| Humor and Learning | | | | Three Police Jokes |
| | | | |
| Humor is important in learning a language. | | | | First Joke: |
| Not only does it enable the student to learn | | | | |
| new vocabulary in context but it also is a | | | | A police officer stops a woman for speeding |
| motivating force. When a student understands | | | | and asks her very nicely if he could see her |
| a joke she begins to feel like she is in the | | | | license. |
| world of the new language. Puns are | | | | |
| especially valuable because they stress | | | | She replies in a huff, "I wish you guys would |
| meaning. We'll give a few jokes and puns as | | | | get your act together. Just yesterday you |
| examples and hoope that they will move other | | | | take away my license and then today you |
| teachers to use this powerful resource. | | | | expect me to show it to you!" |
| | | | |
| Puns | | | | Vocabulary and Expresssions: |
| | | | |
| Laughing? Well, maybe not. Puns usually make | | | | "in a huff": annoyed |
| people groan. They say that for a pun to be | | | | |
| good, it has to be really bad. As a matter of | | | | "get your act together": get organized |
| fact, they are called "groaners". A pun is a | | | | |
| little word game, playing with language. Most | | | | Second Joke: While driving along the back |
| puns use a word that has two meanings, or use | | | | roads of a small town, two truckers came to |
| two words that sound almost the same. | | | | an overpass with a sign that read CLEARANCE |
| | | | 11'3". |
| Here are some puns. Use your knowledge of | | | | |
| English, and your dictionary if necessary, to | | | | They got out and measured their rig, which |
| explain the pun. | | | | was 12'4". |
| | | | |
| Example: Why is an empty purse always the | | | | "What do you think?" one asked the other. |
| same? Because there is never any change in | | | | |
| it. In this pun, the word "change" has two | | | | The driver looked around carefully, then |
| meanings: 1. coins and small bills, 2. | | | | shifted into first. "Not a cop in sight. |
| alteration. | | | | Let's take a chance!" |
| | | | |
| 1. Do you know why it's easy for a hunter to | | | | Vocabulary and Expresssions: |
| find a leopard? Because a leopard is always | | | | |
| spotted. | | | | "overpass": viaduct |
| | | | |
| "to spot", verb: to see, to identify. | | | | "rig": here truck. Any specialized tool or |
| "spotted", adjective: with spots. | | | | mechanical arrangement. |
| | | | |
| 2. When gambling became legal in the city, | | | | "clearance": room to pass, or "clear". |
| everyone agreed that the city was now a | | | | "Clearance" is the noun of the verb "to |
| bettor place. | | | | clear" which means (among other meanings) de: |
| | | | "go through without touching" |
| What we hear could be either of two words | | | | |
| that sound the same: "better", adjective, "an | | | | 11' 3" is the abbreviation of 11 feet 3 |
| improvement", therefore "an improved place". | | | | inches; |
| "bettor", noun, "gambler", "someone who | | | | |
| bets", therefore entonces "a place for | | | | 12' 4" is the abbreviation of 12 feet 4 |
| gamblers". | | | | inches. |
| | | | |
| 3. The principal called the young cross-eyed | | | | Third Joke: |
| teacher into his office. "I'm sorry to say, | | | | |
| Ms. Jones, we're going to have to let you | | | | Recently, a distraught wife went to the local |
| go." "But why, sir? I thought I was doing a | | | | police station, along with her next-door |
| good job." "It's simple," said the principal, | | | | neighbor, to report that her husband was |
| "you can't control your pupils.". | | | | missing. The policeman asked for a |
| | | | description of the missing man. |
| Of course, the word "pupil" could refer to a | | | | |
| student or to the middle of the iris of the | | | | The wife said, "He is 35 years old, 6 foot 2, |
| eye.. | | | | has dark eyes, dark wavy hair, an athletic |
| | | | build, weighs 185 pounds, is soft-spoken, and |
| 4. My friend Sam had decided his kitchen | | | | is good to the children." |
| needed painting, and instead of hiring a | | | | |
| professional, he decided to do it himself. In | | | | The next-door neighbor protested, "Your |
| the afternoon, I went over to his house to | | | | husband is 54 years old, 5 foot 6, chubby, |
| see if he needed some help. When I arrived, I | | | | weighs 275 pounds, is bald, has a big mouth, |
| found Sam working hard painting the kitchen | | | | and is mean to your children." |
| walls. But instead of wearing old clothes, he | | | | |
| was wearing a leather jacket and a ski parka. | | | | The wife replied, "Yes, but who wants HIM |
| I asked him why he was dressed that way on | | | | back?" |
| such a hot day. He brought me the paint | | | | |
| bucket and told me to read the instructions. | | | | Vocabulary and Expresssions: |
| I did. It said, "For best results, put on two | | | | |
| coats." | | | | Hubby: popularform of "husband", |
| | | | spousedistraught: stressed, very |
| The pun is the word "coat" either another | | | | worried.chubby: slightly fatmean: In this |
| layer or paint or an article of clothing. | | | | context, strict, severe, even a little |
| | | | cruelbald: no hairnext-door neighbor: the |
| 5. The previous pun about the extra "coat" | | | | person who lives in the house to one side of |
| reminds me of the dog that has a fur coat and | | | | yours |
| pants. | | | | |
| | | | 6 foot 4: six feet and 4 inches |
| OK, the dog has a fur coat but it doesn't | | | | |
| have fur trousers. In this case "pants" o the | | | | How to keep on Learning by Laughing? |
| way dogs breathe rapidly and noisily. | | | | |
| | | | You can enter "esl puns" or "esl joke" in |
| Those were puns. Now for a few jokes. | | | | Google to find many sites that share our |
| | | | belief that puns and jokes are good ways to |
| Jokes | | | | help learners of English. |
| | | | |