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Deadpan is a form of comic delivery in which humor is presented without a change in emotion or body language, usually speaking in a casual, monotone or cantankerous voice and expressing an unflappably calm, archly insincere or artificially grave demeanor. This delivery is also called dry wit[1] when the intent, but not the presentation, is humorous, blunt, oblique, sarcastic or apparently unintentional.
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The term "deadpan" first emerged as an adjective or adverb in the 1920s, as a compound word combining "dead" and "pan" (a slang term for the face). The oldest usage recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary comes from the New York Times (1928), which defines the term as "playing a rôle with expressionless face".[2] A good example of this usage is in a scene from the 1934 film "The Gay Bride" in which a gangster tells a man on the other end of a phone conversation to "Give it a dead pan," (with the emphasis on "pan") so that the man doesn't inadvertently alert anyone else in the room as to the importance of what the gangster is about to say. The usage of deadpan as a verb ('to speak, act, or utter in a deadpan manner; to maintain a dead pan') is recorded at least as far back as 1942.[2]
Many popular American sitcoms also use deadpan expressions, most notably Arrested Development, The Office and Seinfeld. Dry humour is often confused with highbrow or egghead humour. Although these forms of humour are often dry, the term dry humour actually only refers to the method of delivery, not necessarily the content.
"Deadpan violence" involves someone threatening or reacting to violence in an unemotional, detached way that comes across as jaded and blasé. This may be done to create a comic effect, by being out of place and in an unrealistic context.
One example of deadpan violence as humour occurs in one of the variations on Monty Python's skit "Cheese Shop". After a long and civil discussion on the quantity of cheese available in the cheese shop, Mr. Mousebender tells the cheese merchant "I'm going to ask you that question ['Do you have any cheese?'] once more, and if you say 'no' I'm going to shoot you through the head. Now, do you have any cheese at all?" The merchant responds with a casual "no" and, true to his word, Mousebender shoots him.
Another example is in the 1993 film Falling Down, in which the main character William Foster (played by Michael Douglas) is insulted by a man who has been waiting to use the phone booth previously occupied by Foster. He voices his irritation at Foster's prolonged use of the booth by saying "People have been waiting to use the phone." Foster responds to this by saying, "Well, you know what?", and using a submachine gun to destroy the phone, adds, "I think it's out of order."
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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - udtryksløs, med pokerfjæs
adv. - udtryksløst
v. tr. - gøre noget med gravalvorlig mine
v. intr. - være udtryksløs
n. - pokerfjæs, tomt udtryk
Nederlands (Dutch)
(met een) uitgestreken/ stalen gezicht
Français (French)
adj. - sans expression, figé, de marbre (une expression), pince-sans-rire (un humour)
adv. - d'un air pince-sans-rire
v. tr. - être pince-sans-rire
v. intr. - être pince-sans-rire
n. - pince-sans-rire
Deutsch (German)
adj. - unbewegt, ausdruckslos
adv. - unbewegt, ausdruckslos
v. - ein ausdrucksloses Gesicht machen
n. - unbewegliche Miene
Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - ανέκφραστος, αγέλαστος
adv. - ανέκφραστα, αγέλαστα
Italiano (Italian)
faccia tosta, impassibile, avere la faccia tosta, impassibilmente
Português (Portuguese)
adj. - sem expressão
adv. - inexpressivo (rosto)
Русский (Russian)
каменное лицо, с каменным лицом, делать что-либо с каменным лицом
Español (Spanish)
adj. - sin expresión, inexpresivo
adv. - sin expresión, sin expresar, inexpresivamente, de manera inexpresiva
v. tr. - comportarse de manera inexpresiva
v. intr. - comportarse de manera inexpresiva
n. - inexpresividad, inexpresivo, tipo de humor con cara inexpresiva
Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - gravallvarlig
adv. - uttryckslöst
中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
无表情的, 面无表情地, 不带感情色彩地, 超然地, 面无表情地表达或表演, 无表情的脸, 面无表情的人
中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 無表情的
adv. - 面無表情地, 不帶感情色彩地, 超然地
v. tr. - 面無表情地表達或表演
v. intr. - 面無表情地表達或表演
n. - 無表情的臉, 面無表情的人
한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 표정 없는
adv. - 표정 없이
v. tr. - 무표정하게 말하다
v. intr. - 표정 없는 얼굴로 얘기하다
n. - 표정 없는 얼굴
日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 感情を顔に表さない, 無表情な
adv. - 無表情に
v. - 無表情な顔をする
العربيه (Arabic)
(صفه) بوجه خال من التعبير, ذو وجه جامد خالي من التعبير كليا (ظرف) بأسلوب خال من التعبير
עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - חסר-הבעה, קפוא
adv. - חסר-הבעה, קפוא
v. tr. - חסר-הבעה, קפוא, התנהג או דיבר ללא הבעה או באופן קפוא אל
v. intr. - דיבר או התנהג באופן קפוא או ללא הבעה
n. - פנים קפואות וחסרות-הבעה
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