<<Or does my being a non-native speaker play a role here? --Paul>> nah, it's not that. I don't think those examples you chose were necessarily meant to generate belly laughs from readers. I think they were examples of how the male character interacted with the female character (in both cases). It was something that would be funny **to her**. Not necessarily to anyone else. Notice in both cases a woman is telling another woman about how a man--and a very important one-- made her laugh... Jim ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]