So, you've learned the grammar, you've got the vocabulary, but do you feel truly fluent? Well, today I'm going to really test your English skills, and it's not about passing an exam or memorizing some huge word list. The real test is understanding the clever, subtle, and often hilarious word play that native speakers use all the time.
If you understand the jokes that I'm about to tell you, it means that you're no longer translating English, you're thinking in English. Because in this lesson, I'm going to challenge you with 16 pretty tricky puns, ones that I really like in the English language. And if you can figure them out, if you can understand the joke before I explain them, and yes, I will be explaining them, you can feel confident that you've reached an incredible level of English.
This is the ultimate test. So, let's see how you how you do. And if you want to learn even more about this lesson, there is a free PDF that you can download by clicking the link down below.
It's free and it's this one's got quite a few jokes in it. So, hello you wonderful people. Welcome back to English right now.
My name is Roy, British English teacher Roy, and I've been a teacher of English for around 16 years. And over that time, I've helped thousands of learners like you on their journey towards mastering British English, uh, pronunciation in a modern British RP, accent, slang, idioms, and of course, talking about the culture. Today, we're talking about puns, the clever little jokes built on either double meanings, sound, rhythm, and timing.
And at the end after I've given you the 16, I'm going to tell you a joke that a friend's son told me, completely took me by surprise and made me when it cracked me up. In other words, it made me laugh a lot. I'll tell you that one at the [laughter] end.
It's something I love it. So, before we start the fun, before we start those 16 jokes, let me tell you a little secret. Puns aren't just about laughing.
Now, sometimes we refer to puns as something called dad jokes. They're a little bit they're more about sometimes groaning and a reluctant laugh than they are about actually cracking up. Although sometimes they are genuinely funny.
But what they are is they're about logic. They demonstrate a level of intelligence and they reveal how your brain processes language. So, what is a pun?
Well, it's a form of word play, play on words, and it uses multiple meanings of a word or similar sounding words to create a joke. So, in other words, the joke relies on you understanding multiple meanings of the same word or similar sounding words and making that connection. So, why is it so important to understand puns?
Well, they're everywhere. You're going to hear them down the pub with friends in conversation and in banter. So, it's going to help you connect.
But also, sometimes just in social situations or on the street or even in my experience down the gym, somebody will crack out a pun and make people laugh, even if they're people that you don't know. And it's an a real sort of demonstration of the person's ability to make people laugh, but also their grasp of language. You're also going to see them in some newspaper headlines, particularly tabloid newspapers and soft news stories and also in marketing campaigns and film references.
They are everywhere. And why are they the deepest fluency test? Well, they rely on one sound, one word with two meanings.
Your brain hears one thing and it needs to connect two different meanings. So for example the word interest could refer to curiosity something that you are passionate about or you want to learn and interest can also refer to money. Now when you put savings in a bank the bank sometimes gives you sometimes uh gives you money for saving the money in a certain account and the money that they give you that percentage is called interest.
So there you have one word with two meanings. Now that may be a spoiler alert for a pun that's coming up. So going back to that word interest, English learners who translate miss this and fluent speakers will catch the two meanings instantly.
The second thing that puns do is they force your brain to flip meanings in milliseconds. That mental switch, it's like, ah, I see what you did there. Now, because there's a thinking process, I think that's why they're not quite laugh out loud jokes.
They're more like, oh gosh, that's clever. That is your fluency showing. And yes, every single one of these jokes I am about to explain because jokes are funnier apparently when you explain them.
Maybe, probably not. But if you understand the joke and you laugh before I tell you the meaning, well, that's the real test of your fluency. First joke.
A man died today when a pile of books fell on him. He only had his shelf to blame. Gosh, this is like the third time I've recorded this because this one really makes me laugh.
So, did you get it? And you can let me know in the comments below how many out of 16 you got before I explained it. So the joke here, a man died.
A pile or a sort of a group of books fell on him. He only had his shelf to blame. Okay, so how does this work?
Shelf is the thing that we attached to the wall. Uh and we can put books on the shelf. So the shelf obviously collapsed and the books fell on him and he died.
But it sounds like himself or his self to blame. In other words, it was his own fault. Did you get it?
I quite like that one. Number two, I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest. Let me know if you got that one first.
First of all, as I explained previously, interest could be related to money. Like for example, uh in a savings account, the money uh that's added is interest as I explained before and interest could be enthusiasm. Maybe you play guitar and then you kind of lose interest.
In other words, you no longer want to play the guitar. But if somebody in the financial sector loses interest, well, that sounds like they're not very good at their job. But if you're caught both meanings, you're doing very well.
Number three, this is a famous one. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
Dear, dear, dear. This one works on multiple levels. First of all, you have time flies.
Time flies is an expression that we use to mean that time passes really, really quickly. Wow, time flies. I can't believe it's been 2 hours.
Also, fly could be the way that something moves from one place to another through the sky. For example, a plane flies in the sky. So, we're here saying time flies.
It passes very quickly like an arrow. That comes from the bow and arrow. Think Robin Hood.
So time flies like an arrow. The word like here is comparing it to an arrow. So in other words, it's saying time passes like an arrow, but it works on multiple levels.
But then we get the second line which is fruit flies like a banana. So fruit flies are a insect and they like as in enjoy a banana. So, it works kind of on multiple levels.
This one proves your brain is processing English patterns. It really is a quite a complex joke when you sort of explain it. Not as funny, though.
Oh, thanks for explaining the word many to me. It means a lot. Goodness me.
I I enjoy this one. So, many literally means a lot. There are many people here.
And if you say it means a lot, it means you're really really grateful. Uh, it means a lot that you remember my birthday. Some puns are a little bit naughty.
And this one is one that I absolutely adore. I went to a really rubbish zoo the other day. They only had one dog.
It was a Shih Tzu. I love this one. So, this is a bit cheeky, but British humor loves this kind of cheeky word play.
So, a Shih Tzu is a type of dog. Uh, it's a type of dog. So, it's like saying, "I went to a rubbish zoo.
There was only a dog there. One dog. It was a Shih Tzu.
" the type of dog, but it also kind of sounds a bit rude and sounds like I'm saying zoo. In other words, a very, very bad zoo. So, this one's [laughter] really clever.
Sorry for a little bit of swearing there, but I kind of like this one. Today, a man knocked on my door and asked for a small donation towards the local swimming pool, so I gave him a glass of water. Did you get it?
Let me know. So, this one, if somebody comes knocking for a donation, they're probably looking for money for a charity. Uh but this one's looking for a donation like money uh towards helping the local swimming pool.
So rather than give him money, I give him a glass of water. A small glass of water cuz he wanted a small donation. So it's like adding the water to the pool.
I'm really not funny when you explain it, but I quite enjoy it. Oh, I enjoyed it the first time. I used to be a doctor, but then I lost patience.
Okay, so a doctor. uh the people who visit a doctor, they're called patients. Uh so, you know, you're a patient at the GP surgery, if you're being looked after by the doctor.
But patience is also the ability to tolerate delays or uh problems and things like this. So, if you lose patience, it sounds like I'm not tolerating this anymore. So, this one works.
Sounds like the doctor got really really angry and also lost all of his clients. This one is a classic. This one is one I love.
When I asked my dog how her day was, she said it was rough. So rough, if something is rough, it's like a bad day. I had a rough day at work.
But also, dogs quite commonly woof, but it sounds like rof. So that's why it's funny. It requires you to know the sound a dog makes and the expression, I had a rough day.
Hopefully my dog didn't have a rough day. And if you want to learn even more about this lesson, there is a free PDF that you can download. And there's a few jokes in there as well that you can probably entertain yourself with.
Hopefully. I mean, if you're not groaning already. Next up, we have this one.
I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. It's impossible to put down. So, if something is impossible to put down, a book is impossible to put down.
It's too interesting to stop reading. And it's a book about anti-gravity. So, it's literally if it's impossible to put down, it is literally defying gravity.
If your brain processed both instantly, well, that is fluency. I don't trust stairs. They're always up to something.
Okay, so stairs, you literally walk upstairs, for example. Uh if you have two two floors in your house, you go upstairs or downstairs. But stairs are always up to something.
You always go up to something. So that's quite the literal meaning. And if somebody's up to something, it's like they're up to no good.
They, you know, they're misbehaving. So I don't trust those stairs. I mean, they're always up to something.
Let me know if this one tickled you or not. And speaking of slightly naughty ones, we have this one. It's not that the man didn't know how to juggle.
He just didn't have the balls to do it. My laughing gives you time to process this joke, I hope, because they tickle me. So, juggling often requires multiple balls throwing them in the air.
So, if he didn't have the balls, it's impossible that he can juggle. So, it's not that he didn't know how to juggle. It's just he didn't have the balls.
But if you say somebody has the balls to do something, it's also a slightly crude way of saying they're brave. Now balls refer to your testicles. So it's like you got the balls for this.
If you don't have the balls to do it, in other words, you are too scared to do it. My friend said he didn't understand cloning. I told him that makes two of us.
So cloning is the idea of creating duplicates of people, two people. And the expression that makes two of us is another way of saying me too. I don't like that film.
Yeah, that makes two of us. So literally cloning can can make two of you. But the second person is also agreeing that they didn't understand cloning.
Like I say, these jokes are really really funny when you have to explain them. You can actually use these with your friends to entertain them and hopefully they'll get it as well. Why did the scarecrow win an award?
Because he was outstanding in his field. So outstanding means amazing like outstanding effort and in a field uh means quite often we use it to talk about in an area of expert expertise. So for example if somebody said I was outstanding in my field it means that I am amazing in the area of linguistics and pronunciation and I'd be really grateful.
But also outstanding sounds like standing outside. And in a field literally sounds like a field where you would find a scarecrow. A scarecrow is that thing that scares crows away.
They stand in fields and they're there to protect the field. So why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field.
It's silly, but it tests recognition of multiple meanings. I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.
Okay, so sun, the first light of the morning is often referred to as dawn, the crack of dawn. It's when the day begins. So that's literally when they see the sun.
But if something dawns on you, it also means you suddenly realize something. For example, oh, it's just dawned on me where I know you from. If the double meaning clicked, you are officially fluent.
I was going to tell you a joke about paper, but it's terrible. Okay, tear is another word for rip, like tear the paper. And terrible sounds like terrible.
So, in other words, very bad. I was going to tell you a joke about paper, but it's terrible. Similar sound, two very different meanings.
We honestly make puns about everything. I would tell you a joke about the roof, but it's probably going to go over your head. So a roof goes over your head literally.
But if something goes over your head, it means it's too difficult to understand. So for example, oh maths, it just goes straight over my head. So in other words, it's like saying, I didn't think you'd get the joke.
Hopefully though, you did. And before we get to that joke that my friend's son told me that absolutely, [laughter] well, I was nearly crying with laughter. I'm going to tell you a real classic.
I'm on a seafood diet. I see food and then I eat it. Classic, simple, but the double meaning is still a fluency test.
So seafood sounds like food from the sea. Things like fish and prawns and all that sort of stuff. And sea food sounds like I see food and then I eat it.
So it's like a really clever joke. It's like I eat anything. And let me tell you that joke that absolutely caught me by surprise.
In fact, he told me a couple. Now, my friend's son, when he told me this joke, it was he was 8 years old, and I had no no idea what he was going to say. But suddenly, out of nowhere, we were walking along the road, and my friend's son said, "What bees make milk?
" And I said, I was like, "What bees make milk? " And he suddenly with great enthusiasm said, "Booies. " Still makes me laugh.
still makes me laugh. So, a bee is a creature which gives us honey. And bees don't normally give us milk, but a booby or boobies is a slang expression for breasts.
And obviously, when a woman has a child, they often breastfeed. They create milk. So, what bees what bees make milk?
Boobies. It's so childish, but it's genius. If these puns clicked for you, even just a few of them, your brain is already thinking in English.
it is not translating. And that, my friend, is real fluency. If you've enjoyed this lesson, please do consider subscribing and you'll become part of a group of people who don't just learn English, they live it.
Now, as I said, I've created a free PDF with all of the puns, plus explanations and modern British RP pronunciation tips. You'll find it right below this video. And let me know in the comments, how many of them did you understand?
And also, why not chip in with your own examples of a pun? I'll be reading every single one and hopefully laughing a lot.
