an old man fishing

Placez le pointeur de la souris sur les mots soulignés, sans cliquer

It was a long day at work, and George decided to leave his London office and walk to the pubINFORMAL WORD FOR A BAR OR TAVERN across the street to get a few drinks. The rain was pouringFALLING HEAVILY ↔ DES SEAUX as he stepped out, and there was a big puddleA SMALL BODY OF WATER ON THE GROUND in front of the pub.

As he crossed the street, he noticed a raggedWEARING OLD OR TORN CLOTHES ↔ LOOKING UNTIDY old man was standing there with a rodA THIN, STRAIGHT STICK, OFTEN USED FOR FISHING and hanging a string into the puddle. His curiosity piquedINCREASED ↔ BECAME MORE ↔ GOT AROUSED, he stopped next to the old man and asked what he was doing. “FishingTRYING TO CATCH FISH,” the old man said simply without looking at George. “Poor old foolA PITYING WAY TO CALL SOMEONE SILLY,” George thought, and he invited the ragged old man to a drink in the pub.

He felt he should start some conversation while they were sippingDRINKING SLOWLY IN SMALL AMOUNTS their whisky, so he thought he’d humourTO ENTERTAIN OR INDULGE SOMEONE, OFTEN TO BE KIND the old man and asked, “Well... how many have you caught?”

“You’re the ninthTHE NUMBER 9 IN ORDER ↔ MEANS 8 OTHERS BEFORE.”

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Let's look at these three: ragged, piqued, and humour. Ragged means wearing worn-out or torn clothes, looking untidy or poor. When your curiosity is piqued, it means something has made you interested or eager to know more. To humour someone means to go along with what they say or do, often to be polite or kind.

• The ragged traveller asked for directions at the station.
• His curiosity was piqued by the mysterious letter.
• She decided to humour her little brother and played his favourite game.

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This joke uses the past simple tense to tell a story that happened in the past, such as “George decided” and “he invited the old man.” The past simple is common in anecdotes and jokes for describing a sequence of events. The humour comes from misdirection and surprise: the old man is not really fishing for fish, but for people to buy him drinks!

• A woman went to the market and bought fresh fruit.
• He asked for help, but nobody answered.
• The children laughed when they heard the joke.

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© —This blog shares jokes passed along from person to person, over time. I claim ownership to none of them. Feel free to copy, share, or tell them at your wedding, your next dinner party, or braaivleis, or bar mitzvah. Drop your favourite clean joke in the comment section and we'll happily share it.