When parents use sarcasm to playfully tease their young children, do the kids see the humour?

当父母使用讥讽的言辞拿他们年幼的孩子来开玩笑的时候，孩子们能体会到其中的幽默吗？

Not likely, according to a Canadian researcher who has completed a study showing that children need to be 10 or older before fully grasping the concept that sarcasm can be funny.

按照加拿大一位研究者的看法，这不太可能。她完成的一项研究显示孩子要满10岁以后才能完全理解这样的概念：讥讽可以是有趣的，甚至是侮辱性的。



The results have implications for everything from the content of children's television programming to interpreting bullying behavior, University of Calgary psychologist Penny Pexman said.

卡尔加里大学的心理学家彭妮佩克斯曼说，这一结果具有广泛的意义，关系到从儿童电视节目的内容到如何理解欺凌弱小行为的一系列事情。

"Our study suggests that five-year-olds are beginning to understand the simplest form of sarcasm and are getting better at it, but still by the age of eight they really don't find it funny, so there's still a dissociation there," said Pexman, who has been studying sarcasm for the past six years. "They can appreciate that the person means the opposite of what they're saying, but they don't find it humourous."

过去6年中佩克斯曼一直在对讥讽行为进行研究，她说：“我们的研究表明孩子到5岁时开始能领会最简单的讥讽，对讥讽的理解能力也越来越强，但直到8岁时他们还是不能感觉到其中的趣味。因此，（在说者与听者之间）还是有一种隔阂。他们能明白说话者的意思与所说的话相反，但并不觉得这有什么幽默。”

In addition, children under the age of about 10 almost always interpreted a sarcastic remark as serious, even when it was intended to be humourous.

此外，10岁以下的孩子几乎总是会把讥讽的言辞当真，哪怕它是出于幽默的用意。

It is still not completely clear what determines how children comprehend sarcasm, but Pexman said factors could include the amount used at home, their social milieu and the types of television shows they watch.

人们还不完全了解是什么决定了孩子理解讥讽言辞的方式，但佩克斯曼说，相关因素可能包括这种言辞在家庭中出现的次数、孩子们所处的社会环境以及他们收看的电视节目类型等等。

In fact, since adults write kids' television programmes, much of the humour may be lost on the intended audience, she said.

她说，实际上，由于儿童电视节目都是出自成人的手笔，其中的大部分幽默对其目标观众可能根本不起作用。

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