"An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman" is the opening line of a category of joke cycle 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 Scotsmanbeing mean or miserly, and the Englishman being posh, 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 in.
Form
The joke typically starts with the home or favoured nationality and ends with the nationality and associated stereotype against which the joke is made. For example, in England, the joke begins "An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman..." whereas in Ireland it begins "Paddy Irishman, Paddy Englishman, and Paddy Scotsman". The joke typically places the three characters in a scenario. How each person in the joke reacts to the scenario is then explained in order by person, the final reaction being the punch line, playing up to the stereotype of that nationality. The joke uses the rule of three, the first two characters being used to set up an expectation which is then subverted in some way by the third.
National variations
The "three nationalities" joke format is also very common in other countries. In these cases, the two foreigners are almost always portrayed as cocky, stupid, or naïve, while the home national is smart, practical, or in any case ultimately victorious.
Such jokes in Canada usually substitute the Irishman with a Newfie
*in Sweden the Bellman joke has this format: "a Russian, a German and Bellman...", where Bellman was originally a real person, Carl Michael Bellman
in Finland as "A Finn, a Swede and a Norwegian..."
in Spain as "a Frenchman, an Englishman and a Spaniard"
*sometimes other national stereotypes are used: womanizing Italians, punctual Germans and so on. Sometimes nationals in specific professions are substituted: the Spanish Guardia Civil contrasted to the Italian carabinieri, French gendarmerie and English bobbies
* alternatively, Spanish regional identities may be substituted: funny Andalusians, mean Catalans, backwoodsy Basques, Galicians or Aragonese, cocky Madridians and so on. In contrast, the neighbouring Portuguese are seldom mentioned
* sometimes the Spaniard is the butt of the joke
in Italy as "A Frenchman, an Englishman and an Italian..." where normally the other foreigners are portrayed as slow or stupid and the Italian as smarter or winning by cheating
in Portugal as "a Portuguese man, a Frenchman and an Englishman..."
in Germany with varying other nationalities, but most commonly "a German, an Austrian and a Swiss..."
in Greece, many variants:
*with stereotypical nationals
*regional variations. Here, Pontians are always the punchline of the joke, being portrayed as stupid and thus taking on a role similar to that of the Irishman in the UK variant.
in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, any variation on its many nationalities can take part (e.g. "a Croat, a Serb and a Bosnian..." or "a Montenegrin, a Macedonian, and a Slovenian..."
in Bulgaria the usual form is "an American/Englishman, a Frenchman and a Bulgarian/Bay Ganyo...", though various other national stereotypes can be employed as well
in Brazil there are variations. It is common to use an Argentinian or a Portuguese as the stupid one, if there is only one flawed man, with the nationalities of neutral characters being American, English or French. A shorter variation has only two men, usually a Brazilian and an Argentinian.
