Why learn English Jokes?

Jokes play an important part in any culture and society, and often reflect the values and ideals that society holds. They can help you build relationships (if you choose your joke appropriately) and they're a fantastic way to learn new vocabulary, especially idomatic expressions that you may not remember otherwise. Some jokes also rely on a certain pronunciation to understand so can really advance your pronunciation.

Jokes are also a very obvious way to determine who is really a "native" from those who aren't. In this post, we'll look at 3 common types of joke.

Knock-knock joke

Every native English speaker will know the "knock knock" joke and how to tell it. If you don't tell it or respond to it in the correct way, it becomes immediately apparent that you weren't raised in an English speaking environment, as every child learns this style of joke early in life. It goes like this and requires 2 people (a & b):

a - Knock-knock.

b - Who's there?

a - ________

b - ________ who?

a - Punchline.

Eg:

a - Knock knock

b - Who's there?

a - Atch

b - Atch who?

a - Bless you

The joke here is that when you say "Atch who?" it makes sound we make when sneezing - Achoo! In English, when someone sneezes, we respond with "Bless you!".

Now, if "b" responds in any way other than "Who's there?" for example "Who is it?", while gramatically and thematically correct, in the context of the joke it's wrong, so make sure if someone says "knock knock" to you, you reply with "Who's there?".

What do you call... joke

This usually relies on a double meaning also known as a "pun" and is asked as a question. You should always give the listener some time to think and maybe respond before you give the answer because this will make the punchline funnier (usually by making the listener feel silly for not thinking of the answer).

Eg:

a - What do you call a frenchman wearing sandals?

b - I don't know.

a - flip-flop *said in a French accent

When the puncline is said correctly, it sounds like Philippe Philop. The joke being that flip-flops are a type of sandal and Philippe obviously being a frech name.

A man walks into a bar ... joke

This joke tells a situation usually involving 1 or 3 people in a place. The puncline usually involves a pun or one of the people being "smarter" than the others.

Eg:

A neutron walks into a bar and asks the bartender for a drink.

The neutron asks "How much?".

The bartender replies, "For you? No charge."

The pun here is that a neutron doesn't have a positive or negative electrical charge and also "no charge" means that the item is free.

So, over to you! Look up some jokes online to impress your english speaking friends and post your favourite in the comments! I look forward to reading them.

*Abusive or inappropraite jokes will be removed