Humor is not only words. It is intonation, cultural context, some small associations. What is funny to me to tears, for someone else may sound like a strange riddle. And vice versa - they laugh, and I think: "What's funny about this?"

I think this is why relationships between people of different cultures are so difficult. We can understand gestures, words, even feelings. But a joke is the pinnacle of mutual understanding. If you and someone laugh at the same thing, then there really is something between you 🌍❤️.

And here's the question: if humor is so difficult to convey across a language barrier, can there even be a "universal" joke that is funny to everyone? Or will laughter always be something intimate, understandable only to "our own"? 🤔

Val