joke的基本意思是“笑话,玩笑”,指引人发笑的谈话或故事,也指供人当作笑料的事情。可用作可数名词,也可用作不可数名词。
joke作“可笑的人、事物、情形”解时,多用于单数形式,可与不定冠词连用。
joke作动词时意思是“开玩笑”“取笑”,不仅指“言”,而且还指“行”,是不及物动词,常用于进行体。
“和某人开玩笑”是joke with sb; “拿某事开玩笑”是joke about sth; “拿某事和某人开玩笑”是joke with sb about sth。习语You must be〔have got to be〕 joking的意思是“你一定是(在)开玩笑”。
如:
What bothered me were all the jokes about masturbation , stuff like that. It was too sick.
Losing my purse was no joke.