常用Entertaining Humor unit1

2021年1月20日发(作者：火星之旅)
Entertaining Humor
—
What
’
s Funny?


Donald M. Huffman1


1 The joy of laughing at a funny story is universal, probably as old as
language itself. But, what is it that makes a story or a joke funny?
2 As one who has enjoyed humor since I first recognized it, I
’
ve made an
attempt to explain and discuss humor with students in such diverse cultures as
Latin America and China. I
’
ve done some serious thinking about funny stories.
It has been a labor of love2!
3 Why is it that several students in a class will fall out of their chairs
laughing after I tell a joke while the rest of the students look as if I
’
ve
just
read
the
weather
report?3
Obviously
some
people
are
more
sensitive
to
humor
than
others.
And,
we
recognize
that
some
people
tell
jokes
very
well
while
others
struggle to say something funny. We
’
ve all heard people say,
“
I like jokes,
but I can
’
t tell one well, and I can never remember them.
”
Some people have
a
better
sense
of
humor
than
others
just
as
some
people
have
more
musical
talent,
mathematical
talent,
etc.
than
others.
A
truly
funny
person
has
a
joke
for
every
occasion, and when one is told, that triggers an entire string of jokes from
that person
’
s memory bank.4 A humorless person is not likely to be the most
popular person in a group. It is reasonable to say that the truly humorous
individual is not only well liked, but is often the focus of attention in any
gathering.
4 Even some animals have a sense of humor. My wife
’
s mother often visited
us for extended stays5. She normally didn
’
t like dogs, but she fell in love
with Blitzen
—
a female Lab6 we had, and the relationship was mutual. Even when
young, Blitzen would tease Grandma by very selectively carrying one of her
bedroom slippers into the living room where Grandma sat in her favorite,
comfortable
chair.
Blitzen
pranced
just
beyond
the
reach
of
Grandma
until
Grandma
was tempted to leave her chair to get the slipper from Blitzen. When Grandma
left
her
chair,
Blitzen
would
quickly
jump
into
the
chair,
flashing
her
Lab
smile
from sparkling brown eyes which clearly said,
“
Aha, I fooled you again.
”

5 Typical
jokes
or
humorous
stories
have
a
three- part
anatomy
that
is
easily
recognized. First is the SETUP (or setting), next is the BODY (or story line),
and these are followed by the PUNCH LINE7 (an unexpected or surprise ending)
which
will
make
the
joke
funny
if
it
contains
some
humor.
Usually
all
three
parts
are present, and each must be clearly presented8. It helps if the story/joke
teller uses gestures and language which are well known to the audience.
6 Humor, as a form of entertainment, can be analyzed in order to discover
what makes a funny story or joke seem funny. Here, for example, are some of the
most common types of humor. They range from the most obvious humor to the more
subtle types.
7
“
SLAP-STICK
”
is
the
most
obvious
humor.
Its
language
is
simple,
direct,
and often makes fun of another person or group. Slap-stick was and is the
technique of the stand-up comedian9 and the clown. It appeals to all ages and
all cultures. Nearly every English-speaking comedian in this century has used
the
following
joke
in
one
form
or
another.
One
man
asks
another,
“
Who
was
that
lady I saw you with last night?
”
The other replies,
“
That was no lady, that
was my wife.
”
The humor lies in the fact that the second man is saying that
his wife is not a lady. In other words, she is not a refined woman. The joke
is
no
less
funny
because
it
is
so
often
used.
The
audience
knows
in
advance
what
will be
said,
because
it
is
classic
humor,
and
any audience
values
it
even
more
because of its familiarity.
8 Chinese
“
cross- talk
”
is
a
special
type
of
slap-stick
in
which
two
Chinese
comedians humorously discuss topics such as bureaucrats, family problems, or
other
personal
topics.
Cross-talk
can
be
heard
anywhere
from
small
village
stages
to the largest Beijing theatres, and to radio and television. It is clearly a
traditional form of humor well understood by Chinese people.
9 A PLAY ON WORDS is not so obvious as slap-stick, but it is funny because
of
misused
or
misunderstood
language.
My
favorite
example
is
the
story
of
three
elderly
gentlemen
traveling
by
train
in
England.
As
the
train
slowed
for
a
stop
the
first
man
asked,
“
Is
this
Wembley?
”

“
No,
”
said
the
second,
“
It
’
s
Thursday.
”

“
So
am
I,
”
said
the
third
man.
“
Let
’
s
stop
for
a
beer.
”
We
know
that
older
people
often
do
not
hear
thingsclearly,
so
the
misunderstanding
of
both
Wednesday
(for Wembley) and thirsty (for Thursday) makes a nice setup for the punch line
delivered by the third man.
10 The
famous
Chinese
cartoonist
and
humorist
Ding
Cong
is
a
master
of
word
play.
In
one
of
his
funny
cartoons,
a
teacher
says,
“
How
come10
you
completely
copied somebody else
’
s homework?
”
The young student replies,
“
I didn
’
t
completely
copy
it.
My
name
on
the
page
is
different.
”
In
another
classic
Ding
Cong
cartoon, an irritated
father
asks,
“
Tell
me,
what
’
s
one
plus two?
”
The
son
says,
“
I
don
’
t
know.
”
The
impatient
father
then
says,
“
For
example,
you,
your
mother,
and
I
altogether
are
how
many,
you
idiot?
”
The
son
proudly
answers,
“
Three idiots.
”
Whether these stories are cartoons or jokes, told by a
slap-stick comedian or a cross-talking team, they appeal to people everywhere
as
funny
stories
because
they
have
a
note11
of
reality
to
them,
and
the
unexpected
punch line is quite funny.
11 PUNS are even more subtle forms of word play. They use the technique of
similar
sounding
words
or
alternative
meanings
of
the
same
word.
Puns
are
thought
by some critics to be the lowest form of humor, but Idisagree with this. Puns
require more subtle and sophisticated language skills than most humor forms,
but even the very young can use them in their simpler forms. For example, the
“
riddle
”
or
trick
question
often
uses
a
pun
in
the
setup,
the
story
line,
or,
more often, the punch line. Puns are the first type of humor I learned, and at
about 5 years of age I remember hearing the following riddle. One person asks,
“
What is black and white and red all over?
”
The other person usually cannot
answer
the
riddle,
so
says,
“
I
give
up.
What
is
the
answer?
”
The
riddler
replies,
“
A
newspaper.
”
This
is
the
obvious
answer
if
one
knows
that
“
red
”
is
pronounced
the same as
“
read
”
in English, but the meanings are clearly different.
12 DOUBLE
ENTENDRES
(French
for
double
meanings)
are
special
variations
of
puns
in
which
words
or
phrases
have
double
meanings.
Frequently
the
two
meanings
are very different, and one is quite proper while the second is often, but not
always,
vulgar.
I
like
the
somewhat
mild
story
of
a
school
teacher
and
a
principal
of a high school who are concerned because some boys and girls have been seen
kissing on the school playground. The teacher says to the students,
“
The
principal
and
I
have
decided
to
stop
kissing
on
the
school
playground.
”
Hearing
some laughter, she senses her message was not altogether clear, so she adds,
“
What I mean to say is that there will be no more kissing going on under our
noses12.
”
This clarification, of course, does nothing to correct the first
statement and the double meaning of the joke becomes even more laughable.
13

Some professional humorists think too much of today
’
s humor is not very
intelligent
or
sophisticated.
They
dislike
the
suggestive
or
vulgar
language used too frequently, and they feel that most humorists are not
very creative. It is true that some of today
’
s humor is rather shocking,
but
I
don
’
t
think
humor
is
to
be
blamed
for
that.
Humor
is
alive
and
well,
and it will persist simply because there are funny things happening every
day. Some humorous people see and hear these funny things and are able to
make them into funny, entertaining jokes and stories. (
1346 words
)
#
aha

/ /

interj.

a
noise
that
people
make
in
conversation,
for
example
to
acknowledge
（
承认，
告知已收到）
something,
or
to
express
satisfaction,
triumph
（胜利，凯旋）
, or surprise
啊哈

#
anatomy
/ /
n.

the structure of an organization, process, etc. or the way it works
构造

the science dealing with the structure of animals or plants
解剖学

★
bureaucrat
/ /
n.
an official who works by fixed
（固定的）
routine
（程序，日常工作）
without exercising intelligent judgment
（

判别力
,
判断）官僚主义者

cartoon
/ /
n.

1)
a
drawing
symbolizing
or
satirizing
（讽刺）
some
action,
subject
or
person
漫画
,
讽刺画

cartoonist
/ /
n.
a person who draws cartoons
漫画家

clarification
/ /
n.
added information to make something
easier to understand
澄清

▲
clown
/ /
n.
a performer in a circus who wears funny clothes
and bright make-up, and does silly things in order to make people laugh
小丑
,
丑角

#
anatomy
/ /
n.

the structure of an organization, process, etc. or the way it works
构造

the science dealing with the structure of animals or plants
解剖学

★
bureaucrat
/ /
n.
an official who works by fixed
（固定的）
routine
（程序，日常工作）
without exercising intelligent judgment
（

判别力
,
判断）官僚主义者

cartoon
/ /
n.

1)
a
drawing
symbolizing
or
satirizing
（讽刺）
some
action,
subject
or
person
漫画
,
讽刺画

cartoonist
/ /
n.
a person who draws cartoons
漫画家

clarification
/ /
n.
added information to make something
easier to understand
澄清

▲
clown
/ /
n.
a performer in a circus
（马戏团）
who wears funny
clothes
and
bright
make- up
（化妆品）
,
and
does
silly
（愚蠢的）
things
in
order
to make people laugh
小丑
,
丑角

comedian

/ /
n.

someone
whose
job
is
to
tell
jokes
and
make
people
laugh
喜剧演员

cross-talk
/ /
n.
witty(
诙谐的
), rapid dialogue, e.g. between
two comedians
相声

#
double entendre
/ /
n.

(
French
)
a word or phrase that may be
understood in two different ways
双关语

entertaining
/ /
adj.
amusing
有趣的
,
令人愉快的

familiarity
/ /
n.
good knowledge of something
熟悉

gathering

/ /
n.

a
group
of
people
meeting
together
for
a
particular
purpose
聚会

grandma

/ /
n.

(
informal
)
grandmother
or
the
mother
of
your
father
or mother (
外
)
祖母

humorist

/ /
n.

a
person
with
an
active
sense
of
humor,
especially
one who uses humor skillfully
（巧妙地）
, as in writing or talking
幽默
(
作
)
家
,
有敏锐幽默感的人

humorless
/ /
adj.
(
BrE
humourless
) too serious and not able to
laugh at things that other people think are amusing
缺乏幽默感的

humorous
/ /
adj.
amusing; funny
幽默的

★
idiot
/ /
n.
a very foolish person
笨蛋，傻瓜

★
irritated
/ /
adj.
feeling annoyed and impatient about
something
恼怒的

laughable
/ /
adj.
so stupid as to be funny and not worth serious
consideration
荒唐可笑的；有趣的

laughter
/ /
n.
the act of laughing or sound of people laughing
笑，笑声

misuse
/ /
v.
use something incorrectly or improperly
误用，滥用

n.
the use of something in the wrong way or for the wrong purpose
误用，滥用

mutual
/ /
adj.

1) feeling the same emotion, or doing the same thing to or for each other
相
互的
,
彼此的

2) belonging to or true of two or more people
共同的
,
共有的

#
prance
/ /
v.
walk or move in a spirited manner; dance about
欢
跃，欣喜地跳跃

principal
/ /
n.
someone in charge of a school or college
校长

adj.
first in order of importance
最重要的
,
主要的

#
pun
/ /
n.
an amusing use of a word or phrase that has two meanings,
or of words with the same sound but different meanings
双关语（用同音异义词
或多义词构成）

▲
riddle
/ /
n.

1) a difficult and often amusing question to which one must guess the answer
谜（语）

2) someone or something that is mysterious or confusing
猜不透的人或事

▲
riddler
/ /
n.
a person who tells riddles
出谜（语）的人

selectively
/ /
adv.
in a selective manner
有选择地

setting
/ /
n.

1) a particular place or type of surroundings where something is located or
takes place
环境
,
背