#170 - Can You Understand This Joke?

What's up my friend, this is the Life in English podcast and I am your Sensei Tony Kazen and in this episode I'm gonna tell you a joke in the form of a story. The joke comes from a post on Reddit and the title was What's a joke that so stupid is funny and when I say so stupid is funny I mean the level of stupidity is so high that the only thing you can do is laugh about it It's not necessarily funny, but it's so stupid. It makes you laugh You know what I'm saying? Now the joke is a story about a woman and a man who decided to play a little game while on a flight from Los Angeles to New York And one of them ends up losing a lot of money So I'm gonna read it to you now and then I'll explain a few keywords and phrases that you might find useful in your next Conversa Ciel. All right, so let's get into it A man and a woman are seated next to each other on a flight from Los Angeles to New York The man asked the woman if she would like to play a fun game The woman tired just wants to take a nap so she politely declines and rolls over to the window to catch a few weeks The man persists and explains that the game is easy and a lot of fun He says I ask you a question and if you don't know the answer you pay me five dollars and vice versa Again, she declines and tries to get some sleep The man now agitated says, okay, if you don't know the answer you pay me five dollars and if I don't know the answer I'll pay you five hundred dollars This catches the woman's attention and figuring there will be no end to the torment she agrees to the game The man asked the first question What's the distance from the earth to the moon? The woman doesn't say a word She reaches into her purse pulls out a five dollar bill and hands it to the man Okay says the man your turn She asks what goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with four legs The man puzzled takes his laptop and searches all his references No answer He connects to the in-flight Wi-Fi and searches on Google and YouTube No answer frustrated. He sends a text to all his friends and co-workers and still no luck After an hour, he wakes the woman and hands her five hundred dollars The woman thanks him and turns back to get more sleep The man who is more than a little annoyed nudges the woman and asks Well, what's the answer? Without a word the woman reaches into her purse hands the man five dollars and goes back to sleep All right, my friend as I always say don't worry if you don't understand the joke Humor can be difficult to comprehend if you're not familiar with the language But I will say that in my experience when you can understand jokes and funny stories without the need for captions or explanations It's a sign that you're at an advanced level of comprehension I recommend you try listening to stand-up comedy and pay attention to the words they choose How they tell stories how they use their faces their voices and even silence to take you on a journey with nothing more than their words It's truly an art form and it's a great way to get exposed to a particular culture and its sense of humor But anyway now I'm gonna explain a few words and phrases that might help you understand the story better as well as help you sound more Naturao in your next conversation. All right, my friend. Let's do it So the first thing I want to explain is seated next to It said a man and a woman were seated next to each other on a flight and all that means is sitting to the side of each other Or sitting side by side the same way you do on an airplane, right? You get the idea. So next is rolls over Rolls over or roll over the phrase of her just means to turn from one side of your body to the other While you're lying down So picture her in the airplane seat trying to get some sleep and she's lying on one side and she turns over to the other side To continue sleeping. Hopefully you can get the idea So next is catch a few wings she turned over to catch a few wings All this means is to sleep for a short period of time. It basically means to take a nap and To be honest with you I've never heard somebody say catch a few wings like I understand it and make sense You can't say it if you want. I'm just saying. I don't hear that on a daily basis I would just say take a nap some people might say catch a few z's or catch some sleep those things sound more natural to me But you can't say catch a few wings and I imagine most people Would understand what you mean all right, but let's continue Next is persist All this means is to continue firmly in a course of action in spite of difficulty opposition or failure in other words You do not take no for an answer. That's what it means to persist. Okay Next is vice versa All this means well the dictionary definition is with the main items in the preceding statement the other way around The way I would say that is it works both ways So if you don't know the answer you give me five dollars, but since it works both ways if I don't know the answer I give you five dollars you see what I'm saying it works both ways All right the next word on the list is agitated Agitated all this means it's like another word for irritated or nervous or something bothering you that means you're agitated, okay? Next on the list is Figuring or to figure and all that means is to think or consider or expect something to be the case. So when he when the story said She figured or this isn't exactly how it was said, but the idea is she figured there would be no end to the torment She expected this man to persist and persist and persist until she said yes All things considered she basically knew or at least expected that to be the case if I keep ignoring him He's just going to keep asking right. That's what she figured That's what she understood or that's the idea she got in her head after thinking about the situation I'm sure you get the point. I'm just trying to explain it in different ways, you know to make it as clear as possible But let's continue Next on the list is torment to torment someone means to make them feel Mental or physical pain you cause them to suffer You know what I'm saying? So she figured that there would be no end to this man tormenting her there would be no end to the torment You know what I'm saying? All right next on the list is reaches into Now to reach the verb reach just means to extend your arm Typically because you want to grab something or reach it or not reach it, but Yeah, bring it into your possession with your hand So imagine you're sitting in a chair and your phone is a meter or two away from you You have to reach for the phone in order to grab it See what I'm saying you have to extend your arm and use your hand to grab that object. We call that motion Reaching for something, okay? So when she reaches into something all that means is to extend your arm and use your hand to grab something But you're doing it you're placing your hand into a container and enclosed space like in this case her purse Or a backpack or a box or something you reach into the bag into the box into the purse And then the next thing I wanted to explain is pull out So she reached into her purse and pulled out a five dollar bill That's basically the opposite of reach into or it's what happens after you reach your hand into something You grab the object and you pull it out And you might be asking yourself what's the difference between take out and pull out and remove in this case They're all really the same thing you might remove a dollar from the bag Which is not the most natural thing to say in this case, but it does make sense or you can take a dollar out of the bag That's just a general Frazel verb in this case, but even more specific is to pull out because you're taking something out of the bag But with a pulling motion It's just more specific, but it is the same thing essentially, okay? Hopefully that makes sense All right, next on the list is goes up to go up This means to move to a higher position or to rise or to increase So in this case what goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with four What goes from the bottom of the mountain to the top? That's just what it means to go up to travel in an upward direction So next is come down, which is basically the opposite you start at a high position And you travel to a lower position you come down or go down just depending on the situation, right? Cool. So next is puzzled Puzzled if you feel puzzled that just means you feel confused because you don't understand a situation or something that somebody has said or something like that So what goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with four legs Somebody asks you that you might feel puzzled because you don't know the answer or how could I possibly know what that is I'm confused by that question. I'm puzzled. You see Okay, next is the expression more than a little and this is just like a Creative way of saying a lot So he's more than a little annoyed Or he's very annoyed You see what I'm saying. I wouldn't say a lot of annoyed because in this case You know a lot of is for like amounts in quantities a lot of people a lot of money things like that But annoyed is like a feeling I would say very annoyed Hopefully that makes sense to you. So if somebody says I'm more than a little upset. It just means I'm very upset Right, I've got more than a little bit of money. I got quite a bit of money and that's not that example is the most natural But I'm just trying to get you to understand it's the same thing is saying a lot. Okay All right next is nudges to nudge someone is to prod or to poke someone in a gentle way, typically with your elbow or your finger because you want their attention. So imagine them sitting on the plane next to each other. He's not going to punch her or shove her or push her aggressively to get her attention. He just just pokes her, like, boo, boo, boo, boo, with the elbow or the finger. You know what I'm talking about. We call that action nudging somebody, right, we tap them gently with our elbow or finger to get their attention. The last is go back, I think the last line was something like she gave him $5 and went back to sleep or she goes back to sleep. Something of that nature. In this case, in phrases like that, it just means to return to some activity. So if I go back to sleep, it means I return to my sleep. If I go back to watching the movie, it means I return to watching the movie, I start watching it again or I resume that activity, you see what I'm saying? That's the basic idea. Hopefully that makes sense. Cool. All right, my friend, I'd like to thank you so much for your time and attention. As always, I really hope you enjoyed this episode of the Life in English podcast. I'm your host, Tony Cazin, and I will talk to you soon. All right. Peace.