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Sim: How can
I stop water from coming into my house?
Sam: Don't pay the water bill.
看来Sam是个很幽默的人。因为当Sim问怎样才能不让水流进屋子时,他回答说,不付水费就可以了。(不付水费,自来水公司当然会断掉供水了。water bill:自来水帐单。)
Sam: How were your
exam questions?
Tom: They were easy, but I had trouble with the answers.
Tom说得很有艺术性,在回答Sam时欲抑先扬,先说考试很容易,接着又说不过这些问题的答案很难。暗示了他的考试不是很理想。
Q: Which is the
left side of a pie?
A: The side that isn't eaten.
因为left既可以指“左边”又是leave的过去式和过去分词,所以问句就可以有两种理解方式:1)馅饼的左面是哪儿?2)馅饼剩下的那面是哪儿?而回答就是利用了第二种意思:馅饼剩下的那面当然就是没吃过的那面了。
Waiter: Would you
like black coffee?
Diner: What other colors do you have?
看来这位客人挺喜欢开玩笑的。当服务生问他是否要喝清咖啡(black
coffee)时,他却问道,你这还有其他颜色的咖啡吗?black coffee是指不加牛奶(或奶油的)咖啡;英语中还有white
coffee之称,指的是加牛奶(或奶油)的咖啡。
Q: Why do elephants
have trunks?
A: Because they don't have pockets to put things in.
为什么大象有鼻子呢,因为它们没有口袋装东西。这好象有些所答非所问。其实,回答者是利用了trunk的多义形式。因为trunk既可以是“象鼻”,又可以指“皮箱”,所以回答者为了增加幽默效果而采用了“皮箱”的意思来回答。仔细想想,也蛮有道理的。
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