humor

 HUMOR

Vocabulary

This is a list of vocabulary items related to humor

This is a list of vocabulary items related to humor

Humor: Humour or humor is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement.

Sense of humor: A sense of humor is the ability to experience humor.
"He's got a great sense of humor" (= he is very able to see things as amusing.)

Humorist: A person who writes or tells amusing stories

Humorous: Funny, or making you laugh. 
"Her latest book is a humorous look at teenage life"

Amusing: Adjective. Entertaining. "an amusing story/person/situation"

Comedy:

1. Any humorous discourse generally intended to amuse, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. 
2.The amusing part of a situation.
"I prefer Shakespeare's comedies to his tragedies."
"The candidate forgetting his lines in the middle of the speech provided some good comedy."

Comedian: A person whose job is to make people laugh by telling jokes and amusing stories or by copying the behavior or speech of famous people:
"a stand-up comedian."

Black humor: An amusing way of looking at or treating something that is serious or sad.

Crack: Verb. To make a joke or a clever remark. "He's always cracking jokes."

Droll: Adjective. Amusing, especially in an unusual way. "A droll remark/expression/person."

Dry humor:

Dry humor is very amusing in a way which is clever and not loud or obvious:
"a dry sense of humor."
"a dry wit."

Facetious:

Not serious about a serious subject, in an attempt to be amusing or to appear clever:
"Facetious remarks."
"He's just being facetious."

Funny:

Adjective. Amusing; causing laughter:
"Do you know any funny jokes?"
"It's not funny - don't laugh!"
"No matter how disastrous the situation there always seems to be a funny side to it."

Gag: Noun (INFORMAL.) A joke or funny story, especially one told by a comedian (= person whose job is to make people laugh):
"I did a few opening gags about the band that had been on before me."

Gallows humor: Noun. Jokes or humorous remarks that are made about unpleasant or worrying subjects such as death and illness

Hilarious: Adjective. Extremely amusing and causing a lot of laughter:
"He didn't like the film at all - I thought it was hilarious."

Jest: Noun (FORMAL). Something which is said or done in order to amuse:
"His proposal was no jest - he was completely sincere."

Joke:

Something, such as an amusing story or trick, that is said or done in order to make people laugh:
"Did I tell you the joke about the chicken crossing the road?"
"She spent the evening cracking (= telling) jokes and telling funny stories." 
"He tried to do a comedy routine, but all his jokes fell flat" (= no one laughed at them).
Don't you get (= understand) the joke?

Laugh:

To smile while making sounds with your voice that show you think something is funny or you are happy:
"They laughed at her jokes."
"I couldn't stop laughing."

Satire: A way of criticizing people or ideas in a humorous way, or a piece of writing or play which uses this style. Satire may rely more on understanding the target of the humor, and thus tends to appeal to more mature audiences. :
"Political satire."
"Her play was a biting/cruel satire on life in the 80s."

Wit: The ability to perceive and express in an ingeniously humorous manner the relationship between seemingly incongruous or disparate things.

Functions

LACK OF UNDERSTANDING AND ASKING FOR CLARIFICATION

How to express lack of understanding

When you fail to understand what has been said to you you can use these expressions:

·         I beg your pardon?

·         I beg your pardon, but I don't quite understand.

·         I'm not quite sure I know what you mean.

·         I'm not quite sure I follow you.

·         I don't quite see what you mean.

·         I'm not sure I got your point.

·         Sorry, I didn't quite hear what you said.

·         Sorry, I didn't get your point.

·         I don't quite see what you're getting at.

How yo ask for clarification

When you don't understand what someone has said, you can ask for clarification using the following expressions:

·         What do you mean by...?

·         Do you mean...?

·         Could you say that again, please?

·         Could you repeat please?

·         Could you clarify that, please?

·         Would you elaborate on that , please?

·         Could you be more explicit?

·         Could you explain what you mean by...?

·         Could you give us an example?

·         I wonder if you could say that in a different way.

·         Could you put it differently, please?

·         Could you be more specific, please?

GRAMMAR

Modals (also called modal verbs, modal auxiliary verbs, modal auxiliaries) are special verbs which behave irregularly in English. They are different from normal verbs like "work, play, visit..." They give additional information about the function of the main verb that follows it. They have a great variety of communicati

Here are some characteristics of modal verbs:

·         They never change their form. You can't add "s", "ed", "ing"...

·         They are always followed by an infinitive without "to" (e.i. the bare infinitive.)

·         They are used to indicate modality allow speakers to express certainty, possibility, willingness, obligation, necessity, ability

List of modal verbs

Here is a list of modal verbs:

. can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must

The verbs or expressions dare, ought to, had better, and need not behave like modal auxiliaries to a large extent and my be added to the above list

Use of modal verbs:

Modal verbs are used to express functions such as:

1.    Permission

2.    Ability

3.    Obligation

4.    Prohibition

5.    Lack of necessity

6.    Advice

7.    possibility

8.    probability

Examples of modal verbs

Here is a list of modals with examples:

Modal Verb	Expressing	Example
must	Strong obligation	You must stop when the traffic lights turn red.
	logical conclusion / Certainty	He must be very tired. He's been working all day long.
must not	prohibition	You must not smoke in the hospital.
can	ability	I can swim.
	permission	Can I use your phone please?
	possibility	Smoking can cause cancer.
could	ability in the past	When I was younger I could run fast.
	polite permission	Excuse me, could I just say something?
	possibility	It could rain tomorrow!
may	permission	May I use your phone please?
	possibility, probability	It may rain tomorrow!
might	polite permission	Might I suggest an idea?
	possibility, probability	I might go on holiday to Australia next year.
need not	lack of necessity/absence of obligation	I need not buy tomatoes. There are plenty of tomatoes in the fridge.
should/ought to	50 % obligation	I should / ought to see a doctor. I have a terrible headache.
	advice	You should / ought to revise your lessons
	logical conclusion	He should / ought to be very tired. He's been working all day long.
had better	advice	You 'd better revise your lessons

Remember

Modal verbs are followed by an infinitive without "to", also called the bare infinitive.

Examples:

• You must stop when the traffic lights turn red.
• You should see to the doctor.
• There are a lot of tomatoes in the fridge. You need not buy any.

تصنيف : انجليزية