Typically American humor or humorous expressions

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MaxE
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11 Oct 2025, 7:57 am

This thread is for posting examples of humor that is typically American. Please note the spelling of "humor", but then to me Canadian humor seems quite distinctive from American humor even if the two cultures may appear somewhat similar to people outside North America.

Examples must be typically American but needn't be especially funny. If you're not American, it's still quite OK to post something you believe to be American, after all you've probably been exposed to a fair amount of American media in your life.

I'll start. At country fairs, folk festivals, and the like, it's common to encounter a booth at which curios ("knick-knacks"?) are sold, and you might see some wooden disks with the letters "TUIT" burnt into them. If you're foolish to ask what those are, you'll be told it's meant as a present for people in your life who like to claim they'll do what you ask of them "as soon as they get a round TUIT".


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pcgoblin
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11 Oct 2025, 9:28 am

MaxE wrote:
I'll start. At country fairs, folk festivals, and the like, it's common to encounter a booth at which curios ("knick-knacks"?) are sold, and you might see some wooden disks with the letters "TUIT" burnt into them. If you're foolish to ask what those are, you'll be told it's meant as a present for people in your life who like to claim they'll do what you ask of them "as soon as they get a round TUIT".

Mmm.
Grumble.
MaxE, I was once given one of those round disks with TUIT burnt into it. The person that gave it to me meant well. He gave everyone in the department some little thing.
Sorry, I know I'm off topic. I don 't have an example of American humor. :(


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lostonearth35
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11 Oct 2025, 10:43 am

I live in Canada, and I once saw "A round TUIT" on someone's refrigerator door. Never seen it anywhere else, though.
But I do love how Americans think so many things are exclusive to their own country, when they are not. The benign stuff is also in Canada, mostly.



MaxE
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11 Oct 2025, 12:53 pm

lostonearth35 wrote:
I live in Canada, and I once saw "A round TUIT" on someone's refrigerator door. Never seen it anywhere else, though.
But I do love how Americans think so many things are exclusive to their own country, when they are not. The benign stuff is also in Canada, mostly.

Well I think Canadian humor is a bit more subtle than American humor on average, to the extent that some Americans won't laugh, unless they're baked.


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CockneyRebel
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11 Oct 2025, 2:21 pm

Saturday Night Live is the perfect example of American humor.


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MaxE
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11 Oct 2025, 4:59 pm

CockneyRebel wrote:
Saturday Night Live is the perfect example of American humor.

Sie haben Recht, Herr Hauptmann!


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BillyTree
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12 Oct 2025, 3:32 pm

I think the American Pie movies is a kind of humor that is typical for the US.


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auntblabby
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12 Oct 2025, 4:01 pm

the three stooges is very American.



MaxE
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12 Oct 2025, 4:11 pm

I guess some mainstream comedians deserve mention:

Jerry Seinfeld
Louis C.K.
Amy Schumer

African American comedians are in a separate league. I'll just throw out Dave Chappelle as an example. I won't try to contrast with the people I identified above.

Then there's this but still a niche variety in my opinion:



This was probably the most typical sort of comedy in the early 1960s:


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MaxE
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12 Oct 2025, 4:18 pm

auntblabby wrote:
the three stooges is very American.

Good call.

Interestingly, I wasn't such a great fan of theirs as a kid. I appreciate them more as an adult. I could say the same about Mel Brooks' oeuvre. At that time I was more a fan of Monty Python, who weren't American but were probably more popular in the US than in the UK.

Further digression: Monty Python may have a special appeal to autistics. My autistic girlfriend in the 70s absolutely loved them.


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pcgoblin
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13 Oct 2025, 11:05 am


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13 Oct 2025, 11:06 am


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