Tra từ joke - Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

joke [joke jokes joked joking] noun, verb BrE [dʒəʊk] NAmE [dʒoʊk]
noun
1. something that you say or do to make people laugh, for example a funny story that you tell
• I can't tell jokes.
• She's always cracking jokes.
•They often make jokes at each other's expense.
•I didn't get the joke (= understand it).
•I wish he wouldn't tell dirty jokes (= about sex).
•I only did it as a joke (= it was not meant seriously).
see also ↑in-joke, ↑practical joke
2. singular (informal)a person, thing or situation that is ridiculous or annoying and cannot be taken seriously
• This latest pay offer is a joke.
see also ↑jocular

Word Origin:
late 17th cent. (originally slang): perhaps from Latin jocus ‘jest, wordplay’.

Culture:
humour
A sense of humour (AmE humor), an ability to see the funny side of life, is considered essential by most British and American people. Everyone needs to be able to laugh at themselves sometimes, and to recognize that the situation they are in may look funny to others. It is considered a serious criticism of somebody to say that they have no sense of humour.
Some people have a dry sense of humour, and can keep a straight face (= not smile) and let their voice sound as though they are being serious when they are joking. Other people are said to be witty (= show a very clever type of humour). A person’s sense of humour is influenced by many things, including family and social background and age.
British and American humour on stage have some important differences, although the fact that some comedy television programmes are popular in both countries shows that there is some common ground. American sitcoms (= shows in which the humour comes from situations that the characters get into) such as ↑Frasier, ↑Friends and ↑Seinfeld are as popular in Britain as Britain’s own ↑Vicar of Dibley and ↑Office. Sitcoms often have a laugh track (= a recording of people laughing) so that the audience at home will laugh in the right places. In many sitcoms gentle fun is made of ordinary life without the risk of causing anyone serious offence.
American stage humour is more direct than British comedy. In the American series Cheers, for instance, the humour comes from characters like Coach and Woody being more stupid than any real person could possibly be. But in the British comedy ↑Fawlty Towers Basil Fawlty’s funny characteristics are exaggerated versions of those found in the type of Englishman he represents. Slapstick comedy, which is based on people falling over, bumping into each other, etc. is now less popular in Britain.
British comedy makes frequent use of irony, humour which depends on a writer or performer suggesting the opposite of what is actually expressed. Many novels, films, stage plays, etc. use irony, even when discussing serious subjects such as death. Popular humour may sometimes rely on double entendre (= using a phrase that can be understood in two ways, one of which is usually sexual) or on innuendo (= making an indirect suggestion of something rude). These were both used a lot in the popular series of Carry On films that began in the 1960s.
Satire (= making people or institutions appear ridiculous to show how foolish or bad they are) is an important element of popular British political comedy programmes such as ↑Yes, Minister and Spitting Image. One of the most successful British comedy series, which also became popular in the US, was ↑Monty Python's Flying Circus. It had a zany (= odd and silly) and satirical humour which appealed especially to young people.
Comic strips and cartoons, whether printed in newspapers, shown on television or the Internet or made into films, are popular in both the US and Britain. The most famous include ↑Peanuts, ↑Tom and Jerry and ↑Simpsons.
Stand-up comedians like Bill Cosby and Jerry Seinfeld in the US and in Britain Peter Kay, Eddie Izzard and Jo Brand, perform on television or in clubs, telling gags (= jokes) and funny stories which end with a punch line, the part where the audience is supposed to laugh. Many comedians tell jokes that are funny because of some racial or sexual innuendo, and this may be considered unacceptable for family audiences. In Britain, common targets of comedians include mothers-in-law, foreigners and people from particular parts of Britain, especially Scotsmen (who are supposed to hate spending money) and Irishmen (who are supposed to be stupid). Many people find such jokes offensive, and the new generation of comedians has avoided making fun of people’s race. Another form of comedy is for people from minority groups to make fun of their own customs and attitudes.
Many people tell jokes at school, at home and at the office. People may start a speech with a joke or funny story to help break the ice (= make people feel more relaxed).
Children tell jokes that involve a play on words, such as ↑knock-knock jokes or ‘What do you call...’ jokes e.g. ‘What do you call a man with a seagull on his head?’ ‘Cliff’.
Adults sometimes tell what in the US are called Polish jokes because they are about a particular national or racial group. There are also jokes about blondes (= women with fair hair) being stupid, and lawyers having bad characters. For instance, ‘Why do they do lab experiments on lawyers?’ ‘Because there are some things that even a rat won’t do.’ On the whole this type of humour is considered dated and in bad taste. Light bulb jokes make fun of the worst characteristic of any group of people, by suggesting mistakes they would make in trying to change a light bulb: ‘How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?’ - ‘Just one, but it has to really want to change.’
Practical jokes involve tricking people, and are not usually very popular, but on ↑April Fool's Day (1 April) people traditionally play practical jokes on each other. Newspapers often include a story that is not true hoping that some readers will believe it and then feel silly.

Thesaurus:
joke noun C
•She's always cracking jokes.
quip • • prank • • pun • |informal gag • • wisecrack • • one-liner •
a joke/quip/gag/wisecrack about sb/sth
make a joke/quip/pun/wisecrack
do sth as a joke/prank
tell/crack a joke/gag

Example Bank:
•Have you heard the joke about the elephant and the mouse?
•He told us the ending, completely spoiling the joke.
•He treated his exams as a huge joke.
•He's always playing jokes on people.
•He's excellent at telling jokes.
•His brothers were always playing practical jokes.
•I thought I'd play a trick on them, but in the end the joke was on me.
•It was only said as a joke.
•It's all just a huge joke to you, isn't it?
•She didn't seem to find my jokes amusing.
•She doesn't like jokes about her height.
•She likes to have a joke with her employees.
•That's an old joke— I've heard it lots of times.
•The audience wasn't very responsive and the jokes fell flat.
•The show features a running joke about a nosy dog.
•The trouble is she can't take a joke.
•They kept telling inside jokes about people I didn't know.
•We all fell about laughing, but he didn't get the joke.
•We tried to make a joke of our situation, but it wasn't really funny.
•He's always been good at telling jokes.
•I can't tell jokes.
•I didn't get the joke.
•I wish he wouldn't tell dirty jokes.
•She’s always cracking jokes.
•They often make jokes at each other's expense.
Idioms: beyond a joke ▪ ↑joke's on somebody ▪ ↑joking apart ▪ ↑make a joke of something ▪ ↑no joke ▪ ↑take a joke ▪ ↑you must be joking ▪ ↑you're joking

verb ~ (with sb) (about sth)
1. intransitive, transitive to say sth to make people laugh; to tell a funny story
• She was laughing and joking with the children.
•~ about sth They often joked about all the things that could go wrong.
•+ speech ‘I cooked it myself, so be careful!’ he joked.
2. intransitive, transitive to say sth that is not true because you think it is funny
• I didn't mean that— I was only joking.
•~ that… She joked that she only loved him for his money.
Verb forms:

Word Origin:
late 17th cent. (originally slang): perhaps from Latin jocus ‘jest, wordplay’.

Thesaurus:
joke verb I
•Don't worry— I was only joking.
quip • |informal kid • • wisecrack • |especially BrE, informal have sb on • |formal humorous jest •
joke/kid/jest/have sb on about sth
I'm, he's, etc. only/just joking/kidding/having you on.
You must be joking/kidding!
Joke or kid? Both words are often used in the progressive tenses, meaning to say sth that is not true. Kid is used more in spoken and American English.

Example Bank:
•Don't worry, I'm only joking!
•Everyone just joked around and enjoyed themselves.
•She was only half joking about being president one day.
•She's always joking with her friends.
•They laughed and joked as they walked along.
•We joked about the amount of equipment we had to carry.
•I didn't mean that— I was only joking.
•She's going out with Dan? You're joking!