节目资讯
刊物:空中英語教室
日期:2012-02-15
难易度:Medium
关键字:affluence, alphabetical, driveway, cargo
(Music).
"Welcome frack, biends." Oh, I just used a spoonerism!
Welcome back, friends.
I hope you're enjoying learning about the funny parts of the English language.
We've learned about malapropisms and spoonerisms, but there's still a little bit
more to the jokes that we make in the English language.
So join us on line 4 on page 30.
(Music).
Funny English.
You can find amusing things about English almost everywhere you look.
Why do we drive on the parkway and park on the driveway?
Why is it that writers can write, but fingers don't "fing"?
Why do we ship things by truck, but send cargo by ship?
And why is it that your nose runs and your feet smell?
There's no doubt about it: English really is a funny language.
So it's OK to laugh when you're learning it.
(Music).
So I'm enjoying learning about these jokes.
Ryan, do you have a favorite kind of joke in the English language?
Uh, well, I really do like the malapropisms mostly because those are usually the
ones I make by mistake.
I like malapropisms too because often it's not what we plan, it's unintentional.
And it makes it funny because, you know, you need to laugh at yourself.
Exactly. That's what's so great about having a good sense of humor in the
English language.
You need to learn to laugh at yourself.
It's OK to make mistakes.
And you will find, as you learn to laugh at yourself, that there are amusing
things in English just about everywhere.
Anywhere you look, there's going to be something funny because English just has
a lot of funny parts.
That's true.
Now Kaylah, I had a teacher in high school who was always very serious.
But when... as our students listened to what he was saying, we often realized he
was saying some very funny things.
That's right. That happens a lot.
That's more "sarcasm." That's another form of humor in English.
And sometimes it makes it more entertaining when you can say it with a very
straight and serious face... (Yes...) but make a joke.
Yes, but you definitely have to look for it.
Now why do we drive on the parkway and park on the driveway?
Here's an example of how the humor is all around this.
Even just the name of our words in English, the names of our... our roads, just
anywhere, it's funny.
Why do we... why are we driving on a parkway?
Exactly. Now here we see we drive on a parkway.
A parkway is referring to a long road like a... you might also call it a
freeway.
It's just a long, open road that you can drive on.
But Kaylah, we park on a driveway.
Now a "driveway" is a very short road, or sometimes it can be long, that leads
from a main road to someone's house.
So if you live in a neighborhood, your driveway is usually short because it's
just from the street up to your house.
But if you live maybe out in the countryside, your driveway is very long as you
drive from the main road up toward your home.
Yeah. Now but most people do park their cars on a driveway, they leave their
cars there.
They definitely don't drive around on their driveway.
That's right.
We talked... I said it was usually very short, so there's not anywhere to drive
on a driveway.
Yeah.
You park your car there.
So English really just doesn't make sense a lot of the times.
We have another example.
Why is it that writers can write, but fingers don't "fing"?
Well, Ryan, "fing" is not a word.
But it's true, it's a good question.
There are a lot of things.
For example, if you are a swimmer, you swim.
But if you cook, you're not a cooker.
A cooker is a machine.
Mmhm.
There's a lot of these in English that tend to be a problem.
Yeah. It sometimes just doesn't make sense the way these words are formed, and
so you have to be able to laugh at that a little bit.
Now we have another example here.
Why do we ship things by truck, but send cargo by ship?
Now the word "cargo," we need to know what that means.
That is the packages, it's everything that you put together that you send on a
boat, so by ship.
So if you are sending maybe mail... if I was going to mail a gift to my parents
form Asia back to my home in Colorado, it could go on a ship.
And that would be known as cargo.
Right. So if you're sending things across the sea on a ship, you would send
cargo.
But what if you say I want to "ship" something?
Well, you think you would use a ship, right?
But no, we use trucks.
That just doesn't make sense.
No, it absolutely does not make sense.
English is so confusing.
Yes, it can be very confusing very quickly.
So believe us, we understand if you get a little confused.
But remember, it's OK to laugh.
That's right.
Learn to laugh at yourself and to laugh at the mistakes around you and you just
might understand English a little bit more.
OK, here's another one, Ryan.
Are you ready for this?
Mmhm.
Why is it that your nose runs and your feet smell?
I guess I haven't thought about that one before.
Your nose runs and your feet smell.
Well, most people use their nose for smelling and their feet for running.
But you would not say that my nose smells, you say my nose is running, my nose
runs.
That's right.
When you're having a runny nose, when your nose is running, that means it's...
the liquid is coming out of it, and you need to wipe your nose.
You have a runny nose.
But if your feet smell, that means they do not smell good.
There is a bad smell coming off of them.
But that is opposite of what the verb would be for each of those.
Exactly. So this is actually a really funny example.
And you can actually see a picture of this in your magazine as well of what it
would actually look like if you thought about it literally.
That's right.
Well, there's no doubt about it: English really is, well, a funny language.
Yes, it is funny and it's fun to laugh at.
It's also a little bit strange sometimes if you think about that use the word
funny.
That's right.
So you know what? It's OK to laugh while you're learning it.
Language... learning a language is not just about the tests or writing.
It's also about understanding the humor of the language as well.
So please, learn to laugh as you practice your English.
Yes. And we can guarantee you, we know you probably will laugh at some point.
It's very easy to make mistakes in English, especially when they end up being
funny.
Well, friends, if you have good jokes that you would like to share with us of
any of the variety we've talked about,
I know I would love to read them because I love to laugh.
So send us an e-mail at letters@StudioClassroom.com.
We'll see you next time.
Now enjoy today's skit.
Oh, English really is funny.
Do you know any more jokes?
I know lots of jokes.
Oh, here's a riddle.
What starts with "E," ends with "E," but only has one letter in it?
Hmm, starts with "E," ends with "E" and only has one letter.
Yeah. Give up?
Yes, I give up.
Tell me the answer.
The answer is envelope.
The word starts with "E" and ends with "E," and an envelope has one letter in
it. Ha.
Ha... I get it.
Yeah, that's funny.
Hey, here's a riddle for you.
OK.
What word has the most letters?
Oh, it must be a really long word with lots and lots of letters.
I don't know.
What word has the most letters?
Alphabet.
Alphabet?
Alphabet! It has 26 letters.
ABCDEFG... (That's right...) alphabet!
Oh, here's one more.
What is the longest English word?
The longest English word... hmm.
I don't know.
It's the word smiles.
Smiles? That word is not very long.
Sure it is.
There's a mile between the first letter the last letter, s-mile-s.
Ha. And a mile is very long.
I get it, S-M-I-L-E-S.
Yep, so "smiles" is the longest English word.
And English brings you lots of smiles.
Yeah.
That's a good one.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
And time really flies.
Make sure you come back next time for more Language Tips.
Thank you, Michelle, for those interesting Language Tips to help us with our
Funny English.
Well, as far back as 400 years ago, Shakespeare was using malapropism in his
writings and plays.
"Romeo and Juliet" even has a few.
Well, today, intentionally-placed malapropisms can be found in novels, movies
and TV shows often to humorous effect.
So keep your eyes and ears open for more examples of funny English.
OK, speaking of fun, don't forget to check out our Scrapbook feature over on
page 54 in your Studio Classroom magazine.
With a balanced serving of jokes, riddles, games, trivia and more, it's a great
excuse to take a break and have a little fun with English.
So now friends, from everyone here at Studio Classroom, we all hope you have a
great day.