Dilbert

Have you read Dilbert, the comic strip? And if yes, do you get the humor and sarcasm? I simply love Dilbert and have read every book I can get my hands on.

Apparently not everyone gets the jokes. I incorporated a couple of them in one of my presentations and when I put them up on the big screen, few of my classmates got the humor. Many looked puzzled and/or lost. Is it because of the IT-centric scenarios? Or because they were in English??

I don’t think the first reason stands. The comic strip makes fun of technology, workplace and company issues. Even its author, Scott Adams, attributed its popular success to its workplace setting and themes. So poking fun at managers and bosses should be a common and universally enjoyed pastime for anybody who had ever worked under a boss. Personally, I like how it ridicules the nonsensical but true ignorance of some of the bosses while making decisions and how clueless these middle/top managements are about technology.

Thus I think my classmates will get the pun if those strips were in Chinese instead. Yet, no matter how well it is translated, seldom will it retain the original nuance as I believe that you need to enjoy the joke in its intended language.