| Paragraph: People here are focused on 'being smart' as a very valuable thing... | Correct time use: 'from 8 Am till 17 PM' or 'from 8 AM till 5 PM' |
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#1 (permalink) Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:46 am Joke (I flattened your cat) |
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Hi, please have a look at this joke:
I FLATTENED YOUR CAT Seems a guy was driving for hours thu desolate country when he passed a farmhouse, and before he could react, a cat ran out in front of him and*splat*... he flattened the cat. Out of kindness and consideration, he stopped, turned around and drove back to the farmhouse to notify the occupants. When the housewife came to the door, said he, "Pardon memadame, but I just ran over a cat in front of your house, and assumed that it must belong to you. I know this might be hard to hear, but I wanted to let you know instead of just driving off...." "Not so fast", says she. "How do you know it was our cat? Could you describe him? What does he look like?" The man promptly flopped down on the ground, and said "He looks like thts"as he gave his best shot at a dead cat impression. "Oh no, you *horrible* man", she replied. "I meant, what did he look like*before* you hit him?" At that, the man got up, covered his eyes with both hands and screamed"Agggghhhhhhhhhh !!!!!!"
=> I have 2 queries about the joke: 1/ Is the first sentence grammatically correct? (I find the syntax "Seems a guy was driving..." very odd) 2/ Once again, please excuse me for my dumbness, but I can't see anything funny about this joke. Why did the man scream? Could anybody please explain it for me?
Thank you very much Nessie :) _________________ :(... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. :(
Sorry seems to be the hardest word... |
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Nessie I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Feb 2008 Posts: 1102
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#2 (permalink) Mon Aug 18, 2008 17:06 pm Joke (I flattened your cat) |
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Hic, if you really think this is a nonsense story, please at least answer my first question (+_+) _________________ :(... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. :(
Sorry seems to be the hardest word... |
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Nessie I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Feb 2008 Posts: 1102
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#3 (permalink) Mon Aug 18, 2008 17:29 pm Joke (I flattened your cat) |
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Hi Nessie
First off, can I ask you why you often write 'Hic'? The reason I ask is that I always understand that to mean that you're hiccoughing. The word 'Hic' is also often used to represent a sound a drunk might make.
The first sentence (and in fact the entire joke) is supposed to sound informally conversational. Basically, the word 'It' has been omitted from the beginning of the first sentence.
As to your second question, in the joke, the driver first imitated a dead cat. He then did what he apparently thought would be an appropriate imitation of the cat just before it was hit by a car: The cat covered its eyes and screamed.
(I don't think the joke is terribly funny either.) . _________________ "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln |
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Yankee I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 16 Apr 2006 Posts: 8316 Location: USA
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#4 (permalink) Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:14 am Joke (I flattened your cat) |
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Thanks a lot for your comment about the use of "hic", Amy :P Actually I don't know it implies the meaning of hiccoughing or of a drunk. I am just... affected (without awareness) by my native language usage. When somebody says "hic", usually they mean something... not really crying, but just like... complaining (because something bad or disappointing has happened)
I'm terribly sorry if I've vexed you by using it. _________________ :(... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. :(
Sorry seems to be the hardest word... |
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Nessie I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Feb 2008 Posts: 1102
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#5 (permalink) Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:31 am Joke (I flattened your cat) |
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| Quote: |
| I'm terribly sorry if I've vexed you by using it. |
Hi Nessie You haven't "vexed" me, but I thought you would like to have some feedback about how a native speaker of English might interpret "Hic". :wink:
I've noticed that quite a few people from Vietnam use this word, but I never understood why. Now, thanks to you, I understand. . _________________ "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln |
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Yankee I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 16 Apr 2006 Posts: 8316 Location: USA
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#6 (permalink) Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:42 am Joke (I flattened your cat) |
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Hi, Amy
When I saw "hic" I instantly thought of this word "hick" :lol: |
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Lost_Soul I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 15 Sep 2006 Posts: 1861 Location: South Park, Colorado, USA
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#7 (permalink) Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:01 am Joke (I flattened your cat) |
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| Yankee wrote: |
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| I'm terribly sorry if I've vexed you by using it. |
Hi Nessie You haven't "vexed" me, but I thought you would like to have some feedback about how a native speaker of English might interpret "Hic". :wink: . |
Yes, Amy, I certainly do :) Thank you so much for your feedback and please tell me if I have any other non-native usages of English :) _________________ :(... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. :(
Sorry seems to be the hardest word... |
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Nessie I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Feb 2008 Posts: 1102
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| Paragraph: People here are focused on 'being smart' as a very valuable thing... | Correct time use: 'from 8 Am till 17 PM' or 'from 8 AM till 5 PM' |