Southern Humor

This post is a little tricky to write, but I'm going to give it a try. As usual, I'm wary of generalizing my limited observations to the larger population. The examples I cite below were spoken by white men at church who are older than me.

Southerners are funny. I mean that as a compliment :) They like to laugh, joke, and have a good time. It's hard to put a finger on the Southern style of humor exactly. I'd venture to say it often relies on self-deprecation, more so than other places I've lived.

Why, just the other day, I was introduced to a gentleman who was probably in his 70s. We were exchanging pleasantries. I asked if he was originally from Memphis. He replied, "No, but I've lived here so long it melted all my hair off!" (He's bald.) Ha ha! Ok, sort of classic "old man" humor there, but see how he managed to make a joke at his own expense and also incorporate Memphis's hot, humid weather? That seems really Southern to me.

Here's another common punchline: Alabama. As in, the state, and that people from Alabama aren't very smart. There are two styles of joke.

Alabamian speaking: It was a serendipitous meeting. <pause> Serendipitous, did I say that right? You know I'm from Alabama.

-or-

Alabamian speaking: It was a serendipitous meeting. <pause> That's right, I said serendipitous. You didn't think people from Alabama knew any 5 syllable words, did you?

In the first one, it's straight self-deprecation. The second example is more nuanced because the speaker is inserting himself into the listener's internal monologue, imagining s/he holds some stereotypical views about people from Alabama. Either way, they both elicit a chuckle :)