An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman

"An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman" is the opening line of a category of joke popular in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The nationalities involved may vary, though they are usually restricted to those within Ireland and the UK, and the number of people involved is usually three or sometimes four. In Ireland, the characters are sometimes called "Paddy Irishman, Paddy Englishman, and Paddy Scotsman". Depending on who is telling the joke, one nationality fares well and the other nationalities fare poorly according to national stereotypes. For example, in England the punchline is usually based around the Irishman being stupid, the Scotsman being mean or miserly, and the Englishman being posh (or a snob but ultimately not the butt of the joke), whereas in Scotland and Ireland, the Englishman will typically be the butt of the joke. Sometimes, when the joke requires four people, a Welshman is brought into the joke.

Form

The joke typically starts with the home or favoured nationality and ends with the nationality and associated stereotype against which the joke is made. For example, in England, the joke begins "An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman..." whereas in Ireland it begins "Paddy Irishman, Paddy Englishman, and Paddy Scotsman".

The joke typically places the three characters in a scenario.[1] How each person in the joke reacts to the scenario is then explained in order by person, the final reaction being the punch line, playing up to the stereotype of that nationality. The joke uses the rule of three, the first two characters being used to set up an expectation which is then subverted in some way by the third.[2]

An Englishman an Irishman and a Scotsman were in a pub, talking about their sons. My son was born on St George’s Day,“ commented the English man. "So we obviously decided to call him George” “That’s a real coincidence,” remarked the Scot. “My son was born on St Andrew’s Day, so obviously we decided to call him Andrew.”
“That’s incredible, what a coincidence, "said the Irishman. "Exactly the same thing happened with my son Pancake.”[2]

National variations

The "three nationalities" joke format is also very common in other countries. In these cases, the two foreigners are almost always portrayed as cocky, stupid, or naïve, while the favoured national is smart, practical, or in any case ultimately victorious.

  • in one, Frenchman (as snob), Englishman (as patriotic) and Spaniard is used (sometimes other nationals are used: Italian for womanizers, German for punctual, etc.), and even sometimes their jobs (militar Guardia Civil contrasting to carabinieri, French gendarmes and bobbies)
  • other use the Spanish regions, also following stereotypes: funny Andalousian, mean Catalans, countryside fellows Basques, Galicians or from Aragon, cocky from Madrid, etc. In contrast, neighbouring Portugueses are seldom mentioned.
  • one last variant uses the Spaniard as the butt of the pun.

The joke need not necessarily involve nationalities. The classical mathematician jokes begin: "A mathematician, a physicist and an engineer..."

See also

References

  1. ↑ Delia Chiaro (1992), The Language of Jokes, London, Routledge (see pp. 48–50 on the three nationalities joke)
  2. 1 2 Partington, Alan (2006). The Linguistics of Laughter: A Corpus-Assisted Study of Laughter-Talk. Routledge. p. 42. ISBN 1134178123.
  3. ↑ Dorota Brzozowska. "Three characters in Polish jokes" (PDF). doi:10.7592/EP.1.brzozowska. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  4. ↑ Reciprocal national stereotypes in Scandinavia, by Thomas Hylland Eriksen
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