A good joke can make people laugh. Connecting with people by sharing jokes and humor is a wonderful approach. However, not everyone can understand certain English jokes. So, they won't know the humor behind the story. Jokes are said in certain ways and you must be familiar with the style of language to understand the meaning of the jokes.
Understanding jokes is a bit different than grasping any other form of English. You need to change the way you think about something. Also, timing is very important in-jokes. If it's not said at the right moment, its effect is entirely lost. Also, you need to tell jokes in an interesting way by including pauses and variations of tone. Jokes are humor must be audience-appropriate. Saying the wrong type of joke to the wrong group may change the 'humor' element to a negative experience.
Some jokes cannot be translated for a cross-cultural audience. For instance, the 'knock-knock' jokes in the USA. People of many cultures won't understand it. Jokes can be culture-oriented. So, you should know what type of joke is inappropriate for a certain culture. You can modify a certain joke to fit the audience.
Jokes that can help you learn English
"The shovel was a ground-breaking invention, but everyone was blown away by the leaf blower."This joke is about innovation and human progress. The word 'groundbreaking' has a double meaning. First of all, it means breaking up the ground, which is exactly what a shovel does. However, in the figurative sense 'groundbreaking' means innovation. The shovel seems like a simple tool, but it actually had a great impact on human civilization. Because before its invention, people had to use their hands to dig the earth. It was a very laborious and slow process. Because of the invention of the shovel, this task became easier and quicker. So, people can now plant crops and build houses more comfortably.
"I used to be afraid of hurdles, but I got over it."
This joke is an example of figurative language. It indicates that fearing obstacles create a mental barrier that prevents potential success. You need to face the fear to come up with a solution. You learn a new word 'hurdle' in this joke.
"Sleeping comes so naturally to me, I could do it with my eyes closed."
This joke means that the person can sleep very easily without struggling. The idiom 'I could do it with my eyes closed' is used to describe how easily something is done if you have done it many times. But on the other hand, we all sleep with our eyes closed anyway.
"Did you hear about the kidnapping at school? It's okay. He woke up."
The first punch line is said to wake up someone who was taking a nap. When we fall asleep, often we don't wake up even after people call our names. But we get their attention when they say something startling like 'kidnapping in school'.
"I've decided to sell my Hoover… it was just collecting dust."
The work a hoover does is collect dust. So, it's an ironic remark that the person thinks the machine is not doing other work. Pun is used to make the words funny.
"The wedding was so emotional that even the cake was in tiers."
Notice the word 'tiers' which means layers sounds similar to 'tears' which means to cry. So, you learn homophones in this joke.
"Why are teddy bears never hungry? They are always stuffed!"
Here, the word 'stuffed' means the teddy bear is filled with soft materials. But when you are hungry, you also stuff yourself with food.
"She's an archaeologist. Her career, therefore, is in ruins."
This is such a smart joke that uses the figurative meaning of the word 'ruins', that is, failure. Archeologists study the ruins of buildings and structures. So, The future of these professionals of course lies in the 'ruins'; that is, exploring the past.
Key elements of British humor
Wit and wordplay British humor includes double meanings and clever wordplay. It uses puns to make people laugh.Dry and dead delivery These jokes are delivered with an emotionless face which makes them sound funnier. The trick of these jokes is to catch the audience off-guard and eventually make them laugh recalling what they have just heard.
Irony and sarcasm These two words are often used interchangeably, but they have different meanings. Irony is a figure of speech that tells the opposite of what is said. Sarcasm is a type of irony that is aimed at a person with the objective to criticize. These two aspects of language are used in a very clever and subtle way in English jokes.
Observational comedy These jokes or humorous moments are taken from normal daily events. The absurd nature of the event is highlighted to make them look hilarious.
In learning English, humor can be educational and enjoyable. English jokes, especially, help to improve English language skills. Using learning devices like sarcasm, irony, wordplay, and double meaning, you can communicate better. American jokes are more explicit; which may be considered inappropriate sometimes. A good joke can help to form connections with others. You can read funny books, listen to humorous podcasts, or watch comedy shows to improve your language skills including idiomatic expressions and vocabulary. You will learn about English culture through jokes. Your English language learning experience need not be boring if you add humor to it.
