This Should Be Interesting.....................

[Shaglene]

I'm as guilty as a lot of you telling jokes about the Irish, the Scots, the Welsh and other ethnic races. Being a Scot, it does not bother me. If you give it, you have got to take it. Is it not about time we started taking the *** out of the English. This should be interesting.......

[Togo]

An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman" is the opening line of a category of joke popular in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The nationalities involved may vary, though they are usually restricted to those within Ireland and the UK, and the number of people involved is usually three or sometimes four. In Ireland, the characters are sometimes called "Paddy Irishman, Paddy Englishman, and Paddy Scotsman". Depending on who is telling the joke, one nationality fares well and the other nationalities fare poorly according to national stereotypes. For example in England the punchline is usually based around the Irishman being stupid, the Scotsman being mean or frugal, and the Englishman being posh or a snob but ultimately not the butt of the joke, whereas in Scotland and Ireland, the Englishman will typically be the butt of the joke. Sometimes, when the joke requires four people, a Welshman is brought into the joke.
If we are to have a debate about stereotyping people it is perhaps best not to be in jokes topics.

[zebo]

How do other countries deal with these sorts of jokes? When we lived in Germany the butt of the jokes was usually the Bavarian.

[marval]

Two Englishmen, two Scotsmen, two Welshmen and two Irishmen were marooned on a desert island.

The two Scotsmen got together and started a bank;

The two Welshmen got together and started a choir;

The two Irishmen got together and started a fight;

The two Englishmen never spoke to each other - they hadn't been introduced!

[bookbinder]

With reference to zebo's answer: I heard this one in the Netherlands.
What's 25 feet long, goes at 40 mph, and smells of chips? Answer; a busload of Belgians.

[bhg481]

Yes bookbinder. Many years ago we got friendly with a Dutchman and he said that the butt of Dutch jokes were the Belgians, particularly their love of chips.