When we tell jokes we are often intending to amuse or surprise by manipulating our listener’s expectations in a way which makes the punchline a violation of those expectations. Jokes are a special case involving an element of misleading information. More often in dialogues and in narratives, speakers are at pains to ensure that their listeners do not misunderstand or get lost. In order to do this speakers need to be aware of what their listeners know on the basis of the story so far, and what they can be expected to know on the basis of their sharing the same cultural knowledge as the speaker. As well as this knowledge, speakers need to be able to use a range of linguistic devices for developing stories and dialogues in a way that ensures their listeners’ continued understanding.

The ability to tell jokes is an extremely sophisticated form of verbal behaviour requiring both knowledge of language and the ability to identify and manipulate the mental state of another person.

Some Examples of English Jokes

The Queue Jumper

It was a cold spring morning in the city of London in England. The weather was very cold, and many people were ill. So there were many people in the doctor’s waiting room. At the head of the queue was an old woman. The woman was a visitor. She did not live in London. She lived in the country. She was in the city to visit her daughter. She wanted to see the doctor because her back hurt.

“If I get there early, I can see the doctor quickly”, she though. So she was first in the queue. She sat nearest to the doctor’s door.

An Indian came into the waiting room, and walked quickly to the doctor’s door. The old woman thought he was a queue jumper. She stood up and took his arm. Slowly, she said, “We were all here before you. You must wait for your turn. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ?”

The Indian answered : “No madam. You don’t understand! You’re all after me!” The woman was puzzled.

The Indian continues, “I’m the doctor!”

• This is a joke on culture. There is also a gentle anti-racist lesson in the story for us to learn. Many people think that Britain is a European country and all high occupational positions should be held by the Englishmen. Some people don’t understand what is the Indian doing in London. Others have asked why not we make the doctor in the story to be an Englishman. This is possible, but it will destroy the point of this story.

Banana and Milk

A man was running to catch a moving bus but when he got there the conductor refused him entrance and he was ……….. He fell off the bus and was run over by a car. The conductor was taken to court on trial for murder and was later sentenced to be electrocuted. On the day when he was to be electrocuted his last request was a bowl of mashed bananas and milk. The conductor had this bowl of mashed bananas and milk and the prison people switched the current on and it didn’t work, so they tried again and again the conductor’s last request was a bowl of mashed bananas and milk. This time the prison people put on a higher current but it still didn’t work and the third time ………. after the third time it means that they have to free the prisoner. And so they tried again and the last request was again a bowl of bananas and milk. And it still didn’t work even though they switched the power up higher. And the con ……… and they asked the conductor how he did it and the conductor said maybe it’s just because I’m a bad conductor.

• This joke is constructed in a way so that listeners are likely to think that the conductor’s choice of food was related to the malfunctioning of the electric chair. But for the punch-line to be effective, it is of course crucial that listeners are aware of the alternative uses in English for the term ‘conductor’, so that they would recognised they have been misled.

Joke based on phonetic patterns

Cow go moo.
Mommy go mamoo
Daddy go dadoo

Joke which has a regular discourse format

A : How do aspirins make ?
B : They make you feel better.

Jokes used to set up a linguistically misleading context

A : Do you love me
B : Yes
A : Do you love me to hit you ? Ha, ha!

A :Do you kick John ?
B : No, we don’t kick John!
A : Do you kick Jack ?
B : No, we don’t kick Jack!
A : Do you kick the swimming pool ?
B : No, we don’t the swimming pool!
A : We kick in the swimming pool Ha, ha!

Jokes of humour

A : What do you get if you cross a kangaroo and a sheep ?
B : I don’t know.
A : A woolly jumper ! (because the sheep gives the wool and the kangaroo is the jumper)

A : Please call me a taxi
B : OK. You are a taxi

Jokes from the Marx brothers

I could dance with you till the cows come home, on second thoughts, I’d rather dance with the cows till you come back.

A man and a woman are making love on bed. The woman heard the sound of her husband opening the front door and say to her lover, “Oh! For heaven’s sakes, whatever you do, don’t make a sound. If you’re found, you’re lost.” The man asked, “Oh! You’re crazy. How can I be lost if I’m found ?”

I hear they’re going to build a new eye hospital here. It will be a state for sore eyes.

A : Notables from every country are gathered here in your honour. There is a gala day for you.
B : Well, a gal a day is enough for me. I don’t think I could handle any more.

A : You are testing my patient.
B : Why not you come and be my patient one day.