生活英语对话 Episode 22: Christmas lunch

本单元是关于圣诞节午宴的对话

Alice: OK, who's for turkey and all the trimmings?
All: Me!
Helen: Let's pull the crackers² first! Michal pull one with me. Alice, you pull one with Tim.
Tim: OK, here goes!
Helen: I won!
Tim: Ah so did I!
Michal: What did you get?
Helen: A hat, a key-ring and a joke. Are you ready? OK "What do you get if you cross a stereo with a refrigerator?"
All: We don't know!
Helen: "Cool music!"
Tim: Ha ha very funny! Right, ready for another one? "What did one dolphin say to the other one?"
All: We don't know!
Tim: "You did that on porpoise³!"
All: Awh! Merry Christmas!


Vocabulary:

a cracker¹ (n): a small paper tube which is pulled from each end by two people at Christmas time. It makes a sharp bang when it is pulled and inside there is a small prize and usually a paper hat and a joke written on a small piece of paper
to cross (v): to mix or blend something together
to crack someone up (v, informal): to make someone laugh
to look sharp (v, informal, to talk about someone's clothes): to look good, stylish⁴ or fashionable
frostbite (n): injury to skin and tissue from being in freezing temperatures

本单元的语言点是笑话幽默，英语中的笑话幽默有时和汉语不太一样，看看下面两种 'Cross' 和 Knock Knock'笑话。

'Cross' jokes

What do you get if you cross a stereo with a refrigerator?
Cool Music

In these jokes two things that we can't or don't usually mix together (for example, a stereo and a refrigerator) are mixed. The result is the punch-line (the part of the joke that makes us laugh) in this case, 'cool music'.
These jokes also depend on the result having two meanings, a usual meaning and an unusual (or joke) meaning. 'Cool music' usually means 'music that's fashionable' but cool also means 'of cold temperature'.

What do you get if you cross a sheep with a kangaroo?
A woolly jumper.
(We get wool from sheep and kangaroos jump a lot. 'Jumper' has two meanings ?the usual meaning is a 'sweater made of wool'. The unusual or joke meaning here is to describe 'someone or something that jumps'.)

What do you get if you cross a dog with a computer?
A computer with lots of bites.
(Dogs often bite. Computers have bytes. 'Bite' and 'byte' sound similar.)

‘Knock Knock' jokes

A: Knock, knock.
B: Who's there?
A: Lettuce⁵
B: Lettuce who?
A: Lettuce in. It's cold out here!

These jokes involve two people ?A and B.
A knocks on B's door because A wants to go into B's house.
B asks A to say who s/he is.
A says her/his first or given name.
B asks for the A's second or family name.
A gives more information and this final line is the punch-line.
The humour of these jokes is that the words in the final two lines sound similar, for example, 'lettuce' and 'let us'.

A: Knock, knock.
B: Who's there?
A: Sam and Janet
B: Sam and Janet who?
A: Sam and Janet evening!
('Sam and Janet' and 'Some enchanted⁶' sound similar. Also, 'Some enchanted Evening' is the first line of a well-known song.)


What did one _____ say to the other _____? Jokes

What did one dolphin say to the other dolphin?
You did that on porpoise.

In these two-line jokes, two things that don't usually speak (animals or things) talk to each other.
These jokes depend on the second line of the joke being a pun (a funny use of a word that has two meanings or of different words that sound the same but mean different things).
For example, 'porpoise' and 'purpose' sound similar. And saying 'You did that on purpose' is a fixed⁷ phrase we can use to blame someone for something they did wrong.

What did one elevator say to the other elevator?
I think I'm coming down with something!
(A lift can 'come down with something' - usually people from one floor of a building to another - but 'come down with something' also means 'feel sick or ill'.)

What did one hurricane say to the other hurricane?
I've got my eye on you.
(The centre of a hurricane is called 'the eye' but to 'have your eye on someone' means that you fancy them or like them in a romantic or sexual way.)

1 cracker   

n.（无甜味的）薄脆饼干

参考例句：

• Buy me some peanuts and cracker.给我买一些花生和饼干。
• There was a cracker beside every place at the table.桌上每个位置旁都有彩包爆竹。

2 crackers   

adj.精神错乱的，癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 )；薄脆饼干；（认为）十分愉快的事；迷人的姑娘

参考例句：

• That noise is driving me crackers. 那噪声闹得我简直要疯了。
• We served some crackers and cheese as an appetiser. 我们上了些饼干和奶酪作为开胃品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 porpoise   

n.鼠海豚

参考例句：

• What is the difference between a dolphin and porpoise?海豚和和鼠海豚有什么区别？
• Mexico strives to save endangered porpoise.墨西哥努力拯救濒危的鼠海豚。

4 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。

5 lettuce   

n.莴苣；生菜

参考例句：

• Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿，我好做色拉。
• The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。

6 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。

7 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。