Talk:British humour

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1 Content concern
2 History of British Humour
3 Change to English Humour
4 Ali G
5 Swift/Gulliver

[edit] Content concern

The article seems to be mostly a list of British examples of humor instead of describing what it actually is like. Though looking at these articles are fine and dandy, it would be nice if somebody would actually explain the general characteristics of British humor to the average reader so he/she does not have to look up every article in the list. Thanks ahead of time!

Not discussed is the general view of British Humour - for example when the French say 'British Humour' they mean basically not funny! - I believe this is because I dont understand it personally - but then again I am biased as I am British myself.

Article currently says:

"The Absurdity and banality of everyday life typified by the Goons, and Monty Python."

Well, plenty of absurdity there, but banality? For banality, first one's off the top of my head would be One Foot in the Grave and Hancock and probably others if my head wasn;t full of vodka right now. Any further bids for banality? In fact Withnail & I is a good one for both, but that's just my strong prejudice. --bodnotbod 20:40, Jun 25, 2004 (UTC)

Id add Jeeves and Wooster.

And what about Mr. Bean and Black Adder? Krupo 19:42, Oct 5, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] History of British Humour

Article to follow. Watch this space!--217.205.245.235 12:07, 2 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Change to English Humour

All of the examples of British humour in this article are English, is there and argument to change the article to English humour?

The Beano and The Dandy, and publisher D C Thomson are all Scottish. Lumos3 19:02, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

Ok then the vast majority are English, there are no Welsh or Scottish comedians or sketch shows mentioned

Musungu jim 05:01, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

And??? Just because they are made in england doesn't mean they're not appreciated in scotland

And its wonderful that English comedy is appreciated in Scotland, just as Benny hill and monty python are appreciated in the United States, but this doesnt change the fact that its English comedy, performed by English comedians

So does anyone disagree that it should be changed to English Humour?

Object The humour described here is universal across Britain. Calling it English humour is just a case of the English claiming the whole British culture for themselves. Lumos3 20:43, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

Also Google results for "British humour" = 178,000 "English humour" = 94,000. Lumos3 12:16, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

Object Just because the actors in a show are english doesn't mean that people from the other home countries don't have the same british sense of humour... ARTooD2 00:06, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Google results for british humour = 12,700,000 English Humour 20,100,000

Lumos in England British and English have ALWAYS been the same thing. Can you tell me how English comedians making comedy in England for an English audience makes it British humour? If there was an article American humour that included Friends, FRasier, Seinfeld, M*A*S*H and Cheers, it would still be called American Humour despite the fact people all over the world enjoy these shows. My point is that this article should be renamed English Humour, and a seperate articel be created for Scottish humour, with examples of Scottish comedians and shows

Musungu jim 08:07, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

The humour this article describes is enjoyed all over the British Isles. There is nothing to stop you starting an article called Scottish humour or Cockney humour to describe those genres. But how would English humour differ from British Humour since the two have come to mean the same thing. You can try to start a seperate article but they will probably end up being remerged.

Also

Google results need to have quotes in the search key or you are just counting every article that contans British and humour anywhere on the same page. So we get:-

"british humour" = 182,000 "English Humour" 106,000 British spelling

"british humor" = 268,000 "English Humor" 162,000 US spelling - Lumos3 12:11, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

My point is that it wouldn't be different because this article is about English humour and its examples. Changing this to English humour would on the whole be about changing British to English. And again, it doesn't matter if these shows are enjoyed in Wales and Scotland, it doesn;t change the fact that they are English shows, in England by and for English people. The seperate Scottish article would include shows and comedians from Scotland (chewin the fat, billy connolly, the crankies etc.)

Musungu jim 08:33, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

This discussion has lead into where the boundary lies between Britishness and Englishness, which is not an easy one to answer. For most of the last 200 years the two have been the same and English and British have meant the same thing for most people. If a separate English identity is re-emerging (see English people) then the world may differentiate the two. At the moment as the Google searches show most people say British humour and I suspect that those who say English humour take the words British and English to be synonyms. Wikipedia reports the current usage and the world as it is and is not a tool to create a sense of English identity. Lumos3 08:42, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

I thought the discussion was about where the boundary between British and English lay, in the context of an article about national humour. Its not that an English identity is re-amerging, so much as it is being clarified and seperated from the idea of 'britishness', taking most of that identity with it. I agree that most people in England and around the world do take English and British to be synonymous, but, in England at least, it isn't people confusing England and Britain and excluding Wales and Scotland, so much as people confusing England and Britain to the disregard of Wales and Scotland, that is, assuming Scotland, and especially Wales, are somehow part of England. I realise that Wikipedia isn't a tool to create an English identity, I can assure you that one already exists, but if it didn't Wikipedia would be a pretty narrow field to create one.

But returning to the article itself, you still havn't confronted the fact that this article already is about English comedy, performed by English comedians, for an English audience, and should therefore be called English humour.

My point is that its about British comedy enjoyed mostly by British people including those in Scotland and Wales as well as England. The only reason its sometimes called English is because of the assumption that England means Britain to many people. Lumos3 16:30, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

You're the one whose confusing English an british! If all the examples of humour in this article where Scottish comedians, in Scotland, to a Scottish audience, what would the article be called?

86.130.175.7 10:28, 13 July 2006 (UTC)