American English · B2 · Unit 19
Humour
Humor
By the end you can
- Tell a funny story well
- Explain why something is funny
- Understand irony
Words and phrases
| American English | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| cracks me up | makes me laugh a lot | That show always cracks me up. |
| the punchline | the last, funny line of a joke | I always forget the punchline. |
| I was just kidding | I didn't mean it seriously | Relax, I was just kidding. |
| sarcastic | saying the opposite of what you mean, to make fun of something | Don't worry, he's just being sarcastic. |
| it's funny because | the reason it's funny is | It's funny because everyone knows someone like that. |
| went over my head | I didn't understand it | Honestly, the joke went over my head. |
| a pun | a joke that uses a word with two meanings | That was a pun, and a terrible one. |
| deadpan | funny while keeping a serious face | Her humor is very deadpan. |
| ironic | the opposite of what you would expect | It's ironic that the fire station burned down. |
| stand-up | comedy performed by one person on stage | He did stand-up at an open mic night. |
| lame | weak, not funny (informal) | That joke was so lame. |
| bombed | failed badly (a joke or a show) | His first set completely bombed. |
Then talk it through
Explaining a joke that a friend from the US didn't get. In the app you have this conversation out loud or typed, with the unit's goals to tick off and corrections at the end.