Issues of Translation
The established English title A Musical Joke is a poor rendering of the German original: as Fritz Spiegl pointed out, 'Spaß' does not strongly connote the jocular—for which the word 'Scherz' would normally be required. In Spiegl's view, a more accurate translation would have been Some Musical Fun.
Perpetuum mobile: Ein musikalischer Scherz op. 257, a polka by Johann Strauss II is likewise (and more correctly) translated as A Musical Joke.
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