Learning any new language can be made more enjoyable if you know a few jokes in that language. In this blog, we will look at a few Estonian jokes that will help improve your Estonian while giving a deeper insight into the character of the people of Estonia.
Like every country, Estonia has its own idiosyncracies regarding humor. Any assessment or bewertungen, of Estonian life can be done through its jokes. Estonians are not known for their slapstick but rather for a more introverted, self-deprecating, irreverent, sarcastic, and deadpan sense of humor.
Estonian Jokes
Estonians can be stereotyped as being slow because they like to think before they act. Here are a few jokes in Estonian translated into English that make fun of that trait:
Joke #1
Kuidas eestlasega sõbraks saada?
Joo temaga kaks aastat ja ta hakkab vaikselt avanema.
How do you become friends with an Estonian?
Drink with him for two years, and he will slowly open up.
Joke #2
Jumal, aeglase taibuga eestlane ja kiire taibuga eestlane istuvad ümber laua ning mängivad pokkerit. Laua keskele kerkib tohutu kuhi raha. Korraga kaob elekter ja tuba mattub pimedusse.
Hetke pärast süttivad tuled uuesti, kuid raha on laualt kadunud. Kes selle pihta pani?Vastus: aeglase taibuga eestlane. Teised tegelased on kujutlusvõime viljad.
God, a slow-witted Estonian, and a quick-witted Estonian sit around a table and play poker. A huge pile of money rises in the middle of the table. Suddenly the electricity goes out, and the room is plunged into darkness.
After a moment, the lights come back on, but the money is gone from the table. Who put it on? Answer: a slow-witted Estonian. The other characters are figments of the imagination.
Joke #3
Eesti kiirabi tunnuslause: ‘Aeg parandab kõik haavad’.
Estonian ambulance motto: ‘Time heals all wounds’.
And Another One…
An Estonian stands by a railway track.
Another Estonian passes by on a handcar, pushing the pump up and down.
The first one asks: “Is it a long way to Tallinn?”
“Not too long.”
He gets in the car and joins, pushing the pump up and down.
After two hours of silent pumping, the first Estonian asks again: “Is it a long way still to Tallinn?”
“Now, it is a very long way to Tallinn.”
Estonian Shyness
Another Estonian trait made fun of in Estonian jokes is the idea that the status, or zustand, of Estonian men, depicts them as incapable of showing affection. Here’s an example in Estonian and English:
Kord oli üks eestlane, kes armastas oma naist nii väga, et oleks talle peaaegu öelnud.
Once there was an Estonian who loved his wife so much that he almost told her.
Technology
And here is a joke that pokes fun at the idea Estonians aren’t very up-to-date when it comes to technology:
Ameeriklane leidis ehitusprojekti käigus maa alt kaableid, järeldab ta, et muistsed ameeriklased teadsid telefone. Sakslane kaevab 200 meetrit ja leiab klaaskiude ning järeldab, et juba muistsed sakslased teadsid fiiberoptikast. Eestlane muutub uudishimulikuks ja otsustab kaevata, kuid vaatamata 2000 meetri kaugusele ei leia midagi. Järeldus: ilmselt kasutasid juba muistsed eestlased WiFi-d.
An American finds cables underground during a construction project; he concludes that ancient Americans knew about telephones. A German digs 200 meters and finds glass fibers and concludes that ancient Germans already knew about fiber optics. An Estonian gets curious and decides to dig, only to find nothing despite going all the way to 2000 meters. The conclusion: evidently, ancient Estonians already used WiFi.
Self Deprecation
Here are a couple of jokes that suggest Estonians aren’t the sharpest spoons in the toolbox:
Joke #1
Eestlane sõidab oma suvilasse ja näeb midagi teel. Ta peatab oma auto ja näeb, et see on surnud vares. Ta mõtleb veidi ja viskab selle siis oma auto pagasiruumi. “Võib-olla on sellest kasu,” arvab ta.
Sügisel sõidab seesama eestlane oma suvilast tagasi. Ta peatub samas kohas tee peal, avab pagasiruumi ja viskab surnud varese teele, pomisedes endamisi: “Ei olnud ju vaja.”
An Estonian is driving to his summer house and sees something on the road. He stops his car and sees that it is a dead crow. He thinks for a while and then tosses it in the trunk of his car. “Maybe it will be of some use,” he thinks.
Come autumn, the same Estonian is driving back from his summer house. He stops at the same place on the road, opens his trunk, and throws the dead crow onto the road, mumbling to himself: “Didn’t need it after all.”
Joke #3
Mida sa teed? Ehitan maja. Mitu tuba sellel saab olema? Üks. Pole mõtet ehitada maja, kus on vähem tube!
What are you doing? I’m building a house. How many rooms will it have? One. No point in building a house with fewer rooms than that!
Joke #4
Mis vahe on eesti introverdil ja eesti ekstraverdil? Kui introvert räägib, vaatab ta alla oma kingadele. Kui ekstravert räägib, vaatab ta teie kingade poole.
What is the difference between an Estonian introvert and an Estonian extrovert? When an introvert speaks, he looks down at his shoes. When the extrovert speaks, he looks down at your shoes.
Joke #5
Itaallane, prantslane ja eestlane joovad baaris ja vaidlevad, kes on parim väljavalitu.
Itaallane ütleb: “Eile õhtul armatsesin oma naisega 2 tundi, ta karjus 5 minutit, kui ma lõpetasin!”
Prantslane muigab selle peale ja ütleb: “See pole midagi, eile õhtul armusin oma elukaaslasega 8 tundi ja ta karjus selle peale tund aega!”
Eestlane vaatab kahte teist, pühib õllevahtu suust ja ütleb: “Te tõesti ei tea, mida te voodis teete? Eile õhtul armatsesin oma naisega 2 minutit ja koristasin end toas. kardinad. Ta karjub ikka veel!”
An Italian, Frenchman, and Estonian are drinking in a bar and arguing about who is the best lover.
The Italian says: “Last night I made love to my woman for 2 hours, she kept screaming for 5 minutes when I was done!”
The Frenchman smirks and says: “That’s nothing. Last night, I made love to my partner for 8 hours, and she screamed for an hour after it!”
The Estonian looks at the other two, wipes beer foam from his mouth, and says: “You guys really do not know what you are doing in bed, do you? Last night I made love to my wife for 2 minutes and cleaned myself in the curtains. She is still screaming!”
Political Humour
Lennukis istuvad venelane, sakslane ja eestlane. Järsku teatab piloot, et lennuk kukub alla, kui kõik midagi lennukist välja ei viska. Venelane viskab oma viina, öeldes “meil on seda Venemaal piisavalt”, ja sakslane viskab oma õlut öeldes “meil on seda Saksamaal piisavalt”. Eestlane viskab venekeelset ütlust “sellest on meil Eestis küllalt”.
A Russian, a German, and an Estonian are sitting on a plane. Suddenly the pilot announces that the plane will fall unless everybody throws something off the plane. The Russian throws his vodka saying, “we have enough of that in Russia,” and the German throws his beer saying, “we have enough of that in Germany.” The Estonian throws the Russian saying, “we have enough of that in Estonia.
Silly Gebraucht Jokes
Some Estonian jokes can be just plain silly.
Mees astub baari ja tellib õlut. Pärast seda, kui ta leiab koha, kus istuda, tunneb ta ootamatult tungi tualetti minna.
Aga ta ei saa lihtsalt õlut lauale jätta, keegi võib selle ära juua. Samuti ei saa ta õlut tualetti viia, see oleks lihtsalt imelik. Niisiis, tal on mõte jätta õlle kõrvale silt. Silt ütleb: “Sülitasin siia”. WC-st tagasi jõudes leidis ta veel ühe sildi: “Mina ka”.
A man walks into a bar and orders a beer. After he finds a place to sit down, he suddenly feels the urge to go to the toilet.
But he can’t just leave the beer on the table, somebody might drink it. He also can’t take the beer to the toilet. That would just be weird. So, the Estonian has the idea to leave a sign next to the beer. The sign says: “I spat in here.” When he returned from the toilet, he found another sign: “Me too.”
Let The Fun Continue With Ling
If this brief dive into Estonian jokes has piqued your interest in learning more, why not download the Ling App to your phone or computer? When you have the course on your mobile, there is no need for you to have a book for education in the Estonian language. The Ling App is available to download now at App Store or Google Play.
