Russian humour gains much of its wit from the great flexibility and richness of the Russian language, allowing for plays on words and unexpected associations. As with any other nation, its vast scope ranges from lewd jokes and silly wordplay to political satire. Russian (Russian: русский язык, russkiy yazyk, (help· info)) is the most widely spoken language of Eurasia and the most widespread of the Slavic languages. ...

Political satire

For most of Russian history, humour remained an expression of the human spirit. Under the ascetic dogmatism of the clergy in medieval times, human laughter was pagan and suspicious, and political satire was considered potentially dangerous under autocratic monarchies. Though independent political satire could be extremely dangerous during most of the Soviet period, the official satirical magazine Krokodil was given considerable license to satirise political events and figures of the day. Humour or humor is the ability or quality of people, objects, or situations to evoke feelings of amusement in other people. ... Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start... Soviet redirects here. ... This 1930 poster reads: . Krokodil (i. ...

In spite of, or perhaps even because of its oppression, Russian humour flourished as a liberating culture and a means to counter and ridicule the elite. During the Brezhnev stagnation period of the Soviet Union in the 1970s and early 1980s for instance, due to a relatively peaceful and politically stable environment, sharp political wit addressed social shortcomings. With the end of authoritarian regimes in Russia in the 1990s, the decline of political humour has been lamented as being a symptom of Westernisation. New features of post-communist Russian society, such as semi-criminal businessmen, instead led to the emergence of other stereotypes for satirical jokes. The stagnation period (застой - zastoy in Russian) refers to a period of crisis in the history of the Soviet Union that started during Leonid Brezhnevs time as chairman of the Communist Party. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive. ... Baj is a Algabanian teenager, who cannot play soccer, and gets bullied by Connor Reilly. ...

Jokes

Main article: Russian joke. Russian jokes or anekdoty (Russian: анекдо́ты), the most popular form of Russian humour, are short fictional stories or dialogues with a punch line. ...

The most popular form of Russian humour consists of jokes (анекдо́ты — anekdoty), which are short stories with a punchline. Typical of Russian joke culture is a series of categories with fixed and highly familiar settings and characters. Surprising effects are achieved by an endless variety of plots. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Toasts

Drinking toasts can take the form of anecdotes or not-so-short stories, concluded with "So here's to..." with a witty punchline referring to the initial story. This article is about the honor; for other uses, see Toast (disambiguation). ...

Chastushka

Main article: Chastushka. Chastushka (часту́шка), a type of traditional Russian poetry, is a single quatrain in trochaic tetrameter with an abab or abcb rhyme scheme. ...

A specific form of humor is chastushkas, songs composed of four-line rhymes, usually of lewd, humoristic, or satiric content. Chastushka (часту́шка), a type of traditional Russian poetry, is a single quatrain in trochaic tetrameter with an abab or abcb rhyme scheme. ...

"In Russia" aka "reverse" jokes

These are not Russian jokes per se but Western jokes that use reversal of phrase to parody the Western view of Soviet society as backwards by switching the subject and object of a verb, e.g., "In America, you can always find a party; in Russia, the party can always find you." First made famous by the emigré comedian Yakov Smirnoff. Yakov Smirnoff (born January 24, 1951) is, according to his own description, a Russian-born American comedian. ...

Black humour

Apart from jokes, Russian humour is expressed in plays on words and short poems including nonsense and black humour verses, similar to some of the morose limericks of Edward Lear. Literary technique; puns: word play Rock and Roll Band (1980s) : Play on Words (rock band) This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... Black comedy, also known as black humor, is a subgenre of comedy and satire that deals with serious subjects – death, divorce, drug abuse, et cetera in a humorous manner. ... Limerick (Irish: Luimneach) is a city and the county seat of County Limerick in the province of Munster, in the midwest of the Republic of Ireland. ... Edward Lear, 1812-1888 Eagle Owl, Edward Lear, 1837 Another Edward Lear owl, in his more familiar style Edward Lear (12 May 1812 - 29 January 1888) was an artist, illustrator and writer known for his nonsensical poetry and his limericks, a form which he popularised. ...

Often they have recurring characters such as "little boy", "Vova", "a girl", "Masha". Most rhymes involve death or a painful experience either for the protagonists or other people. This type of joke is especially popular with children.

A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ...

External link

• Daily updated Russian jokes