16:48
Hey everyone, welcome back to the channel and to another video. You have seen the title, so you already have an idea what today's video is about. We are going to test how fluent you are in English using a few short videos with jokes. Why jokes? Because understanding jokes can actually be pretty challenging even in your native language, let alone in your second or third language. Jokes often rely on word play, double meaning, cultural references, sarcasm, timing, idioms or expressions that do not translate literally. Sometimes every single word makes perfect sense, but the joke still flies right over your head because the meaning is hidden between the lines. And that is exactly why
practicing with jokes is so useful. If you can understand humor in English, it usually means that you are picking up on the little details that make you sound and understand the language more like a native speaker. It helps improve your listening skills, vocabulary, cultural awareness, and your ability to understand natural conversations. Now, let us all take a deep breath for a second. Before you start typing huge paragraphs in the comments arguing with me, I just want to say that this is meant to be a fun and educational video. It is not a Harvard entrance exam. If you do not think these jokes are funny, that is totally okay. If you do not like this concept, that is okay, too. We do not
need to get all up in arms about it. We are just here to have some fun, learn something new, and maybe laugh a little along the way. All righty, let's jump right into it. We should go out for a coffee sometime. How about 10 tomorrow? No, that's too many of you. Okay, the first one. Did you get it? So, I'm going to explain. Don't worry, I'm going to explain every one of them. So the confusion here is about number 10. So the first person is talking about 10:00 and the second person hears 10 cups of coffee. So they think, "Whoa, 10 cups of coffee? That's way too much caffeine." Why this can confuse even native speakers? Well, because both
meanings are completely possible. When someone hears the sentence without any context, the brain has to decide what 10 refers to. And sometimes it picks the wrong answer. And sometimes you just want to be funny or sarcastic. Will my pizza be long? No sir, it will be wrong. [clears throat] Now this one. Why is this funny and confusing at the same time? So the person says, "Waiter, will my pizza be long?" And what they mean is, well, will it take a long time? But what the waiter understands is, will the pizza be long instead of round? I mean, the same word but two completely different meanings. English is full of words like long that have multiple meanings. So, until you hear the rest of the sentence, your
brain is guessing which meaning is intended. This bike is on sale if you're interested. What's the lowest you'll go on it? 2 miles an hour. Anything less than that and you'll tip over. Okay. Now, this one might be a little confusing here because normally what's the lowest you'll go is asking about the price, but what the seller hears in this case, what's the slowest speed the bike can go? So, instead of negotiating, he starts talking about physics. Or maybe he's just being smart and he's just pretending not to understand what the customer is talking about, you know, so not to lower the price. So why this can be confusing? Because the phrase go low
can refer to money, speed, temperature, volume, and more. And without enough context, your brain can briefly go into the wrong direction. Can I take a picture? Sure. Literally. Now, this one's also funny because can I take a picture? And then he takes the picture literally because normally to take a picture means to take a photo, right? But take also literally means to pick up something and carry it away. So instead of taking a photo, they walk away with a picture. Technically, they did take it. But to be honest with you, our brains are so used to the expression take a picture that we never stop to
think about the literal meaning. And that is exactly what makes this joke funny. This car can fit a whole family without any problems. Damn, my wife and I have a lot of room. Now, this one is just funny to me because what the salesman means, the car has enough space, right? But what the customer kind of hears that it has enough space for the family without any problems, like literally. And he's like, "Well, mine definitely does." Now, if we get technical, uh, the phrase without any problems could describe the car or the family.
I'm leaving you. You're addicted to gambling. I bet I can win you back. That's classic. Now, this one's funny, but also smart. So, I'm leaving you. You're addicted to gambling. I bet I can win you back. So, normally to win someone back means to make someone fall in love with you again. But because he's addicted to gambling, his first words are, I bet. And the word bet is directly connected to gambling. So, the basic meaning is to risk money on the outcome of something. But also, I bet is a very common expression in everyday English that means I'm sure or I'm certain. So, even during a breakup, he cannot stop talking like a gambler. Well, the joke works because it combines the idiom uh win
someone back with gambling vocabulary like bet and win. And native speakers have no problem to catch both meanings at the same time. I see your glass is empty, sir. Would you like another? Why would I want two empty glass? Well, here it's funny because the waiter means another drink. Would you like another drink? And the customer what the customer hears is another empty glass. And honestly, two empty glasses are not much more useful than one. So, in restaurants, everyone automatically understands another to mean another drink.
You like your milk in a bag? No thanks. Keep it in the bottle. Okay, I also like this one. Would you like your milk in a bag? No thanks. Keep it in a bottle. So, the cashier is asking, "Should I put your bottle of milk into a shopping bag?" But the customer supposedly hears, "Should I pour the milk into a plastic bag?" Which would be a very strange way to buy milk. Why this can be confusing? because the sentence never actually says the shopping bag, but your brain fills in that missing information automatically because that's what usually happens in stores, right? Your wife says you never buy her flowers. Is this true? To be honest, I never knew she sold flowers.
Okay, this is a good one. I should say to get out of a uncomfortable situation. Your wife says you never buy her flowers. Is that true? Her flowers? To be honest, I never knew she sold flowers. That's smart. So, normally buy someone flowers means give them flowers as a gift, but he supposedly hears buy flowers from her. Okay. So, what do all of these jokes have in common? They all rely on ambiguity. That simply means that there is more than one way to understand a word or a sentence. Well, normally our brains are incredibly good at figuring out the intended meaning without us even realizing it. But these jokes take the advantage of that. They force us to stop for a second and
realize, wait, that sentence could actually mean something completely different. And this is why these jokes can be confusing, not only for English learners, but also for native speakers. And honestly, that is one of the coolest things about English. A single sentence can have two completely different meanings depending on how you interpret it. So, if some of these jokes took a second to understand, don't worry. That is exactly how they are supposed to work. You know what's faster than an escalator? [clears throat] You guys, that's a good one. So, at first your brain expects a real answer, but instead the speaker makes up a new word. Ask a sooner. Later means after some time. Sooner means earlier or
faster than expected. An escalator ends with later. So, the joke replaces later with sooner to create the fake word ask sooner. Of course, ask us sooner is not a real English word. And that is what makes this joke so silly. So why this one can be confusing? Because the joke uh is based entirely on how the word sounds. If you've never noticed that the word escalator contains the word later, you'll probably miss the joke completely. Plus, it's based only on the pronunciation and not the spelling. Well, native speakers usually catch it right away because their brains instantly recognize the words later and sooner. And even if they groan instead of laughing, they immediately understand
the word play. I know, I know this one is one of those dad jokes, but native speakers will probably understand it right away, while non-native speakers might not. You were actually at Hamaka. Yeah, I was there. You swear. Every damn day. No, I didn't mean that. I know what you meant. I was there. Said place. Okay. Did you catch this one? This one can be easy to miss. Normally when someone asks you swear, they mean really, are you serious? It's like another way of saying you promise you really mean that. But the other person understands swear as to use bad language
or curse word. So instead of answering I promise, they say every damn day, which means I swear meaning use curse words every day. So why this can be confusing even for native speakers because the word swear has two very common meanings. The first one is to promise that something is true and the second one is to use curse words. Normally the conversation makes it obvious which meaning is intended. But this joke intentionally switches to the other meaning like catching your brain offguard for a split second. Reason I can't sleep number 2311. If you put your left shoe on the wrong foot, it's on the right foot.
Okay, that's a good one. This one makes you think. So, if you put your left shoe on the wrong foot, it's on the right foot. So, at first it sounds like a normal sentence. You hear the wrong foot and naturally think, "Oops, you put it on the incorrect foot." But then comes the punchline. It's on the right foot. And here right suddenly changes meaning. So the first right means correct and the second right means on the right side of your body. So if you accidentally put your left shoe on the wrong foot that wrong foot is your right foot. So the word right has two very common meanings. The first one is correct and the second one is the right side.
Finally found out what is wrong with your brain. Oh, what's wrong? On the left side, there's nothing right. On the right side, there's nothing left. What? Okay. And here's another one where we're talking about left and right. So, at first, it sounds like the doctor is about to give a serious medical diagnosis, but instead they say on the left side, there's nothing right. And here, right means correct or working properly. So what they're saying is nothing on the left side is working correctly. Then they continue and on the right side there's nothing left.
This is worse. And this time left changes meaning. So instead of referring to the left side of the brain, left here means remaining or still there. So now they're saying there's nothing remaining on the right side. So this joke works because both left and right have two completely different meanings. Right can mean the right side and correct and left can mean the left side and remaining. Okay, and that's it for today's video you guys. So how many jokes did you actually understand? Let me know in the comments. And if you enjoy this video and you want more lessons like this, please give this video a like, subscribe, and I'll see you in the next one. Bye.
