德國是全世界最不幽默的國家?

Germany officially the world's least funny country

As Mark Twain observed, a German joke is no laughing matter.

正如馬克吐溫所觀察，德國笑話根本就沒有笑點。

Sadly for the nation that brought us everything from Beethoven to lederhosen, it seems that everyone agrees。

從貝多芬到皮短褲，德國確實有點貢獻，可惜大家還是一致認為德國人最不好笑。

Germany has been voted the least funny country in the world in an international poll。

在最近一個國際調查中，德國被選為世界上最沒有幽默感的國家。

Examples of German jokes include: "Yesterday, I met my friend Horst at the hospital. He'd swallowed a sponge. He says it doesn't hurt but he's always thirsty". If that left your ribs untickled, try this: ‘Plants grow very well if you speak kindly to them. Which is why I sometimes go into the garden and insult the weeds.’

德國笑話種種，來看幾個例子："昨天，我在醫院碰到了朋友赫斯特。他吞了塊海綿。他說一點都不疼，但就是很渴。" 如果這個一點也不好笑，試試看這個："常對植物說好話，它會長得更好。這就是為什麼我常到花園裡辱駡雜草。"

The survey of 30,000 people in 15 countries was conducted for social networking site Badoo.com, whose spokesman Lloyd Price said: ‘Germans are brilliant at so many things, including making cars and beating us at football.

15個國家約3萬人參與了該調查。調查是在網站Badoo上進行的，該網站的發言人洛德布利斯說，德國各方面表現向來出色，像汽車製造和足球皆是。

"Unfortunately, telling jokes isn’t always one of them. If only there was a comedy World Cup, we might stand a chance against them."

但顯然講笑話不是德國人擅長的事，如果有一個喜劇世界杯，我們就有機會打敗德國人了。

The stereotype of German humourlessness is believed to derive from their reputation for efficiency, punctuality and rationality, presumed to be at the expense of humour.

德國人不幽默的刻板印象公認是來自於他們效率、準時和理性，這些剛好就是幽默感的對頭。

Of Britain’s place near the bottom of the list, Mr. Price said: "If we’re no good at football and no good at comedy either, it’s a bit of a pie in the face for us."

至於英國人排名也很糟，身為英國人的布利斯說，如果我們足球也踢不好，又不會說笑話，那真的是糗斃了。