THE ROLE OF CULTURAL CONTEXT IN SHAPING HUMOROUS IDIOMS IN UZBEK AND ENGLISH

Humor is a complex social and linguistic phenomenon that varies greatly across cultures. Idioms, as culturally loaded expressions, offer insight into how humor reflects and shapes societal norms. This paper presents a comparative analysis of humorous idiomatic expressions in Uzbek and English, focusing on how cultural context influences both their content and form. Drawing from a corpus of 8 idioms (4 from each language), the study categorizes them by thematic domains such as family, animals, intelligence, and social behavior, and analyzes the underlying humor mechanisms (e.g., irony, metaphor, exaggeration). Findings reveal that Uzbek idioms are deeply rooted in oral traditions and agrarian values, often using vivid imagery and moral critique, whereas English idioms favor individualistic humor, sarcasm, and understatement reflective of urban life and Western pragmatism. These differences illustrate the profound impact of culture on linguistic expression and provide valuable insights for language learners, translators, and intercultural communicators.