The seaside town will soon be festooned with classic jokes, in Icelandic and English, that poke fun at people from Hafnarfjörður.
Every country has their region or city that is the butt of jokes, typically depicting the residents there as not particularly bright, but more naive and possibly backwards than downright stupid. In Iceland, the target for humour is Hafnarfjörður. Vísir reports that Marín Hrafnsdóttir, the Culture and Tourism representative for Hafnarfjörður, is engaging in a reclamation of sorts where these jokes are concerned.
“I have often thought about how we could use the Hafnarfjörður jokes,” she told reporters. “Although there are towns overseas with similar jokes, Hafnarfjörður is in a naturally special place in Iceland.”
Twenty Hafnarfjörður jokes will be stencilled along the seaside path of Strandstíginn, between Norðurbakki and Mýrargata. These jokes will be in both Icelandic and English.
Some examples of Hafnarfjörður jokes include:
Q: Why did the guy from Hafnarfjörður walk quietly past the pharmacy?
A: He didn’t want to wake the sleeping pills.
Q: Why do people in Hafnarfjörður gather at the fjord at Christmas?
A: They are waiting for the Christmas book flood.
Two guys from Hafnarfjörður are having a beer at their local pub, talking about their day. “Man I had a rough day,” said one. “For instance, I was stuck in a broken elevator for an hour.”
“That’s nothing,” said the other. “I was stuck on a broken escalator for two hours.”
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