Germans Voted "Least Funny" Nationality; Americans "Funniest"; Poles Not Very Funny

LONDON, June 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

• Spanish Funniest Europeans, Then Italians, French, British

• Humour is Key When Meeting New People.

The Germans have been voted the world's "least funny nationality" in a global poll, which ranks Americans the funniest nationality and the Poles as not particularly funny.

30,000 people across 15 countries were asked to name both the "funniest" ("best at making people laugh") and "least funny" nationality in a poll conducted by Badoo.com (http://www.badoo.com), the world's largest social network for meeting new people, with 119m users.

The voting for "least funny" nationality confirmed the view of the American writer, Mark Twain that "a German joke is no laughing matter". The Germans won, ahead of the Russians and Turks.

This will be considered a fair result in Poland, where more respondents than in any other country picked the Germans as the "least funny nationality".

"When we meet someone new, one of the first things we notice is whether they make us laugh", says Lloyd Price, Badoo's Director of Marketing. Badoo helps millions of people meet every month.

The Poles ranked seventh out of 15 nationalities in the voting for "least funny" nationality. They placed just after the French, Americans and British.

"The Poles probably suffered in the voting because the other nationalities are unfamiliar with Polish humour", says Price. In fact, the Polish sense of humour is similar to, for example, the British one, with lots of jokes about mother-in-laws and neighbouring countries.

The Spanish were voted the funniest Europeans, followed by the Italians, French and British.

The Americans are worthy winners of the Badoo poll, says Price. "They have produced so many great sitcoms and comedians."

The idea that Germans lack humour is not new. Mark Twain delivered his verdict on German jokes over a century ago.

The stereotype probably comes from the German - Prussian - reputation for efficiency and rationality, presumed to be at the expense of humour.

"The Germans are brilliant at many things, including making cars and beating us [England] at football", adds Price. "Unfortunately, making jokes isn't always one of them."

Funniest Nationalities

    Rank  Nationality
    1.    American
    2.    Spanish
    3.    Italian
    4.    Brazilian
    5.    French
    6.    Mexican
    7.    British
    8.=   Dutch
    8.=   Russian
    10.   Belgian

Least Funny Nationalities

    1.    German
    2.    Russian
    3.    Turkish

Source: Badoo polled 30,000 Badoo users online in April/May 2011

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