[EdHallick]

You know what`s really strange are the people in Austria, for some reason they have no concept of sarcasm, I`m not kidding, it`s pretty bizarre. My brother lived in Vienna for about 7 years and one year I went to visit him, and joking around with his Austrian friends I would sometimes say something sarcastic and they would stare at me like I was serious, or didn`t understand what I was saying. It wasn`t because of a language barrier, they spoke and understood English quite well, but the whole thing with sarcasm would fly right over their heads. My brother told me about this before I went there, and I couldn`t believe it until I did it. I went when it was snowing lke crazy and I remember one time we were standing outside in this freggin` blizzard and I said to one of his friends "You think it may snow today?" and the guy stared at me and then finally said "It is snowing already." lol!

[nickcarraway]

I know people here that are like that. I remember in college saying to someone that third person was sarcasm illiterate.

[Thinkin' Gal]

Europeans...

I suspect that this is a cultural disconnect. You make a statement that is obviously contradictory, but if this is not their way of communicating (at least with acquaintances), then your comments simply "make no sense".

Americans are perceived as very outgoing and extroverted. They'll visit a country and think nothing of trying to chit chat with the natives (in 'sign language' if necessary, lol), or ask a zillion questions and be genuinely interested in learning something about the people, culture, etc. To many Europeans, this is odd. They don't do that. [Insert insult to Eurotrash or the French here.]

Now the British, they are funny and will joke around the same or worse than Americans. It's not the common language, it's the similarity in cultures.

Machen Sie nicht spass in Oesterreich, oder den Herren will denken dass Sie sind ein Fruchtkuchen. ;-)

(Please, no foreign language polizei, bitte!)

[Jabba the Nutt]

Next to speaking on the phone, jokes are the hardest thing to understand in a foreign language. Germans and Austrian presumably believe they know English better than they do.