When is a joke a joke?
Hello again,
Okay, time to put you all out of your misery - here’s an explanation about the joke I told you in my last post…
Top marks to Monica from Brazil who said that the joke involved puns. A pun is a ‘play on words’ – as you know, many words in English have two meanings (or more!) and when we say something that makes sense with both meanings, it’s called a pun and this can sometimes be quite funny. Here is another example of a joke based on a ‘pun’ to explain what I mean: “When the TV repairman got married the reception was excellent.” Here the pun is ‘reception’. You can read the sentence two ways because ‘reception’ has two meanings:
1) Reception to do with a TV – if a TV has bad reception it means the picture isn’t clear. If there is excellent reception then you can see the picture perfectly. (you can also use this reception to talk about your mobile phone)
2) Reception to do with a marriage – after a wedding ceremony, many people in the UK and other countries have a party with food and music. This is called the reception.
Now that you know these two definitions, does the sentence seem kind of funny?
Let’s have a look at the original joke I told you…
A man walks into a bar, sits down and orders a beer. The bartender gives it to him, along with a bowl of peanuts. To the man’s surprise, the bowl of peanuts starts talking to him. It says, ‘Hey, you’re really good looking! I love your shirt!’. The man thinks this is a bit weird. He realises he hasn’t got any cigarettes, so he goes over to the machine to buy some. He puts in the money and then the machine starts talking to him too! It says, ‘Man, you’re so ugly. Did you even look in the mirror before you left the house? You look BAD’ and then it doesn’t even give him any cigarettes. The man is very confused. He goes back to the bartender and asks him to explain. ‘Oh yes,’ says the bartender, ‘the peanuts are complimentary, but the cigarette machine is out of order.’
Here there are two puns – ‘complimentary’ and ‘out of order’.
Complimentary can mean:
1) Free of charge
2) Saying nice things or compliments.
So the peanuts didn’t cost anything, and they also said nice things to the man in the bar.
Out of order can mean:
1) Not working
2) Rude or offensive – for example, ‘you’re out of order!’ means you shouldn’t have said or done what you did because it was inappropriate or rude. This is quite a slang phrase but very common in the UK.
So the cigarette machine didn’t work (because it didn’t give the man any cigarettes) but it was also rude because it said unkind things to the man.
Does it make sense now?!! I hope so! It was quite difficult, I agree, because the second meaning of ‘out of order’ is quite a ‘British’ meaning.
I also asked you why this wouldn’t be funny in your first language… well that’s because it’s quite unlikely that there are words in another language which have the same two meanings as ‘complimentary’ and ‘out of order’. You can definitely translate each meaning, but it will probably be two different words so the joke won’t work. Do you see what I mean?
Rian made a really good point which was that the joke wouldn’t be funny in cultures where bars and cigarette machines aren’t common… that’s definitely true. Humour has a lot to do with the context in which it is shared. You have to have a kind of ‘shared knowledge’ to understand the things that the joke is about and without this the joke won’t be funny. I’m sure you can all think of a joke that doesn’t translate because of these reasons… can’t you?
Okay so just to extend this point a little bit, I’d like you Kiran, and all our readers to think of five more words in the English language which have more than one meaning, but the same spelling and if you really want a challenge, see if you can find another joke in English that is based on a pun. Good luck!
Kiran thanks for the last instalment of your Kerala story. I was so sorry to hear that your friend had passed away before you arrived. I enjoyed your description of the backwaters… we visited there almost two years ago and stayed on a houseboat which was fantastic. I’m afraid I had to laugh when I read that you had run out of petrol! We have also done that a couple of times in the car… it’s not so funny when it happens to you though, is it? :-) By the way, I keep meaning to ask you – have you heard about the outcome of your interview? I hope you got the job!
Okay… better get going.
Take care everyone!
Amy
Vocabulary from 22 August post…
Compelling - very interesting
To prove a point - to show that something is true
Complimentary (check the context carefully!) - see above!
Out of order (check the context carefully!) - see above!
A conundrum - a difficult mental challenge or question
Vocabulary from today’s post… definitions next time!
To put someone out of his/her misery
Context
Instalment
Comments
Dear Amy, Your blog reminded me a story about a parliament. A parliament season was going on and minister of home affair joined the session for oral question answer. All of sudden one parliament asked him how many times he has been in jail and what is his future plan to be in jail? Can you guess what his answer to this question was? To put someone out of his/her misery –to stop someone worrying by giving information they are looking for, Context –the part of text or statement that surround a particular word and determines its meaning, Instalment- a portion of something in regular interval.
Hi Amy, highly communicative blog though but I am still trying to solve the riddle of the joke. May be I have understood but I am not sure, if I really had. Does it mean that the man finds the bowl of peanut complementary, so he feels good, but when he fails to acquire cigarettes, he feels bad? On the other hand, complementary items make someone happy and what one cannot get for any reason, frustrates. If this is the case, then it is funny even after translating into my language, which is Urdu. If have still not grasped the essence of the joke then I would have to admit that I need a lot of hard work to understand English language. I hope you reply to my queries. Cheers The joke presumably with a pun …………..Cabinet , President George W. Bush was going to a Home Depot. He was surrounded by his bodyguards, and everyone immediately took notice of the unusual sight. They looked closer and they saw who it was. Everyone was in awe. "Why would George W. bush be in a Home Depot?" they all asked each other. "He should have his workers do it for him". Finally, one man asked the President, "What are you doing in this little store of ours?" To which George replied, "Oh, everyone has been saying that I should get a new cabinet". Words having more than one meaning: Installment, stalemate, miscarriage, concert, promontory, commission, organization
Regarding your blog dated August 20,2008 could you please explain why your title is "from dusk till dawn" instead of "from dawn till dusk"? Thanks.
Hi Amy - your blog is more and more involving. You have posed an exciting challenge that fits me. I'm crazy about puns in my language too.Some English words with different meanings that come into my mind are: fly=insect/travel; bridge=structure on a river/card game; lie=something not true/be supine; bar=drinking place/stick of metal; file=container/line; fine=satisfactory/excellent/thin/exact/sunny... I find more easily nouns or verbs than adjectives.I've also found some jokes, here you are:1)What's black and white and red(=read)all over? A newspaper. 2)Computers are like air conditioners: they work until you start opening window... 3)A panda bear walks into a bar and orders a sandwich. The waiter brings him the sandwich. The panda bear eats it, pulls out a pistol, kills the waiter, gets up and starts to walk out. The bartender yells for him to stop. The panda bear asks:"What do you want?" The bartender replies:"First, you come in here, order food, kill my waiter,then try to go out without paying for your food." The panda bear turns around and says:"Hey! I'm a panda. Look it up!" The bartender goes into the backroom and looks up "Panda Bear" in the encyclopedia. He reads:"Panda: a bear like marsupial originating in Asian regions. Known largely for its stark black and white coloring. Eats shoots and leaves"( EATS,SHOOTS, AND LEAVES).4)A boy is walking down the street with a goldfish bowl which contains a newt. A man sees him and says: "Hello, that's nice newt.Is he yours?" "Yes" says the boy. "And what's his name?" asks the man. "Tiny", says the boy. "Tiny?" says the man,"that's a nice name. Why did you call him that? "Because he's my newt"( my newt = minute). In Italian, for children, there are some funny nonsense based on puns, Are there any in English? Definitions: put someone all out of his/her misery = stop worring someone by telling him/her answers which he/she is waiting for; Context = situation; instalement = part. I'm looking forward to next challenge.Bye
Hi Amy, now everything is clear to me. I'd never heard of this meaning of the expression out of order. I thought of a joke that uses a pun too: A man is at a restaurant having soup and it's not very good. He calls the waiter and asks: -Waiter, what is this? The waiter says: -It's bean soup sir. He then says: -I know it's been soup, but what is it now? Can it also be considered a pun if the tricky words have the same sound, but not the same spelling? Let me think of the five other puns: watch(noun and verb) set(noun and verb) club(a card and a place) ground(verb and noun) tube(a metal cylinder and the underground). Best wishes.
Hi Amy, Here goes some jokes ...that might make you ache with laugh as well as disgrace your lunch!!!By the way, we love making jokes about the Portuguese!And when telling them we emulate their accent! How about you? Who is your "victim" in jokes? 1.Teacher: You missed school yesterday, didn´t you, Julie? Julie: Not a bit! 2."Did you put your cat out?" "Why is it on fire?" 3.Why are writers the strangest creatures in the world? Because tales come out of their heads! 4. Chef: All the food I cook tastes awful! Friend: Have you tried a cookery book? Chef: No, what do they taste like? 5.Why couldn´t the butterfly go to the dance? Because it was a mothball. 6.Why is a banana skin like a dressing gown? Because it is easy to slip on. Love, Monica
More jokes involving puns!In fact,there is a site called Pun of the day which brings some nice ones. Here are some of my favourite ones! 1. It's not that the man did not know how to juggle, he just didn't have the balls to do it. Did not have the balls can literally mean not to have the equipment (the balls to juggle) but it can also mean not to have the guts/ the courage to do something/ and balls can also mean something else... This last one is a reminder for Kiran... Don't expect to eat something fancy when you're flying because it's plane food. I love these puns! Love, Monica 2.To some - marriage is a word ... to others - a sentence. Sentence: a group of words that expresses a complete idea? a punishement given by the judge. 3.It was an emotional wedding. Even the cake was in tiers. tiers and tears are homophones. to be in tiers mean to come in layers/to be in tears mean crying. 4.He didn't tell his mother that he ate some glue. His lips were sealed. lips are sealed mean you won´t reveal a secret. Here his lips are literally sealed, even if he wanted to tell his mum waht has happened he couldn´t! 5.It's better to love a short girl than not a tall. Not a tall is a play on words meaning not at all which means none! Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine. This also is nice cause in Seine (the name of the river) when pronounced sounds like the word insane, which means completely crazy! This last one is a reminder for Kiran,my virtual Nepalese friend... Don't expect to eat something fancy when you're flying because it's plane food. Plane( means of transport) plain( tasteless) Love, Monica
Hi Ami Thanks for the joke. I think It's a good one, really funny. In spanish there are this kind of jokes too. It was very curious, but I was thinking about your defiance, and nothing came to my mind...and then, suddenly, a light appears in my head...and the first word I found was that: Ligth: the energy that allow us to see. Light: the opposite of heavy. Fall : Going down because of the gravity. Fall : a season known as autumn too. March : The third month of the year. March : To walk with marcial rythm, often in a parade. Like : To enjoy or to love something. Like : to be equal or similar to something. Second : one of the sixty parts of a minute. Second : after de first, but before the third. Greetings to your granny in law, she looks like a person young in spirit, and that is the most important. Bye.
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