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Dictionary definition: ethnic jokes
- Article from:
- A Dictionary of English Folklore
- Author:
Copyright© A Dictionary of English Folklore 2000, originally published by Oxford University Press 2000. (Hide copyright information)
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ethnic jokes.
The English are not alone in having an active repertoire of jokes which rely for their point on negative ethnic stereotypes, as all European countries have their joke cycles about particular groups. In earlier times, the groups singled out for ridicule were more likely to be the inhabitants of a local town or village—
Gotham
, for example—but this has gradually given way to jokes about particular nationalities or ethnic groups, although different regions still hold stereotyped views about others. There is a range of stereotyped traits assigned to particular groups in jokes, but the most common is stupidity, presumably because it has much wider comic possibilities ...