Salut Marie, "humor" A sense of humor depends on certain elements that are the same anywhere in the world. However the set up, circumstances and environment,where the humor is constructed is different from one place to another.It differs not only in different countries, but also in different working environments and households in the same country. Having adequate knowledge of those circumstances help you understand the common sense behind the created humor. If you don't know much about the features and characteristics of certain people you won't catch the humor of criticizing them in an indirect way for example. The elements that humor share all over the world are as follows: - The element of surprise. Humor often comes from something as simple as someone saying the unexpected. The surprise twist creates the humor. - Humor is also based on the second principle: release of tension. Laughter is a pressure valve which releases muscle tension. Uncomfortable situations, fear and pain are all tension builders that cry out for humor. We find ourselves laughing at risqué humor and embarrassing situations because they make us uncomfortable. We release the tension they create with humor. - The third principle of humor is relationships. Most humor is based on how things are related and not related. We can create humorous twists when we play with relationships. All the previous elements are global. The differences are when humor is targeting specific behavior of certain groups, which holds elements of stereotyping their attitude, resulting of course in very subjective judgments. So whether your target is a certain ethnic group or the blonds, the elements used to induce and twist the jokes are the same, yet the concepts and conditions are different.

Everyone has a sense of humour but it gets lost in translation.

Hi Marie, Its absolutely different, as a saying goes "Different people different style". What makes them the same is they can make people laugh and smile...:)

oui

No, it's totally different in every country, between people of different ages, between men and women etc etc.