Puns and jokes that need a pun

Tests: 4 of 11 right · Exam: 2 of 4 right · Kind: ★★★ · Understood: 10 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 28 of the language course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: the lesson in the corpora.

Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.

Test 1 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

Your mate goes "puns are only for brainy kids, I don't get 'em, bruv." What's the best tip?

1. Only read jokes in dictionaries, because that's where puns are explained — ← Mova's choice · score 4
2. Look for the word with two meanings or a sound-alike word — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Laugh even if you don't get it — no support
4. Puns can't be learned — score 3

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 4, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 28, line 1: «A pun is a joke that uses a word or sound with two meanings at once, so your brain flips between them and the flip is what makes you laugh (or groan).», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same thing acted on «joke» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

Your cousin translates "Lettuce in, it's cold" into Ukrainian word for word. What will happen?

1. It will turn into a different joke by itself — ← Mova's choice · score 4
2. It will be funnier — score 4
3. The pun disappears, because "lettuce" and "let us" only sound alike in English — ✓ the right answer · score 2
4. It will be just as funny, because a good joke works the same in every language — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 with score 4, tied with another option at 4 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 22, line 6: «In the 400s and 500s AD, Angles, Saxons and Jutes settled in Britain; their language became Old English, spoken from about 450 to 1100.», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «become» (+2); the same doer «language» (+2). The right option, 3, scored 2. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★★★ · right ✓

What would happen to the "seven eight nine" joke if "ate" and "eight" sounded different?

1. The joke would stop working — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
2. It would be twice as funny — no support
3. Nothing would change — no support
4. It would become a maths question — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 27, line 3: «Many homophones once sounded different, and spelling still remembers the old sounds; the k in "knight" was once said out loud.», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «spelling» (+4). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

A Gen Z teen says "dad jokes are mid, they're not real jokes." ("Mid" means average, not great.) What's fairer?

1. She's right, they can't be jokes if nobody laughs — score -2
2. They're jokes only in Ireland — ← Mova's choice · score 4
3. They are real jokes; the groan is part of the fun — ✓ the right answer · score 4
4. Only mums can tell them — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 4, tied with another option at 4 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 13, line 18: «"Ghoti" is a famous joke spelling of fish (gh as in tough, o as in women, ti as in nation); real English never uses those letters that way at the start or end…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «spelling» (+2); the same thing acted on «joke» (+2). The right option, 3, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★★★ · right ✓

Sam reads "Fruit flies like a banana" and thinks fruit can fly. What's the trick?

1. "Fruit flies" are insects, and "like" means enjoy — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
2. "Like" means "as fast as" — score 6
3. It's a spelling mistake — no support
4. Bananas really can fly when you throw them hard — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 8, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 28, line 10: «In "Time flies like an arrow", "flies" is what time does and "like" means "in the same way as"; in "Fruit flies like a banana", fruit flies are small insects a…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same doer «fruit flies» (+2); the same thing acted on «small insects» (+2); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

Your nan from Cornwall says "proper job, that bike joke, my lover." ("Proper job" means well done, "my lover" is a friendly greeting.) Which word pair makes the bike joke work?

1. Stand and sand — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Tired and tied — no support
3. Two and too — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Bike and bake — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★★★ · right ✓

A cartoon fish with no eyes says "I'm a fish!" What's the punchline it missed?

1. Without the i (eye), it's a "fsh" — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
2. It's a "blind fish" — no support
3. It's a "fishy" — no support
4. It's a "shell" — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 28, line 9: «"A fish with no eyes is a fsh": take away the i, which sounds like "eye", and "fish" becomes "fsh".», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same circumstance (+3); the same thing acted on «fsh» (+1); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

Your friend says "a joke has to be true, otherwise it's a lie." What's true?

1. Jokes are lies and should be banned — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Puns are fun because both meanings work at once — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. He's right, all jokes must be true or they're just lies — no support
4. Only true jokes make people laugh — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

Make your own pun: which word has two meanings you could use for a joke about a tree?

1. Leaf green — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Oak tall — no support
3. Root deep — no support
4. Bark — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

Billy's mate in Liverpool says "that six and seven joke's boss, la." ("Boss" means great, "la" means mate.) Which two words sound the same in it?

1. Nine and fine — ← Mova's choice · score 9
2. Eight and ate — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. Afraid and fried — no support
4. Six and seven — score 9

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 1 with score 9, tied with another option at 9 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 12, line 1: «Some English words sound the same but are spelled differently and mean different things: they're (they are), their (belonging to them) and there (that place):…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «same» (+4); the same action «sound» (+3); a different doer (counts against) (+2). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★★★ · right ✓

Which sentence hides a pun?

1. The calendar is on the wall — no support
2. The calendar has twelve months — no support
3. The calendar's days are numbered — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
4. The calendar was a present — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 3 with score 8, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 28, line 16: «A dad joke is a simple, corny pun, like "I'm afraid for the calendar, its days are numbered"; part of the fun is that it's so bad.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «number» (+4); the same thing acted on «days» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · right ✓

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises a pun?

1. A statement that must be literally true — score 2
2. A humorous use of a word bearing two meanings, or of words identical in sound — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
3. A joke composed exclusively of numerals — no support
4. A narrative of considerable length concerning animals endowed with the power of speech — no support

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 8, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 20, line 4: «English has no boss: unlike French, which has an official Académie Française, nobody in London decides what is proper; dictionaries record how people use words…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «use» (+4); the same thing acted on «words» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the principal reason for which puns are seldom preserved in translation.

1. The double meaning depends upon the words of a particular language — ✓ the right answer · score 4
2. Translation removes all words of one syllable — no support
3. Translators are forbidden by professional regulation to render any form of humour — no support
4. Puns exist in only one language worldwide — ← Mova's choice · score 7

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 7, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 28, line 4: «Puns hardly ever survive translation, because the two meanings live in one language's words; a translator has to invent a new pun instead.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «survive» (+4); the same doer «puns» (+3). The right option, 1, scored 4. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗

In respect of the jest "Why was six afraid of seven? Because seven eight nine", select the response consistent with the established facts.

1. The humour arises from an error in counting — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The jest contains no wordplay whatsoever — no support
3. The humour arises from the homophones "eight" and "ate" — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The humour arises from seven being an odd number — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · right ✓

Ascertain the two senses operative in the statement that a book on anti-gravity is "impossible to put down".

1. That it is engrossing to read and that it would literally float — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. That it is heavy to lift and that it is excessively expensive to purchase — no support
3. That it is boring and that it is short — no support
4. That it is lost and that it is stolen — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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