joke: [17] Latin jocus meant ‘jest, joke’ (a possible link with Old High German gehan ‘say’ and Sanskrit yācati ‘he implores’ suggests that its underlying meaning was ‘word-play’). It passed into Old French as jeu, which lies behind English jeopardy and probably also jewel. But English also went direct to Latin for a set of words connected with ‘fun’ and ‘humour’, among them jocose [17] and jocular [17], both from Latin derivatives of jocus (the superficially similar jocund, incidentally, is etymologically unrelated), and joke itself, which was originally introduced in the form joque or joc (‘coming off with so many dry joques and biting repartees’, Bishop Kennett’s translation of Erasmus’s Encomium Moriae 1683). Juggler belongs to the same word family. => jeopardy, jewel, jocular, juggler
joke (n.)
1660s, joque, "a jest, something done to excite laughter," from Latin iocus "joke, sport, pastime," from PIE root *yek- (1) "to speak" (cognates: Breton iez "language," Old High German jehan "to say," German Beichte "confession").
Originally a colloquial or slang word. Meaning "something or someone not to be taken seriously" is from 1791. Practical joke "trick played on someone for the sake of a laugh at his expense" is from 1804 (earlier handicraft joke, 1741). Black joke is old slang for "smutty song" (1730s), from use of that phrase in the refrain of a then-popular song as a euphemism for "the monosyllable."
joke (v.)
1660s, "to make a joke," from Latin iocari "to jest, joke," from iocus (see joke (n.)). Related: Joked; joking.
实用例句
1. His friends say he was always quick to tell a joke.
他的朋友们说，以前他讲笑话总是张嘴就来。
来自柯林斯例句
2. He carried on telling a joke, laughing his head off.
他继续讲笑话，自己笑得前仰后合。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Chinese waiters stood in a cluster, sharing a private joke.
华人服务生们站在一起，讲着只有他们自己才懂的笑话。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Lysenko gave a deep rumbling laugh at his own joke.
