ESL Podcast 498 – Joking and Making Fun of Other People GLOSSARY
miffed – angry, annoyed, and offended; upt
* Leanne was really miffed when her husband didn’t notice her new haircut.
to tea – to make jokes about someone el, but in a friendly way; to laugh at another person or at what another person has done
* Uncle Logan is always teasing his young nieces, asking them if they’re dating anyone in their elementary school.
to poke fun at (someone) – to laugh at another person or at what another person has done, especially when it isn’t very nice and hurts that person’s feelings
* Plea don’t poke fun at Grace’s writing. She’s trying as hard as she can.
to hit on (someone) – to say something to another person that shows that one is interested in having a romantic or xual relationship, especially when one doesn’t know that other person
* How many men hit on you at the bar last night?
receptionist – a person who job is to answer the phone and welcome people as they walk into an office
* When you get to the office, plea tell the receptionist that you have a 10:00 meeting with Ms. Lazonski.
tongue in cheek – in a joking way; as a joke; not riously
* She made a tongue-in-cheek comment about wanting to go skydiving, but I don’t think she really meant it.
to not be able to take a joke – to not e the humor in something; to not think that something is funny, especially when talking about a joke that hurts a person’s feelings; to be mad or offended by something that one said while trying to be funny
美国历史多少年* Ricky put a frog in his teacher’s desk, but she can’t take a joke, so she got really mad at him.贴对联的顺序
the butt of the joke – the person whom a joke makes fun of; the person who is being laughed at
* Walton is always making jokes about other people, but he hates being the butt of the joke himlf.
ESL Podcast 498 – Joking and Making Fun of Other People class clown – a person who is always making jokes and is doing silly or funny things; the funniest person in a group of people
* Howard was the fifth child in a very large family, and he became the class clown as a way to get attention.
wicrack – a joke; a funny comment; something that is clever and funny
* If you make a wicrack about bombs at the airport, you might be arrested.
thin-skinned – very easily offended or upt; without the ability to laugh at onelf
* Plea don’t make jokes about Marlo’s cooking. She’s very thin-skinned about it.
to watch (one’s) back – to be cautious or careful; to try to protect onelf from something that might happen unexpectedly
* If you walk alone in the streets at night, watch your back and try to be aware of the people around you.
a joke may be on (someone) – a phra ud to show that one was trying to make a joke about someone el, but something changed and suddenly the joke was about onelf instead
* Sandra is always making jokes and tricking us, but yesterday we were finally able to trick her. We said, “Ha ha, this time the joke’s on you!”
payback – revenge; something that one does to get even with another person; something bad or mean that one does to another person becau that person did something bad or mean to onelf earlier
* When Sallie shared Rebecca’s cret with the other students, Rebecca told everyone about Sallie’s own cret as payback.
big time – in a big, important, or significant way
无定形碳
挂牌仪式* He got into a lot of trouble – big time – and had to go to jail for eight years.
ESL Podcast 498 – Joking and Making Fun of Other People
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
七夕词语1. Who was the butt of Charlene’s joke?
课堂口令a) Stan.
b) The receptionist.
c) Dmitry.
2. What does Charlene mean when she says that Stan is “thin-skinned”?
a) He has pale skin and gets sunburned very easily.
b) His skin has stretched becau he’s very fat.
c) He doesn’t like it when people make jokes about him.
______________
WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?
to tea
The verb “to tea,” in this podcast, means to make jokes about someone el, but in a friendly way: “Stop teasing your sister or you’ll make her cry.” When talking about animals, the verb “to tea” means to bother or annoy an animal: “If you keep teasing that dog, it might bite you.” The phra “to tea (one’s) hair” means to brush or comb it in the direction that is opposite to the way it normally grows, to make it em bigger or as if one has more hair: “Many women tead their hair in the 1980s, but it isn’t as popular now.” The phra “to tea (something) out of (someone)” means to get someone to share a cret or some information that shouldn’t be shared: “How did you tea all the details out of Jackie about your surpri birthday party?”
to hit on
In this podcast, the phra “to hit on (someone)” means to say something to another person that shows that one is interested in having a romantic or xual relationship, especially when one doesn’t know that other person: “Some men try to hit on women by asking, ‘Do you come here often?’” The phra “to hit (someone) up for (something)” means to ask someone for something, especially for money: “How much money did he hit you up for this time?” The phras “to hit the sack” and “to hit the hay” mean to go to bed to sleep: “I’m really tired. All I want to do is go home and hit the sack.” Finally, the phra “to hit the nail on the head” means to say something that is completely correct: “You really hit the nail on the head in your prentation this morning. Congratulations!”
ESL Podcast 498 – Joking and Making Fun of Other People
CULTURE NOTE
Many Americans like to watch TV shows that make them laugh. One very well known TV show with “practical jokes” (something that one does to surpri another person or make him or her look silly) is called Candid Camera.
The word “candid” means truthful and honest, even when it is about something unpleasant or uncomfortable. Candid Camera “captures” (records) people’s candid behavior in unusual situations. The show us “hidden cameras” (a camera that cannot be en, so people don’t know they’re being filmed) to e what “ordinary” (normal) people do when unexpected things happen.
For example, in one episode, the show ud a “curity guard” (a person who job is to make sure other people are safe) at an airport. He asked the pasngers to go through the “x-ray machine” (a machine that can e through bags and skin), even though normally only bags go through tho machines. It was funny to e people’s “reactions” (how people responded).
In another episode, people sat behind a desk that has been “modified” (changed) so that the drawers opened automatically as soon as they were clod. The camera captured people’s reactions, which “ranged” (varied) from laughter about the situation to frustration with the desk.
Many other practical joke shows have copied the show’s “format” (the style of the show). Girls Behaving Badly is a similar show, but only women are “playing tricks” (doing funny things). One show, Punk’d, plays practical jokes on “celebrities” (famous people, especially musicians and actors), and now the phra “to punk (someone)” is ud informally to mean to play a trick on someone.起科
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Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – a; 2 – c
ESL Podcast 498 – Joking and Making Fun of Other People COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 498: Joking and Making Fun of People.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 498. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website Download a Learning Guide for this episode that contains all of the vocabulary, definitions, sample ntences, additional definitions, comprehension questions, cultural notes, and a complete transcript of everything we say on this episode. All that is available on our website.
This episode is called “Joking and Making Fun of People.” It’s a dialogue between Dmitry and Charlene. Let’s get started.
[start of dialogue]
Dmitry: Stan is really miffed at you. All of that teasing at lunch really upt him. Charlene: What? I was just poking fun at him for trying to hit on the new, young receptionist.
Dmitry: You called him an old goat.
Charlene: I said that tongue in cheek. If he didn’t find that funny, then he can’t take a joke.
Dmitry: What about last week when you told that joke about fat people trying to dance and you made him the butt of the joke?
Charlene: Everybody knows I’m the class clown around here, and I make wicracks about everybody. Nobody el is as thin-skinned as Stan.
Dmitry: I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I suggest you watch your back. The next joke may be on you.
Charlene: Why? What have you heard?
Dmitry: Oh, nothing. I just think it may be time for some payback – big time!
ESL Podcast 498 – Joking and Making Fun of Other People [end of dialogue]
Dmitry says to Charlene, “Stan is really miffed at you.” Stan is a man’s name. “To be miffed (miffed) at (someone)” means to be mad at someone, to be upt or angry with someone. “Miffed” usually is a little less vere than mad; it’s a little less rious, perhaps. Dmitry says, “All of that teasing at lunch really upt him.” “To tea” (tea) as a verb means to make jokes about someone, but in a friendly way; to laugh at something someone has done, but you’re not trying to be mean. It’s not something that you are doing to hurt the other person. “Tea” actually has a couple of different meanings; take a look at our Learning Guide for some additional explanations of that term.
Charlene says, “What?” She’s surprid. “I was just poking fun at him.” “To poke (poke) fun at (someone)” is an expression that means to make jokes about someone. However, it could be in a fri
endly way like teasing, but it might also be in an unfriendly way in order to hurt that person. The expression can be ud for both cas, it just depends on the context. Charlene, however, believes that she was just teasing him, and she us the expression “to poke fun at him” in a friendly way.
Why is she poking fun at him? Well, becau Stan was trying to hit on the new, young receptionist. “To hit on (someone)” is a two-word phrasal verb to say something to another person that you are romantically interested in. When a man comes up to a woman and says, “Come here often?” meaning do you come to this place often, he might be hitting on her. He might be trying to get her romantically interested in him. Of cour, that’s not a very good way to start. In fact, that expression “Come here often?” is ud now as a joke; it’s a terrible way to try to hit on a girl or a woman. I know, I’ve tried it; it hasn’t worked very well! “To hit” is a verb that has many different meanings in English, depending on the other words ud – the other prepositions (the other phrasal verbs). Take a look at our Learning Guide for an explanation of a few of tho.
Poor Stan was trying to hit on the young, new receptionist. A “receptionist” is a person in an office who job it is to answer the phone and to welcome people as they walk into the office, if they are people who are visiting. So, Dmitry says, “You called him an old goat.” That’s what Charlene said about Stan. A “goat” is an animal, not a particularly attractive animal, so most people would consider
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that an insult, to call someone “an old goat.” Charlene says, “I said that tongue in cheek.” The expression “tongue in cheek” (cheek) means as a joke, not riously, in a joking way. “She made a tongue in cheek comment about wanting to go swimming” – she wasn’t rious, she was joking. In this ca, Stan did not think it was a joke. Charlene goes on to say that if he didn’t find that funny, then
