【新唐人2012年10月05日訊】 (美国之音電)
Jessica在北京學漢語，她的中國朋友要是遇到了不知道用美語怎麼說的詞，就會來請教她。今天是Luis要問的：冷幽默。
LZ: Jessica, you won’t believe it! Last night, I met the funniest guy ever!
Jessica: No way! 他怎麼好玩兒了？Did he wear bunny ears?
LZ: 頭上戴著兔耳朵？這種是幼兒園級的搞笑，沒勁! 這人的特點是，每句話都特逗，可是自己從來不笑! 對了，這種冷幽默在美語裡要怎麼說呢？
Jessica: We call that dry humor. With dry humor, the emphasis is not on funny facial expressions or exaggerated body moves, rather, it’s the joke itself that’s really humorous.
LZ: 哦，dry humor, 不靠誇張的表情和動作，純粹靠笑話本身好笑。The guy I was talking about did have a dry sense of humor.
Jessica: I bet he kept a straight face while telling jokes that made everyone else laugh their pants off!
LZ: exactly! 別人都笑翻了，就他自己面無表情地繼續講。這人的冷幽默在party上特受人歡迎。以前大家為了找樂子，頂多就是講幾個葷段子。哎？這“葷段子”又要怎麼說呢？
Jessica: We call them “off-color jokes." The most common off-color jokes are about sex, but they can also touch on violence, ethnic groups or other impolite topics.
LZ: 原來葷段子就是off-color jokes, 除了情色內容，還可以是別的有冒犯性的話題。
Jessica: Off-color jokes can be really offensive to those who aren’t that close to you or don’t share your sense of humor. So, use them carefully.
LZ: 沒錯，講葷段子得分對甚麼人，不熟的朋友可別講! 啊，說了這麼多段子，幽默，我真是躍躍慾試!
Jessica: What? Give what a try?
LZ: 我本來就是個特有幽默感的人，我覺得我能成一單口相聲演員!
Jessica: A standup comedian? You?
LZ: 原來, Standup comedian 就是單口相聲演員，那行，I’ll make standup comedian one of my career goals!
Jessica: Is this dry humor? ‘Cos I didn’t get it!
LZ: 今天我們學了，冷幽默是dry humor; 葷段子off-color jokes; 單口相聲演員是standup comedian.
