The British are fond of understatement and self-deprecation. You might hear 'It's rather warm,' when in fact the temperatures are over 40 degrees, and a best-selling writer might say 'I've had some success,' also reflecting the traditional embarrassment with success. This apparent humility is approved of by fellow British people, and many comedians and films use understatement, self-deprecation and extreme politeness as a source of word play comedy.
The British people are good at using understatement in jokes because .........