Funniness and “the preferred reaction” to jocularity in Australian and British English: An analysis of interviewees' metapragmatic comments

- Metapragmatic comments are a necessary tool to understand interactional practices.
- The interviewees judge situational behaviours from three different perspectives.
- Funniness is conceptualised from the participants' and interviewees' point of view.
- The preferred reaction to jocularity is supposed to be light-hearted and humorous.
- The preferred reaction is expected, even if offence has been taken.

Based on qualitative interview data, this paper analyses non-participants' evaluations of potentially humorous comments. Meta-talk that plays a crucial role in assessing one's own verbal behaviour can also reveal how non-participants interpret interactional behaviour of other people and judge its appropriateness. This paper examines a variety of perspectives that the interviewees provide while evaluating jocular verbal behaviours from Big Brother Australia and UK 2012, especially focussing on different ways of conceptualising funniness. Furthermore, primarily concentrating on the target, the interviewees also allude to the concept of “the preferred reaction” as a response to potentially jocular remarks and to what extent the target's reaction that indicates the willingness to have a good laugh is deemed the most beneficial move in interaction.