Oooer missus! Smut and innuendo in SE Asia

Well, in short, there isn't really any - in the way British people view it. I am talking innuendo as humour here.

This week, some good friends came to stay in Singapore, and the British husband and I had a ridiculously funny (for us) time playing with schoolboy innuendo.

Conversations went something like this:
(Pondering the menu in a burger joint)
Me: "Do you want a big one?"
Him: "Fnarrr..said the Bishop to the Actress!" *

Etc etc. Hours of fun-filled entertainment! (Huge apologies to his extremely patient Malaysian wife, btw, who must have thought we were totally bonkers.)

You see, we were brought up in the UK, on a comedy diet of Carry-On films, 'Allo 'Allo, Vic Reeves and their counterparts. Which functioned almost entirely on deliberate jokes 'which might allude to something smutty'. I don't know why UK comedy went this way, but dragging behind it came generations of (sometimes) perfectly intelligent adults who find innuendo hilarious.

But it seems we might be alone! In Singapore, I have noticed bosses innocently saying things which would leave an entire British office tearfully tittering. But here: serious looks. Being the outsider, I have gritted my teeth and said nothing. At a sports club I think I did once have a giggle and make a comment, and my Singaporean (and French) team-mates looked completely baffled.

In the UK, finding innuendo (usually sexual innuendo) amusing is quite common. The original humour partly stems from the contrast between what was very 'respectable and polite' British society (especially in the earlier 20th century) and mistakes that could be made or misread in speech. It is probably an odd thing to grasp (fnarr!) for non-Brits.

But there is also a fine line between what is harmless 'retro' humour and what is downright offensive - and of course the setting, and changing times, also play a part! So if you are visiting the UK, it might be generally wiser to feign innocence. 

I'm not saying that there isn't naughty humour here in SE Asia (famous leaf scene in Singapore's popular Ah Boys To Men, anyone?) And there's some smart, edgy stand-up here, too. But I think that particular, slightly childish, play on sexual double-meaning might be very British.

What baffles me, however, is that Benny Hill (offensive) and 'Allo 'Allo (worth a watch!) have apparently been some of UK television's most successful global exports. And what is there to these series if not innuendo?? What do, for example, Singaporeans of a certain age find so hilarious there, if ludicrous smut and double-meaning is not their thing? I will ask around!

Anyway, if you have a few moments and fancy a giggle (or to be baffled), watch this - a classic UK episode of 'Allo 'Allo: 'The Gateau from the Chateau'!

*'Said the Actress to the Bishop' is a very famous generic catchphrase used to point out sexual innuendo, as is 'Oooer missus'. 'Fnarrr' also indicates innuendo, and the stupid laughter one might make at it.