February 16, 2008
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Sounds Like a Laugh
I was looking up homophones the other day and came across a homophone quiz produced by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). Can you answer these questions? (Those were the actual choices for answers.)
1. A large, furry animal [bare, bear, beer]
2. She went back to ____________ she had locked the door [check, cheque]
3. She had to go to ____________ to prove she was innocent. [court, caught]
4. Tip the jug and ____________lots of cream on the strawberries. [paw, poor, pour]
And, while you are at it, see if you laugh at these British jokes.
Why can’t you get any headache medicine in England?
Parrots eat ‘em all!
Two bags of crisps were trotting down the pavement. A car stopped and asked them if they wanted a lift.
“No thanks,” they replied. “We’re Walkers!”
Why do elephants have big ears?
Because Noddy won’t pay the ransom.
(To understand the first joke, you have to know that Tylenol/acetaminophen is called paracetamol in England. Parrots eat ‘em all–get it? To understand the second joke, you need to know that Walkers Ready Salted is the Lays potato chip (crisps) of England. To get the third joke, um…I don’t get the third joke at all. Does anyone?)
Comments (27)
The only thing I know that Big Ears is a character is the noddy’s books and episodes of the different Noddy series which have been shown on television.
I didn’t get any of them at all. Thanks for broadening my horizons…
@phil_leafman -
Thanks, Phil! I was hoping you could give some insight into that joke.
You are being cross-culturally educated!
It’s all in the accent. LOL!
Big Ears is Noddy’s friend.
I am laughing! One of the things that first caught D’s attention about me, was that I understood his accent, and his jokes (well most of them anyway).
@LadyoftheManse - You did recognize that first joke as the one he told us this summer while you were at our house, didn’t you? I wanted to credit him, but Mr. LadyoftheManse just didn’t seem to fit him.
I have certainly enjoyed your trip thus far. I am delighted that you have as well.
I also always enjoy your comments. You are a wonderful and witty word smith!
Old Hat
I liked the first two, but I am not that familiar with Noddy and Big Ears… (actually, I had to say the first one out loud in a British accent to get it!)
Thanks for your note! My sweetheart is indeed in Australia… he’s looking for work in the USA but hasn’t found anything yet. So I don’t know when I’ll get to see him again…. *sigh*. Very sad.
Ha ha! Glad that you’re getting to enjoy some British humor.
I love the homophone quiz. I keep trying to say all the choices with a British accent to see if I can figure out why they are the choices….. “paw” for “pour” is my favorite!
All I could think of was the Noddy program, but, since we don’t watch it, I didn’t know that Big Ears was a character. That’s funny, though!
My two eldest daughters and I went to a girly 10 year old birthday party last night. One of the games was a “Spider Web” thing where the mom had made a web-like maze of yarn for the girls to crawl through and wrap up their own color of “web” without touching the other’s “web” (which was just about impossible!). When they were done, there were all these popsicle sticks with blobs of yarn wrapped around them, so…. can you guess what I was doing today?? Yup! I was crocheting a scarf for the birthday girl from all the yarn at the party! It is really colorful & fun. So, that will be my birthday present for her! Something she can always remember her 10th birthday party by! I hope she likes it as much as I do!
I think my husband has crashed on the couch while waiting for me…. I better go! AJ
Interesting, I never knew that.. But once you explain that. It does make sense.. I get the humor at the end.
Hahaha! The were a lot of British people where we lived in Ghana and Jamaica. I always thought British humor was little off; but I think the British think the same about me!
Thanks for the jokes! It is so interesting, reading about some of the little things that are different there.
Now that is funny that their homophones are different. Never thought of that!
And I didn’t get any of the jokes–thanks for explaining!
“Noddy” is a kids show. It is one of Yellow’s favorites. Big Ears is a kindly wood elf who often helps the nice, but not real savvy, Noddy out of trouble in their happy home in Toy Town.
Isn’t it interesting the differences in jokes… I would have never gotten the first two. However, I have heard about the Noddy books popular in England and would have guessed it had something to do with that…
Your entries are so interesting and informative. Although I don’t get over and comment often enough, I do read them in my daily e-mail.
bear, check, court, pour. Cute jokes. You not getting the last one reminds me of one my friend told me:
How many gold balls fit in the eiffel tower?
I don’t know because peanut butter doesn’t have bones.
He-he! Sometimes I love nonsense jokes! Happy un-valentine’s day!
Thank you for the great jokes. It’s always great to expand our thoughts, lol.
They need new jokes that we can understand! ha ha
Hi Mary,
Thanks for the comments on our blog! We will miss Rachel on Wednesday, but are glad that you will be in Norwich. Hope you had a good time with the Harris’s yesterday!
Blessings,
Lisa
To think we speak the same? language & have such a different culture! haha I’m still thinking about Noddy– maybe I should ask my aunt who was originally from England– although she lives on the west coast & I never see her.
Pondering that third one. It hinges on knowing what or who Noddy is. I may cheque it out.
I only “got” the middle one. Are you an American living in England? I’ve noticed you write in American English.
@BigToePeople -
I forgot to mention teacher. Yes, I am an American living in England. My husband is on sabbatical from Penn State and we are in Cambridge from January to May. I am a writer wanna-be, but no finished novel. I’m a semi-English teacher (some college composition teaching, online AP Language, this and that, and I homeschool my five children).
@TeacherPerson - Hence all the weekday field trips for you and your children! What a wonderful, wonderful thing.
I didn’t start teaching until I was 30. I’ve taught 7, 8, 9, 11 & 12th Grades. My favorites are the ages of 11th and 12th graders and the content in 12th: British Lit. I was amazed, the last year I taught 12th grade (before I moved to TX to marry my husband) how integrity and pro-life themes shined through so much British literature. I actually had students facing pregnancies, so it was neat to journey through the literature w/ them. I’m hoping to teach university level courses online, but U of Phoenix has been stringing me along for a year. We have another year in the boonies before my husband gets a new assignment. Meanwhile, the boonies are a great place to write.