practical joke
46
3.0
- noun
- /ˈpræktɪkəl dʒoʊk/
:
broma
- He pulled a practical joke on his friend by pretending to be a celebrity.
- play practical jokes
- pull practical jokes
- just a practical joke
I think it's a joke, a kind of practical joke of some kind.
- I think it's a joke, a kind of practical joke of some kind.
- It's like falling for a bad practical joke repeatedly.
- You lost your bedroom for six months for a practical joke.
Examples
-
It's hardly the first time the 18-year-old has carried out a practical joke, though.
Blog text (27) -
(Trembling) Pete, if this is your idea of a practical joke, it isn't funny.
Fiction book (1990) -
If this is your idea of a practical joke, young lady, it's not funny.
-
What is this, some kind of practical joke?
-
Maybe it was his idea of a practical joke.
Fiction book (1999) -
Could this be some sort of elaborate practical joke that got out of hand?
-
Our daddy was not above playing practical jokes on other adults.
Fiction book (1996) -
At boarding school, you have a massive amount of time to fill, so practical jokes are really common.
Blog text (24) -
The only bad thing about Stacy are her practical jokes, which she thinks are way funnier than they actually are.
-
His stories had to do with this life at college, with parties, practical jokes, and dire escapades sometimes involving the police.
Fiction book (1994)
Synonyms
74
1.6
A playful act done to surprise or make people laugh
Antonyms
How Harmful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'practical' (relating to concrete action) with 'joke' (something meant to amuse), so its meaning — a joke carried out as an action or trick (a prank) — is largely derivable from the parts. However, the specific nuance that it refers to an action-based trick rather than a verbal joke may not be fully explicit to all B1 learners, and some languages use a different lexical item for 'prank', so some prior exposure helps.
Etymology
Practical joke comes from the idea of a practical, hands-on joke that someone actually does to another person. So it means a trick played on someone 'to make them look foolish' or 'to amuse others'.