温哥华英文教练，致力于地道英文表达

常听朋友们说，听老外讲笑话，通常是人家笑得花枝乱颤，自己却没听懂，只能尴尬地附和抽动嘴角。今天我们就来看一则笑话，其中的双关语(pun)、同音(homophone) 、反讽（irony）的使用，往往就是这些笑点的来源。

My first job was working in an orange juice factory, but I got canned （get canned是被炒鱿鱼了，can又指罐头，在果汁厂工作肯定会涉及到坛坛罐罐的）...couldn't concentrate.（concentrate有两个含义，一是专注，一是浓缩。在这里，作者说他不能将果汁浓缩，实际上说自己不专心工作）

Then I worked in the woods as a lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack（hack也有两层意思，一是搞定某事，一是砍伐。这里的双关在于，表面上是说自己做为一个伐木工不能给“砍伐”，实际是说自己搞不定） it … so they gave me the axe.（axe又是双关，字面上是“斧头”，give sb the axe是成语“开除某人”）

After that I tried to be a tailor,
but I just wasn't suited for it （suit是双关，字面上是“衣服”，这里指“不适合做”）… mainly because it was a so-so job.

Next I tried working in a Quick Fit Centre,
but that was exhausting（quick fit是快速适应，而exhausting是精疲力尽，这里有反讽的含义）.

I wanted to be a barber,
but I just couldn't cut it.（理发师的工作是cuthair，但说某人don't cut out to be是说“天生不是那块料”，这里用cut来双关，并且将cut out to be 稍做了改动）

Then I tried to be a chef, figured it would add spice （spice是香料，也可以做“趣味”；厨师的工作肯定会用到香料，这份工作作者原本也希望可以增加些趣味）to my life, but I just didn't have the thyme.（thyme是香料的一种，“百里香”，发音与time一样，读者请自行脑补其中的笑点）

Finally, I attempted to be a deli（熟食店） worker, but any way I sliced it, I couldn't cut the mustard.（mustard是芥末，cut the mustard是个常见的成语，即搞定某事；作者在熟食店工作，肯定会切这个切那个(slice)，结果他连mustard都切不好，当然又把工作搞砸了）

My best job was being a musician,
but eventually I found I wasn't noteworthy.（note是音符，与上一段的musician呼应，而noteworthy是没有引起注意的；这里是用note来做文章）

I studied a long time to become a doctor,
but I didn't have any patients.（patient做名词用，是病人，做形容词用是耐心的。对待病人要耐心，而他想当医生，却没有耐心，当然就没有病人找他了）

Next was a job in a shoe factory, I tried but I just didn't fit in.（fit in与前文中的shoe呼应，就是“适脚”，你去鞋厂工作却不fit in就是不适合那里的工作了）

I became a professional fisherman, but discovered that I couldn't live on my net income.（这个也很好笑，net income是净收入，而net本身有渔网之意，与渔夫的工作相呼应）

Thought about becoming a witch, so I tried that for a spell.（这里是拿spell开刷；spell是咒语的意思，跟前文做witch（巫师）相对应，而for a spell是过了一段时间）

I managed to get a job working for a swimming pool maintenance company, but the work was just too draining.（这里拿drain说事儿，drain是耗光，其分词形式，也就是这里的draining是让人精疲力尽的；而泳池的工作是需要“注水”或“维持水位”，你去“耗光”，下场可想而知。）

I got a job at a zoo feeding giraffes,
but I was fired because I wasn't up to it.（up to it是够格的意思，up也有“朝上”的含义，人在动物园饲养长颈鹿，却“够不着”，咋饲养？）

So then I got a job in a gymnasium,
but they said I wasn't fit for the job.（这一段的笑点在fit，设想在健身房工作的人，自己是不是该fit（健康的）一点？结果他被证明是wasn’t fit（不适合）这份工作，或fit in）

Next, I found being an electrician interesting, but the work was shocking. （shock是受到打击之意，做电工要是不小心触电，那就是shock，而shocking也有“震惊的”含义）

After years of trying to find work, I finally got a job as a historian, until I realized there was no future in it.（做历史学家，当然是往后看的，所以no future，没有前途；这里用到了反讽这个修辞法）

My last job was working at Starbucks Coffee, but I had to quit because it was always the same old grind.（在星巴克咖啡店工作，当然会涉及到grind，即磨咖啡，整天磨啊磨的，就产生了另一层还有“枯燥的”）

SO I RETIRED, AND I FOUND I AM A PERFECT FIT FOR THE JOB!

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