Friends, pandas, countrymen, lend me thine ears! For 'tis a page of memes from the island of Britain that I present upon you. Okay, okay, no more poor attempts at Shakespeare-speak, I promise. I won't bore you with the usual British stereotypes either – mentioning crumpets, double-decker buses and saying 'rubbish' when something's really bad.
Yet Britain indeed has its own unique charm. Just like any other culture does. And while it's true that The Commonwealth doesn't have the best track record when it comes to honoring other cultures, we here at Bored Panda often honor the British sense of humor. This time we're covering the British Memes page on Instagram. Check out our selection and don't forget to upvote your favorites!
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The British Memes IG is one of many pages under the Pubity Group entertainment. Their 'about us' page boasts having more than 20 channels, which, according to them, cover diverse subcultures. It's not all about entertainment and popular culture – they have pages about sports, travel and even news.
The Pubity Groups is a true entertainment powerhouse tailored for Millennials and Gen Z. Most of their pages have a considerable following too – the British Memes page, for example, has a whopping 1.9 million followers. Their most popular IG page is Memezar with a 22.7 million follower count – a page that is all things meme and meme-culture.
what in the bloody jollywhap bloobyblam codswallop bumbernucklers it is a wee bit odd i reckon
While scrolling through these memes, you might notice that British humor (or, rather, humour) is quite distinctive. People often complain they don't understand British comedy shows or stand-up. That's especially true for Americans. Researchers from Birkbeck, University of London, even published a study on this topic.
They showed the participants two excerpts from two British television shows. The study sample included 128 British individuals and 95 American English users. The people had to rate the funniness of the two clips. A bigger portion of American English users rated British humor as less funny. They said they did not get the ironic and sarcastic aspect of British humor.
Many people think that the comedy ensemble Monty Python is the best example of British humor. Dr Ian Wilkie, a lecturer in performance at the University of Salford, reiterated this sentiment to the BBC.
"Having taught younger American students, they take the British sense of humour to be Monty Python, by which they mean a sort-of slightly erring towards the surreal, very iconoclastic in terms of attacking the big targets, very silly."
The equivalent here in Texas & the south is "Bless her heart." That can be genuine concern, utter disgust, amazement at the level of stupidity, etc. It covers a wealth of situations.
As David Woods writes for PBS, American humor tends to be positive and upbeat. The British, on the other hand, derive their humor from oddities and misfortunes. Take, for example, Mr. Bean, another canonical British comedy character. He's always getting into some kind of trouble. Yet, we find his misfortunes funny – it can make us feel better about ourselves.
Mr. Bean is also an odd character. The way he moves, talks, even thinks – there's always something unusual about him. Same with Monty Python. Take the 'Ministry Of Silly Walks' sketch. It's full of absurd physical comedy, just like Mr. Bean.
We have to make the most of those 30 minutes any way we can.
British comedian Stephen Fry also talked about the differences between American and British humor. He said that humor in classical American sitcoms comes from jokes.
And British sitcoms, in his opinion, rely on character, usually on the failure of a character. Fry describes these protagonists as "trying to be grand in a world that's letting them down." He cites such examples as Alan Partridge and David Brent.
I bet she made a right spectacle of herself.
for 2 years not once did you attempt to pull that? not once?... how do people get through a day without dying?
"The American hero is faster, sharper, cleverer," Fry explains. He uses the toga party scene in the 1978 comedy film Animal House as an example. John Belushi's character smashes a guitar player's instrument in that scene. Americans want to be Belushi at that moment, Fry explains, and a British comedian would rather play the folk singer.
Fry believes that the British laugh at themselves. Americans, on the other hand, are not that good at self-deprecation. "Americans, I think – and I wouldn't overstate this – are not that good at laughing at themselves."
But not everyone believes there's such a clear distinction between American and British humor. Dr. Wilkie also told BBC he doesn't exactly think there is a British kind of humor. "I think the best you can hope for is some big, beacon terms (eg. sarcasm, understatement, self-deprecation), that maybe, over a fair amount of time, might hold water."
In the US we'd artfully arrange that on a wooden board and call it charcuterie!
British cuisine is not far off from my toddler's diet. Except she doesn't like beans. That's it Britain the only thing separating you from a toddler is beans.
I have never seen a dino or fish nugget and I have lived in UK all my life
Look....its late, and I've had a few. I'd eat the f out of everything pictured, tbh.
Dang it I’m too sick to enjoy this image. Still looks pretty good though.
OMG. I had those tiny pizzas for dinner every day as a kid! All hail co op!
I've had dinner already but this looks amazing...I think it's a reaction to the post christmas, "being good"
I must confess that I would certainly enjoy that - I can feel my arteries hardening just looking at that spread.
Mmm, Bernard Matthews Turkey Dinosaurs. They do Unicorn shapes too. One of my granddaughters loves these to the point where she frequently demands them, lol.
Is it nutritious? Probably not. Will it poison you? Definitely not.
Load More Replies...Oscar Wilde has famously said that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. Is that a sign that British humor is maybe not so "streets ahead" compared to its American counterpart? In a previous interview with Bored Panda, researcher of humor studies at Keuka College Steven Kapica agreed that sarcasm is somewhere near the bottom of the barrel when it comes to ranking forms of comedy.
This is classic though, what is it with people having to put EVERYTHING on social media. 'hmm Dennis is posing with a massive wad of cash ...but he hasn't worked for months... ooooh. oh Dennis'
"It doesn't take much skill to inflect a phrase with sarcasm in response to an authority's power move, or to use sarcasm to point out what is already obvious to everyone. The jokester who feels inclined to perform what everyone else is thinking isn't [a] comic genius," Kapica told Bored Panda before.
However, Kapica admitted that sarcasm plays an important role in human interaction. "I think it is better to think of sarcasm as a rhetorical device than as a form of comedy.
As a rhetoric device, sarcasm can be an effective means of gauging, guiding, and winning one's audience 'in-the-moment.' But that's 'live' sarcasm. Internet-based sarcasm is... oof."
Trust me. There are waaay worse views in Brum.
Now show 17:40. It's either pįssing down or snowing.
You should see the Trago Mills places, they have turrets like a castle!
"this post originally had 51 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images". Why? Just.. why?
Football hooligans destroyed the 51st image in a riot
Load More Replies..."this post originally had 51 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images". Why? Just.. why?
Football hooligans destroyed the 51st image in a riot
Load More Replies...