Romanian humour, like all of Romanian culture, has many affinities with five other peoples: the Latins (Spanish and Italians), the Slavs, the Balkan people (Greeks and Turks), the Germanic peoples and the Hungarians. Romanias culture is very similar to other European culture, including that of Western Europe and Central Europe. ... The Slavic peoples are the most numerous ethnic and linguistic body of peoples in Europe. ...

Personages

The earliest Romanian character found in an anecdote is Păcală. His name is derived from a se păcăli ('to fool oneself') and, since this word cannot be found in any other related language, we can safely assume that he's part of pure Romanian humour.

The Ottoman influence brought the Balkan spirit and with it other characters and situations. Nastratin Hogea of Anton Pann is a classical example of an urban tradesman. As Jewish people from Russia settled in the Romanian lands, two other characters joined Romanian humour: Iţic and Ştrul, a pair of cunning Jews, mainly seen as ingenious but avaricious shopkeepers. The Ottoman Turks were the ethnic subdivision of the Turkish people who dominated the ruling class of the Ottoman Empire. ... Nasreddin (also commonly spelled Nasrudin, Nasredin, Nasruddin, Nasr Eddin, Nastradhin, Nasreddine, Nastratin, Nusrettin) was a lower Muslim cleric who lived among the Middle-eastern people in the Middle Ages. ... Anton Pann (in the 1790s, Sliven, in Rumelia—November 2, 1854, Bucharest) born Antonie Pantoleon-Petroveanu (also mentioned as Anton Pantoleon), was a Wallachian poet and composer. ...

With modernization and urbanization, especially during the Communist regime, Romanians needed a new character, different from the traditional Păcală, and it was found as Bulă, the tragicomic absolute idiot. In 2006 Bulă was voted the 59th greatest Romanian. Bulă is a fictional Romanian, an important stock character of Romanian humor. ... TV shows logo In 2006, the Romanian Television Company (Televiziunea Română, TVR) conducted a vote to determine whom the general public considers the 100 greatest Romanians of all time, in a version of the British TV show 100 greatest Britons. ...

With the fall of Communism and facing the harsh realities of Capitalism, a new kind of joke became popular: those of Alinuţa, a sadistic and stupid 10-year old girl.

Ethnic jokes

Roma: Jokes about the Roma (Gypsy) ethnic minority in Romanian. Recurring themes are stealing, refusing to work, having too many children - essentially all the negative stereotypes about Roma people in Romania. The Roma people (pronounced rahma, singular Rom, sometimes Rroma, and Rrom) along with the closely related Sinti people are commonly known as Gypsies in English, and as Tsigany in most of Europe. ... This article is about the concept of a minority. ...

Scotsmen: Jokes about those kilt-wearing mean and fisty skulks, who never fail to act against common sense just to save a few pennies in the short run.

Russians are often seen as primitive, rude and drunkards.

Q: What is big, red and stinks?

A: The Red Army when they take their shoes off.

A poor Russian fisherman catches a little fish which grants him three wishes. The first wish was "A big vodka". The wish is granted and the fisherman drinks it, then the fish asks for another one. "I want that the whole Volga to be made out of vodka." The wish is granted and the fisherman swims in it and drinks from it. Afterward is asked for the last wish. He says "You know what? I want another vodka".

Somalis are seen as underweight and hungry.

Q: In what part of Somalia is the density of population greatest?

A: It depends on the direction of the wind.

Albanians are seen as not very technologically advanced during communism times.

Q: How can you stop an Albanian tank?

A: You shoot the soldier that is pushing it.

Q: Why is there a rubber-band shortage in Albania?

A: They're saving it for their satellite launch.

Hungarians are seen as proud, but naive. The stereotypical Hungarian is called Ianoş and usually is accompanied by a Romanian named Ion.

Regions of Romania

One feature of Romanian humour is that apart from the ethnic jokes, there are also jokes about people of other regions. They are usually told using the way each region uses the Romanian language. For example, Moldavians pronounce /tch/ as /sh/ and /p/ as /k/, Oltenians make use of the perfect simple (rarely used in other regions) and the Transylvanians use some words of Hungarian and German origin such as 'musai' (meaning must) or 'fain' (meaning fine), as well as starting most sentences with the interjection "No" (not used as a negative). Romanian (limba română, IPA: ) is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people[1], primarily in Romania and Moldova. ...

• Moldavians (Moldoveni) are seen as slow and primitive.

• Oltenians (Olteni) are seen as trying to be ingenious, but failing every time. Nea Mărin is a character created by Amza Pellea (himself an Oltenian) who is the archetypal traditional Oltenian.

• Transylvanians (Ardeleni) are seen as patriarchal and slow, both in acting and thinking.

For other uses of Moldavia or Moldova, see Moldova (disambiguation). ... Map of Romania with Oltenia highlighted Oltenia or Lesser Wallachia is a historical province of Romania. ... Amza Pellea (7 April 1931 - 12 December 1983) was one of the most important Romanian actors, being remarked both for his theatre and his film acting. ... Map of Romania with Transylvania in yellow Transylvania (Romanian: or ; Hungarian: ; German: ; Bulgarian: ; Serbian: / or / ) is a historical region in central and western Romania. ...

Stereotypes

Policemen: Most Romanian people are not fond of the institution of law enforcement and try to avoid contact with constables. Policemen are generally regarded as primitive, uneducated and totally corrupt in Romanian public opinion. Some of these police jokes belong to the absurd genre. For the band, see The Police. ...

Q: A policeman is shaving himself. The telephone rings. Why does he cut himself?

A: So he knows where to resume from.

Politics

Especially during the Communist regime, political jokes were very popular, although they were illegal and danregous to tell.^[1]. In the democratic Romania, these jokes are still popular, although the themes changed: now the politicians are seen either as hopelessly corrupt and greedy or as nationalist madmen. Anthem Zdrobite cătuÅŸe (1947 - 1953) Te slăvim Românie (1953 - 1968) Trei Culori (1968-1989) Capital Bucharest Language(s) Romanian Government Socialist republic Head of State  - 1947–1965 Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej  - 1965-1989 Nicolae CeauÅŸescu Legislature Marea Adunare NaÅ£ionalÇŽ Historical era Cold War  - Monarchy abolished... A joke is a short story or short series of words spoken or communicated with the intent of being laughed at or found humorous by the listener or reader. ...

As Ben Lewis put it in his essay^[2], "Communism was a humor-producing machine. Its economic theories and system of repression created inherently funny situations. There were jokes under fascism and the Nazis too, but those systems did not create an absurd, laugh-a-minute reality like communism." Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ... Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology (generally tied to a mass movement) that considers individual and other societal interests subordinate to the needs of the state, and seeks to forge a type of national unity, usually based on, but not limited to, ethnic, cultural, or racial attributes. ... National Socialism redirects here. ...

The Cluj local administration discusses the erecting of a statue of Avram Iancu. A councilor says "The statue should have a hand pointing to Hungary, so the Hungarians would know that we're watching them". Another one proposes that "in the hand, Iancu should have a noose, so they would know what to expect if they try to steal Transylvania". Another councilor proposes that "a Hungarian should be shown in the noose". Then, Gheorghe Funar (the well known nationalist Mayor of Cluj) says "I say that we should replace the Hungarian every day!".

Bill Clinton, Boris Yeltsin and Ion Iliescu are invited to see an airplane built entirely out of gold. They are told that they can enter it and look around for as long as they like, but they can't take anything. Clinton goes first, stays five minutes, upon his exit the metal detector blares; Clinton had taken a screw and a nail with him. Yeltsin goes second, stays five minutes, upon his exit the metal detector blares again; Yeltsin had stolen a fistful of screws. Finally, Iliescu enters the plane, and stays there five minutes. And another five minutes. And another... Suddenly, the plane takes off.

Radio Erevan: just like in the most countries of the ex-Soviet bloc, Radio Erevan jokes were popular during the Communist times. Cluj may refer to Cluj County, Romania Cluj-Napoca, county seat of Cluj County, named Cluj until 1974 Category: ... Avram Iancu Avram Iancu (Janko Avram in Hungarian; 1824, in Vidra [de Sus], today Avram Iancu in Alba county, Romania—September 10, 1872, in the same area) was a Transylvanian Romanian lawyer who played an important role in the local chapter of the Austrian Empire Revolutions of 1848-1849. ... Map of Romania with Transylvania in yellow Transylvania (Romanian: or ; Hungarian: ; German: ; Bulgarian: ; Serbian: / or / ) is a historical region in central and western Romania. ... Gheorghe Funar was the mayor of Cluj-Napoca, Romania between 1992 and 2004. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... “Yeltsin” redirects here. ... Ion Iliescu (born March 3, 1930) is a Romanian politician. ... Radio Yerevan, or Armenian Radio jokes were very popular in the Soviet Union and in other Communist countries of the ex-Eastern bloc since the second half of the 20th century. ...

References

1. ^ C. Banc and Alan Dundes, "First Prize: Fifteen Years. An Annotated Collection of Political Jokes" (1986) ISBN 0838632459
2. ^ "Hammer & tickle", Prospect Magazine, May 2006, essay by Ben Lewis on jokes in Communist countries

• Bancurile românilor ("The jokes of the Romanians") (in Romanian)