Jokes, jokes and jokes

What is a joke?

A joke is also a great way to test your reading and comprehension skills. What are jokes and how are jokes different than riddles?

A joke is any verbal mean that is funny and humorous. While riddles come in questions, jokes come in the form of question, short story or even a short sentence. Riddles need answers whereas some jokes are rhetoric and some jokes that come in the form of statement do not need answers.  Jokes can also contain the element of satire, sarcasm, mockery and insult that are aimed to a specific fields or people. Riddles and jokes are different before riddles are logical while jokes are humorous. Nevertheless, riddles and jokes require high reading and comprehension skill to be understood. Check out the joke below.

Little Johnny was sitting in class doing math problems when his teacher picked him to answer a question, "Johnny, if there were five birds sitting on a fence and you shot one with your gun, how many would be left?"

"None," replied Johnny, "because the rest would fly away."

This joke explains the bird’s instinct of survival. If a bird is shot, then the other birds will naturally fly away for safety. This joke is an example of a ‘statement’ joke because it does not require an answer. One needs a good reading and comprehension skill in order to understand this joke.

Jokes can also be in the form of a short story.     

Once upon at time, a couple came upon a wishing well.
The husband leaned over, made a wish and threw in a penny.

The wife decided to make a wish, too.
But she leaned over too much, fell into the well, and drowned.
The husband was stunned for a while but then smiled and said...

"Cool!...It really works"!

This joke explains that the husband is wishing for his wife’s death upon a wishing well. It is ironic because married couple is expected to love and care for each other but in this joke, the husband despises his wife and rejoices to her death. This is ironically humorous and in the same time, this joke portrays the reality of an unhappy marriage.

A joke can also be in a form of questions. For instance,

A man was checking his e-mail.   The room in which he sat had no fans or air-conditioners.   He started sweating.
What will he do to stop sweating (get cold)?

The answer is that he will open the ‘Window’ in his computer.

Funny, isn’t it?

Time to play!

THE  RIDDLES

The rules

1)  Answer as many riddles that you can solve.

2)  Insert your answers in the comment box.

The challenge

1)  Answers will not be revealed. However, answers will be given if students are not able to find the correct answers. 

Get ready.  1...2…3...Go!

1.    What kind of channel that people wear?

2.   Why did the man throw his watch out of the window?

3.   What's got a head and a tail, but no body?

4.   What eleven letter word that people pronounce incorrectly?

5.   Why can't a bicycle stand on its own?

6.   What has four wheels and flies?

7.   What always runs but never walks, often murmurs, never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?

8.   What is it that you cannot see yet it moves in and out of you?  

9.   What's a minimum?

10.  The beginning of eternity
 The end of time and space
 The beginning of every end,
 And the end of every place

          What am I?

       Have fun figuring the riddles ^_^

Let's warm up

TUTORIAL

How do you answer a riddle?

That depends on the nature of the riddle.

·        Some riddles require you to be aware of the physical aspect of the language used in the riddle, for example, the sentence, the words, the alphabet or even the pronunciation. See whether you can answer the riddle below.

Why is nine afraid of seven?

Any clue? Because seven eight (ate) nine.

The word ‘eight’ has the same pronunciation
    as ‘ate’.

·        Some riddles require creative and critical thinking to be solved. These riddles usually have logical answers and need a long time to be figured. Check out this riddle.

I am really light. Most of me is hidden than seen.
   What am I?

Can you figure the answer? If you are picturing an iceberg now, then you are one the right path.

·        Some riddles have illogical answers and require common sense and some humor to be solved. For instance,

Why did the boy eat his homework?

Yes! That is right! You are on your way to become a riddle master. The answer is because his teacher said that it is a piece of cake.

‘A piece of cake’ is a phrase to indicate the simplicity or the easiness of a task. Literally, a piece of cake is a type of sweet dessert. So, in this case, the silly boy has mistaken his homework to food. It may not be logical but has some sense in it, isn’t it?     

Now that you have acquired some tips on answering riddles, let’s start playing.

Riddle Diddle Little Brittle

Hello you, Yes,

you!  

ARE YOU TIRED OF LEARNING ENGLISH THROUGH TEXTBOOKS?

TAKE A SECOND TO PLAY riddles!

I do understand that learning English through textbooks could be tiring sometimes, so I decided to make learning English more fun by creating language games and what could be more fun than riddles?

Now, what are riddles? A riddle is a phrase, a sentence or sentences with figurative meanings that hint to an answer. For example,

What is orange and sounds like parrot?

The answer is carrot. (Because it is orange and the word carrot ends with ‘rot’ like the word par-rot)

A riddle is a type of brain game to test a person’s comprehension skill. English learners can greatly improve their comprehension skill through answering riddles.

What is more interesting about riddles is that it helps you to learn English while having fun. It keeps your mind engaged in a creative and critical thinking and problem solving skill without emphasizing on the academic aspect of language learning. The fun thing is you never knew that you are learning when you are playing riddles. Check out the riddle below.

What has a neck but bo body?

The answer is a bottle.