>From the Iceland Review:
I heard that Icelanders usually make jokes about people from Hafnarfjördur.
If it is true, why do you guys do so?
Q: Hi Eygló. I heard that Icelanders usually make jokes about people from
Hafnarfjördur. If it is true, why do you guys do so? Here in Brazil, we make
jokes about the Portuguese and I've yet to find out why!
Rafael Mondini, Brazil
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A: Yes, Icelanders tell jokes about the people of Hafnarfjördur.
The jokes were invented by a journalist called Óli Tynes who worked for the
daily newspaper Vísir. He used to be in charge of a column called "Sandkorn"
("Grains of Sand"), which featured soft news and gossip.
Around 1975, Tynes, considered one of Iceland's best headline writers,
thought it would be a good idea to finish off his column with a joke. He
first joked about the people of Akureyri, but some advertisers got offended
so he changed it to Hafnarfjördur.
There was no special reason, he said, he just needed a location, and his
jokes were well received-also in Hafnarfjördur. Tynes wrote some of the
jokes himself, but translated and localized others, like jokes about the
Swedish in Norway.
Soon the Hafnarfjördur jokes got a life of their own and are still popular
in Iceland by young and old alike. New jokes are created and old ones
retold. Over and over again.
Here is Tynes' favorite joke:
A woman from Reykjavík was visiting her friend in Hafnarfjördur. Every once
in awhile the hostess got up from her chair, walked out to the balcony and
yelled: "Keep the green side up." After a few times, her friend asked why on
earth she kept shouting out from the balcony. "Local workers are sodding my
lawn," the hostess replied.
_______________________________
Judy
http://icehorses.net
http://clickryder.com
