Today I got stuck while searching for the right word. I was trying to tell Kiran (my friend who is working in the HR dept. at the office) about stand up comedy. And while describing some of the jokes, I was telling her that the ones that draw the most laugh are the jokes that the comic makes about himself and or at his own expense. I wanted to say jokes that are “self-deprecative” but I couldn’t say the word. I was turning things in my head to search for that word but it didn’t come out. Kiran tried helping me – we went through “self-derogatory” which was close enough but just not right. Finally while I was in the bus, she sent me an sms with the appropriate word.
Self-Depraction is a form of humor in which people or comedians make jokes about themselves, their shortcomings, or their culture, usually without being guided by any underlying self-esteem issues.