"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
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"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
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"Arfa Daily" wrote in message ...

I think I've become too used to taking stuff literally on here, and not
looking for the humour. You'll notice the different spelling of the
word, as I am in the U.K. Over the years, I've seen many cases of what
was intended to be humour being misinterpreted by the time it reached
the other side of the pond, and some pretty violent arguments breaking
out as a result, a few of which I've been involved in ... :-)

The last such that I can remember was a typically British throw-away
comment about a Bulova Accutron wris****ch, which was seen by everyone
this side as tongue-in-cheek humour, but was taken as a proper insult by
the American OP, and ultimately a number of other regular U.S. posters
who pitched in their two penn'orth. Since then, there doesn't seem to
have been much attempt at humour from either side, and I think that's
why it went over my head - I just wasn't looking for it or expecting it
!

I was that OP, if I recall correctly. The issue is not how humor
translates, but whether the tone of the posting indicates you're trying
to be funny. in that particular case, there was nothing in the post
indicating it was supposed to be funny.

I've become more cautious about making wisecracks. As much as we would
prefer that readers get the joke without it having to be explained (which
is a compliment to the reader), a g or can save a lot of arguing.

You were not the OP - although you became directly embroiled in the
argument on his side, William. The OP was someone who I had not seen on
here before, and was asking about replacement batteries for said watch,
because the originals were no longer available, and the recommended
replacement made it run fast for a few days, or something like that. That
caused a well known name this side to throw in a comment about it being a
"crap design" as I recall, making a bit of a mockery of the name
"Accutron".

The OP took deep offense at this, and no amount of telling him - or you if
I remember correctly - that the comment had been intended as humour that
you both had failed to understand, would recover the situation. Still,
over and done with, and no point in resurrecting it all again, so we'll
just leave it there, shall we ?

Arfa




I used to be the keyboard player in a band, and we were once playing a
residency on a US Navy base in Spain. A guy came up to me and asked if I
played by ear, to which I replied "no, I usually use my fingers".

He got most upset, thought I was being nasty and taking the mickey.

That bit of British humour just did not cross the Atlantic at all.



Gareth.