminds me of a joke I read in the Readers' Digest years back. A Soviet military high official during his visit to India gave a lecture to the Indian soldiers in Kashmir. An Indian officer was translating the Russian's speech. The Russian Officer noted that whenever he said something humorous all the soldiers were openly laughing. After the lecture the Russian told the translator, "Hello you made a wonderful translation. Well done" The translator asked back "What made you to think so?" The Russian in reply to this pointed out how the soldiers enjoyed his jokes. To this the Indian officer replied "It was just because I commanded them to laugh"
2 people like this
@kimthedane (945)
• Denmark
23 Aug 07
I probably would be lying if i said i had never done this. But as i remember i have not and i wouldn't. Tho it can make you laugh just to hear others laughing. Laughter is a very contageous thing. I think i would choose the embarassing option and ask the man besides me what they were laughing about. But hey, that is me in a nutshell :)
@kimthedane (945)
• Denmark
28 Aug 07
Sorry if that was confusing hunni, but it seems rather clear to me. However for your peace of mind i will try again, lol.
What i mean is that i would probably be lying if i claimed that i never laughed if i did not understand the joke/point, but i do not remember having done it. But it can make me laugh just to hear others laughing, so i might have laught without understanding what was going on, but simply becoz people laugh arround me. Does that make more sence to you?
1 person likes this
@xiongyijun (171)
• China
22 Aug 07
i would ask the one sitting besides me what the joke was and tell him/ her the true reason why i can not understand the joke----half concentrated. it won't lose my face, i think, if i only tell the nearest person my true feeling. usually they would not tell other people about this. but if you've pretended knowing what the joke was and the next time when you get together, your friends talk about it again, how would you reply? i think if you can not understand what they are talking about this time, it is much more embarrasing. do you think so?
2 people like this
@xiongyijun (171)
• China
22 Aug 07
but you can not foresee what they would talk about when next time they get together. maybe it would suddenly occure to them. don't you think it is more time wasting to watch it after that than just asking the one sitting beside you?
1 person likes this
@sherrir101 (3670)
• Malinta, Ohio
23 Aug 07
Laughter is contagious for me. If I find a movie theater movie funny, I laugh. If I don't understand the movie and everyone else is laughing, I laugh. It might hit me several minutes later (the joke) and I laugh again. LOL
@Rozie37 (15499)
• Turkmenistan
23 Aug 07
If others are laughing that hard, then I would not want to miss out on a joke that funny. It is normal to miss a punch line even when you are fully tuned in to the movie. I would wait until the laughter settled down and then ask what happened.
When people notice that you are not laughing, usually, they are more than happy to tell you the joke again. That simply starts the laughter all over again.
2 people like this
@sandwedge (1339)
• Malaysia
23 Aug 07
i do not laugh at jokes when i do not understand them. be careful if you do. it can be very damaging to your reputation as some people purposely makes a "really really lame not funny at all" jokes to filter out the fake friends. rich people do this and so do powerful people.
i was at the yatch club in 1993 when a very modestly dressed man (in flip flops) started a conversation with me. small talks. somehow he started talking about how people treats another based on how they are dressed. he said if you dress shabbily, the yatch club restaurant waitresses usually look down their nose at you and more likely to ignore you. he said once they found out who he is(i later found out that the old guy is the owner of one of the biggest medical supply manufacturer in south east asia), they basically almost throw themselves at his feet. i told him a quote that goes "a rich man's joke is always funny". he laughed at it and added "even when they do not understand the joke!"
THEY KNOW when people laugh without understanding what they are talking about!! so don't ever do it.
2 people like this
@I_LUV_U (2519)
• India
24 Aug 07
Yea, you have a point, but i don't have any rich friends as such. I'm not very sociable in personal life, i've few close friends and i'm sure they don't get me wrong. we share a good rapport.
We'll even argue, quarrel and get upset with each other sometimes, but its all momentary. The next time we meet, we won't bring out the same issue.
I don't make friends with rich people, i hate their attitude, but it does'nt imply to all the rich ones, only to those i've known.
I don't mind losing the friendship of those "not too close" friends, if they do test my friendship as you said.
Nice response:)
2 people like this
@dafnie (382)
• United States
23 Aug 07
Lol great question! if i were in the movie theater and that's what happened to me, knowing how i am i probably would just smile at them and giggle a little but i wouldn't laugh all hard because then it would just be forced. yeah i'd basically just smile and look a little amused but confused at the same time! usually when i'm talking to someone one-on-one, if they tell a joke and it was supposed to be funny, i tend not to laugh.. and they end up feeling stupid. i've been trying the change that around, like i'll just giggle at things but then sometimes i just end up laughing at things that people normally wouldn't laugh at.... yeah it's weird!
but um, if i'm surrounded by laughing people i'll probably try to blend in a little with the crowd!
2 people like this
@Rozie37 (15499)
• Turkmenistan
23 Aug 07
I do not like it when people tell jokes wrong or that are not funny. If you laugh or encourage them in any way, they get a false sense of them selves. I have to feel very comfortable with someone to tell jokes with them in the first place.
So, if it is not funny or I don't get it, I have no problems letting them know. I get annoyed when a joke is set up and sounds like a real good one and then the teller messes it up.
1 person likes this
@vijay1wdv (357)
• India
22 Aug 07
it depends on the situation. When i am alone, i dont mind telling him the truth that i dint understand. But in a gathering, if everybody understands and i dint, I have to laugh with others. There is no other go. But if i get caught, that would severly embarase me.
2 people like this
@kaye0603 (48)
• Philippines
23 Aug 07
honestly, i know i'm going to be called weird but i do laugh even if i dnt understand the joke.. it always happens to me..
because sometimes even if i can't hear them or if i can't relate at all, their facial expressions makes me laugh i even have to hide it so they won't find me weird or something also how animated they converse with each other.
i admit i'm kind of shallow, well maybe i'm really weird!~_~
2 people like this
@DavidReedy (2378)
• United States
22 Aug 07
What's just as awkward is when you're the only one to understand a joke, and you start guffawing like mad, and everyone else just looks at you with raised eyebrows.
@Angelwhispers (8978)
• United States
22 Aug 07
No I don't laugh, instead I get this stupid classic blond look on my face that begs the Question WTF was that all about. Which at that point the joke teller will usually start trying to explain to me and if still then I don't understand I usually will say never mind its over my head.. LMAO
2 people like this
@soumylegra (379)
• India
22 Aug 07
well tats a tough situation...
hmmm well i think i just wouldnt be able to just laugh it off so i would smile along n then nudge the person near me n just cunningly tackle tat joke or sitaution tat triggered the laugh n then onwards try concentrating on the movie....lol
@kitty1234 (1476)
• United States
22 Aug 07
I just laugh and sooner or later someone will repeat what happened if it was so good, lol. But I laugh like I heard it and just go on watching.
