Episode 0126

Hello English learners, welcome back to English Pod.

My name is Marco.

And I'm Erika.

That's right. So I think this lesson's gonna be a little bit different than most of our lessons, right?

Right. Today we're gonna be looking at jokes, which is a very important part of English-speaking culture.

All right. So in order for us to understand a little bit better the jokes that we're gonna be looking at, why don't we take a look at vocabulary preview.

Vocabulary preview

Two of these words you'll hear in the dialogue, but one you won't, but you still need to know this word so you can understand the jokes.

All right. So the word that we're talking about is not really a word, it's a sound.

Yeah.

Moo.

Moo.

So moo is the sound that cows make.

That's right. M O O.

Right. They go moo.

Yeah. All right, so we all know now that that's what cows say.

Exactly. So it's gonna be important for the joke, you'll see why.

Okay. Now, another word that you need to understand is a dam.

So a dam.

A dam.

A dam is a, is, is like a big wall, right?

Well, it's a wall in water that stops the river from flowing.

Okay, so usually you build dams in rivers and then the water can pass or not.

Yeah, it's something that we use to generate electricity, right?

Very good. But there's another word that sounds exactly the same way, but it's just spelled a little differently.

That's right. And, and we might hear someone say, oh, damn.

And that's an interjection which basically means, oh no.

That's terrible.

Dam.

I can say, damn, I forgot my keys.

Damn, we're late for the movie.

Okay. So it's an interesting interjection and we'll also see it in one of our jokes.

And now let's move on to our last word.

Nostrils.

Okay, nostrils.

Nostrils.

So a nostril or your nostrils.

Are the two holes in your nose.

Right. You breathe through your nostrils.

All right, so now that we've taken a look at these three words, why don't we listen to our comedian for the first time and then we'll come back and talk a little bit more.

Where do you find a one-legged dog?

Anyways,

What do you call a sheep with no legs?

Tough crowd.

What do cows do for entertainment?

Okay, okay, okay, we've got a, okay, we've got a few hecklers in the audience, but this one is good.

What does a fish say when it runs into a wall?

Why do gorillas have big nostrils?

Thanks everyone, that was my time.

(Faint applause, some booing)

I don't think the crowd really enjoyed them all that much.

Well, they were pretty funny, but I guess the crowd just didn't appreciate his, uh, his sense of humor.

But you know what? They did use quite a lot of really interesting language, so why don't we look at that now in language takeaway?

Language Takeaway

On language takeaway, we're gonna be looking at six words today, so let's get started.

The announcer welcomed everyone and said that, uh, it's Open Mic Night.

Open Mic Night.

So an open mic night.

Okay, well we know Mike is short for microphone, right?

Now, an open mic night is a chance where anyone can come up and talk into the microphone.

So you can come up and sing, or you can tell jokes, you can do anything basically.

Yeah.

All right, open mic.

So it's not for professionals, but for people who maybe want to be professionals.

Right, amateurs.

So it was Open Mic Night, and he said they had a lot of great comics there.

So comics.

A comic.

A comic.

So basically, a comic is a person that makes a living by making people laugh.

Yeah, someone who who stands up on stage and tells jokes.

All right. Would you say a clown is kind of like a comic?

No, they're different.

They're different, right?

A comic doesn't wear a red nose and a crazy costume.

All right. Yeah, cuz I hate clowns.

All right. So a comic.

And well, what comics do is they perform stand-up comedy.

Stand-up comedy.

Stand-up comedy.

Okay, so stand-up comedy is is really exactly what its name suggests, right?

Right, you stand up in front of a an audience and you tell jokes and or you make them laugh.

Yeah, tell funny stories.

It's a very popular form of entertainment in the United States and the UK.

That's right. Um, and I think we'll talk a little bit more about that at the end of the lesson.

But why don't we move on to our next word, which is routine.

A routine.

So the guy says, I've been working on my routine.

So what does he mean by his routine?

Well, I guess a routine is like a series or a collection of jokes or maybe movements that you use in a performance.

All right, a routine.

So you can talk about a dance routine or in this case, a comedy routine.

So the series of jokes he's gonna tell.

That's right, that he practices again and again and again.

All right. And in his routine, he said he's got a lot of zingers.

Zingers.

A zinger.

So what's a zinger?

Basically a zinger is like a strong, maybe a little bit rude joke.

Yeah, but like a kind of a one-line joke, right?

Right, exactly.

Yeah. And the people that were in the crowd and they were booing him, they were like, boo, those we call hecklers.

Exactly, and that's our last word, a heckler.

A heckler.

Hecklers.

So let's listen to some hecklers in action.

All right, well I think that's pretty clear. Those are definitely hecklers.

Right. They're very annoying.

Mhm. So now that we've finished looking at all the words that are related to comedy and performances.

Let's uh, take a look at the jokes now in fluency builder.

Fluency Builder

Okay, well we're not really focusing on on new phrases for you here, but we thought it would be helpful to, um, talk a little bit about the jokes to help you understand them, right? Because they are, well, I think pretty funny.

Yeah, they're pretty funny, but maybe sometimes they're kind of hard to understand.

So why don't we start with the first joke?

So he said, where do you find a one-legged dog?

So what's a a one-legged dog?

Basically, it's a dog that has one leg.

Ah, okay. And the pronunciation here is, is important, right?

One-legged.

Not one-legged.

No.

One-legged.

So you can say, uh, a one-legged dog, a two-legged dog, or a three-legged dog.

Six-legged dog?

A six-legged spider, maybe lost two legs in a war.

Oh dear.

Okay, so, uh, the dog obviously didn't go anywhere and so that's why you find it where you left it.

Exactly.

Okay.

All right, so then he said, what do you call a sheep with no legs?

I don't know.

Basically because, you know, sheep are fluffy and they're white, so if you take away their legs, they look like a little cloud.

Boo.

All right.

Let's look at the next one.

He asked, what do cows do for entertainment?

Exactly. So it's kind of funny because he's relating this word "movies" with what the, with the sound that cows make, which is moo.

Right. And actually, um, there are a million jokes in English following the same pattern, right?

Now, my personal favorite joke is, the guy says, what does a fish say when it runs into a wall?

So to run into a wall, basically it's to crash against a wall.

Yep.

So what does the fish say?

So why is this funny? Why do you say damn?

Well, because if you, if you, if you're a person and you run into a wall, damn, like, you know, just like, oh no.

Oh, yeah.

But a fish is swimming under the water and like we saw, a dam is actually like a wall in the water.

So he's saying like, oh.

A wall.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

All right.

The last one was pretty good.

Why do gorillas have big nostrils?

Okay, so the big holes in their nose.

Right.

And basically it's because they have big fingers.

So they can put their fingers in the nose?

Yeah, exactly.

How do if the gorilla didn't have big nostrils, he wouldn't be able to pick his nose.

Maybe he'd have to use a stick.

Yeah, but that wouldn't be convenient, see?

They're very short jokes, of course, some of them are not actually really funny, but uh, it's just a little bit of a taste of short American jokes.

Okay, well I think we need to hear them one more time in context, so, um, you can all know how funny or maybe not so funny they are.

Where do you find a one-legged dog?

Anyways,

What do you call a sheep with no legs?

Tough crowd.

What do cows do for entertainment?

Okay, okay, okay, we've got a, okay, we've got a few hecklers in the audience, but this one is good.

What does a fish say when it runs into a wall?

Why do gorillas have big nostrils?

Thanks everyone, that was my time.

(Faint applause, some booing)

Now if you have any, uh, good jokes of your own, uh, why don't you come to our website and tell us about them?

Right, come to Englishpod.com.

Share with us any jokes, of course, they have to be clean, huh?

No, yeah, no, no swears. No swearing in the jokes.

All right, so we'll see you guys there and until next time.

The English Pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

When a club or restaurant allows for anyone to sing or perform.

Open mic night.

A reply to an insult, a witty retort.

Comeback.

When someone performs comedy while standing on a stage.

Stand-up comedy.

Insulting or in some other way defaming someone or something.

Diss.

A series of things such as movements or jokes.

Routine.

To play a joke or prank someone.

Punk.

A quick and clever comment that criticizes.

Zinger.

Make fun of or laugh at someone.

Mock.

Someone who interrupts, someone such as a speaker.

Heckler.

In an unrestrained manner, spontaneously.

Ad lib.

Let's try that faster.

When a club or restaurant allows for anyone to sing or perform.

Open mic night.

To play a joke or prank someone.

Punk.

Make fun of or laugh at someone.

Mock.

When someone performs comedy while standing on a stage.

Stand-up comedy.

In an unrestrained manner, spontaneously.

Ad lib.

A series of things such as movements or jokes.

Routine.

Insulting or in some other way defaming someone or something.

Diss.

A reply to an insult, a witty retort.

Comeback.

Someone who interrupts, someone such as a speaker.

Heckler.

A quick and clever comment that criticizes.

Zinger.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Open mic night.

Tonight there's an open mic night at the local comedy club. Wanna go?

Open mic night.

Open mic night.

Tom wants to go to the open mic night tonight, since his friend is going to perform.

Stand-up comedy.

Many famous comedians and actors started by doing stand-up comedy.

Stand-up comedy.

Stand-up comedy.

Routine.

Routine.

Routine.

A good performer should have a solid routine when they get on stage.

Zinger.

Zinger.

I like to come up with witty zingers from time to time.

Zinger.

Heckler.

Heckler.

Heckler.