Form
The joke begins "An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman..." (or whichever nationality is relevant to that particular variation) and then places the three characters in a scenario. How each person in the joke reacts to the scenario is then explained, the final reaction being the punch line, playing up to the stereotype of that nationality. Generally speaking in Ireland, the Englishman or the Scotsman is the butt of the joke, although in the neighbouring island of Great Britain the Irishman is usually portrayed as the butt of the joke.
Read more about this topic: An Englishman, An Irishman And A Scotsman
Famous quotes containing the word form:
“Language disguises the thought; so that from the external form of the clothes one cannot infer the form of the thought they clothe, because the external form of the clothes is constructed with quite another object than to let the form of the body be recognized.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)
“A form upon the quilted
overcast, gleam, Sacrè
Coeur, saltlick
to the mind’s
desire”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“Since you saw no form when the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire, take care and watch yourselves closely, so that you do not act corruptly by making an idol for yourselves, in the form of any figure -the likeness of male or female...”
—Bible: Hebrew, Deuteronomy 4:15,16.