There are hundreds of funny and strange expressions in the English language. A lot of them include country names or nationalities. Take these examples:

The Dutch（丹麦人）are the target of most English expressions about nationalities. Why are there so many jokes about the Dutch in English? And what do these expressions mean? In the 17th and early 18th centuries, there were three wars between the British and the Dutch, and Dutch became a bad word. So double Dutch means something that has no meaning or is impossible to understand. A Dutch uncle is someone who gives much stronger advice than they need to. There are later expressions, which are funnier and kinder, like to go Dutch, which is nowadays a popular expression. It means to pay for your part of a bill. This often happens when a group of friends have a meal together, and each person pays for the food they ate. I’m a Dutchman is another commonly used expression. This means not being able to believe something.

An expression with a similar meaning to double Dutch is it’s all Greek to me, which means I don’t understand. The expression was made famous in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar although the expression is actually hundreds of years older.

If you take French leave, you are not present or leave somewhere without permission. For example, you could take French leave from a classroom or the place where you work. This expression is from the 18th century when French people left parties without saying goodbye to the host or hostess.

There are Chinese whispers, which mean confused（令人困惑的）messages. This describes the fact that a message can often change as it is passed from person to person. This expression comes from the First World War when foreigners were often confused by Chinese language.

Many people find English expressions confusing, but now that you know about some of them, you can easily have fun finding out many more funny English expressions.

1.Are there many jokes about the Dutch in English?

2.When did Dutch become a bad word?

3.What does “French leave” mean?

4.Which three expressions mentioned above have similar meanings?

5.What do the funny and strange expressions in the passage have in common?

 

 

Susan, the US My best friend is Fanny. She is clever and interesting. We always look after each other. The first week we met, I got sick and she looked after me every day.
Ken, Japan I love to spend time with Daisuke because he is funny and smart. We enjoy talking about the funny things we did when we were children, and tell the same stupid jokes over and over again.
Lily, Australia Linda is a very confident girl and she is really kind. Some people may wonder why Linda and I are best friends because we totally different, but I think this is why we are such good friends.

1.Who is Susan’s best friend?

A．Ana.             B．Linda.            C．Fanny.            D．Daisuke.

2.Where is Ken from?

A．Australia.          B．Japan.            C．England.          D．The US

3.What is Linda like?

A．Honest and serious.                     B．Funny and smart.

C．Confident and kind                      D．Clever and interesting.

 

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When you are about to do something brave, a cheerful wish of “Good luck!” from a friend can be helpful. But if you think you need lots of luck, what else might you do?

In the UK and US there are some strange traditions for bringing yourself a little more good luck. Some are hundreds of years old and some are much newer.

Have you heard the saying “When you wish upon a star”? If you are looking up at the sky on a clear night and you see a sudden flash of light, it is probably a shooting star! Seeing one doesn’t happen very often. The saying goes that if you see one you have been very lucky, and so if you make a wish, it will come true.

Maybe you have heard of the lucky rabbit’s foot. Some people believe that rabbits are lucky animals, so they carry a part of the rabbit, its foot, for good luck. There are all kinds of strange, unclear rules about which of the rabbit’s feet is the luckiest. It is said that this good luck tradition is the oldest one of all. However, as the funny saying goes, “Depend on the rabbit’s foot if you will, but remember it didn’t work for the rabbit!”

People in Britain love trees. If it is autumn and leaves are falling from the trees, some people try to catch the leaves as they fall because they think each leaf they catch will bring them a lucky month in the following year—they will need to catch 12 falling leaves to have a whole of good luck!

1.______ is mentioned in the oldest good luck tradition.

A. A rabbit’s foot

B. A falling leaf

C. A cheerful wish from friends

D. A shooting star

2.From Paragraph 3, we know that ______.

A. shooting stars can often be seen

B. people can see a shooting star on a rainy night

C. your wish may come true if you see a shooting star

D. people believe that it’s unlucky to see a shooting star

3.British people try to catch 12 falling leaves because ______.

A. the leaves fall in autumn

B. there are so many leaves to catch

C. the leaves can bring them a lucky month

D. they want to have a whole year of good luck

4.In Paragraph 5, the underlined word “them” refers to（指）______.

A. trees            B. people               C. leaves               D. years

5.The passage is mainly about ______.

A. how to wish upon a star

B. things that bring good luck 

C. British people love leaves

D. which of the rabbit’s feet is the luckiest