Indirect Language
You meet your friend at the mall. You've been popping into some stores and as you walk past the food court your friend says, “Hey, did you bring your wallet?”
Your friend is hinting that they would like to borrow money from you to get some food
Mom says, “Hey Julia? Before you go hang out with your cousins, can you please come help me with the dishes?"
“Sure thing! I was hoping you'd ask!” Julia responds.
Julia is not happy about having to do the dishes
You're in line at Dunkin' Donuts with your grandma. Your grandma leans over to you and says, "I donut know what I’d do without you."
Donut sounds like "do not"
This is a pun: a joke showing there are words which sound alike but have different meanings.
I wanted to quit the soccer team after the first practice. My dad said, "I don't think you should throw in the towel yet" so I agreed to play for another month before making a decision.
To give up or quit something
Tricia’s younger cousin says, “Can I sit next to you?"
“Uh…I guess, that's fine…” Tricia says as she looks around for her older cousin.
Tricia is hinting that she wanted someone else (her older cousin) to sit next to her
On Sunday, the Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics 122-75. On Monday morning, Lindsay said to Peter, “Great basketball game last night, huh?”
It was a terrible game for the Celtics because they lost badly
You're at your friends house about to start a movie. Their dad shouts from the kitchen, "What do dogs do when they need a break while watching a movie?"
"They paws it," he laughed.
Pause and paws are homophones.
Pause means to temporarily stop then resume something.
I attempted to make my first apple pie but the entire crust burned. I have to go back to the drawing board and try again but this time I'm going to ask my mom exactly how long to bake it.
Start something all over again because it was not successful the first time
You are sitting on your bed watching loud videos on your phone. Your parent shouts from the other room, “I sure hope your room is in decent shape.”
Your parent wants you to get off your phone and clean your room
My mom came home from the store the day before Thanksgiving and said, “Great news! All of the stores were out of the three key ingredients I need for this recipe."
It's bad news!
Mom is frustrated she doesn't have all of the ingredients she needs
Teacher: "We only have a half day of school this morning..."
Students: "YAYYYYY!"
Teacher: "Then we will have the other half this afternoon."
It's a normal school day because a half + a half = a whole school day
My little brother was getting too old to suck on his pacifier. One day, my mom took the pacifiers away from him cold turkey. Surprisingly, he didn't complain and never sucked on another pacifier again.
To stop something completely and immediately
You are in the kitchen eating crunchy chips after school. Your sibling is in the next room doing homework and asks, “What are you eating in there?”
Your sibling is hinting that your chewing too loudly or making too much noise
They would like you to stop or move
Olivia walks into school on Friday morning and sees her friend Jake. Jake says, "Happy Friday! How's it going?"
Olivia replies, “Terrible, aren’t Fridays the worst?"
Olivia LOVES Fridays and is also happy it's almost the weekend
As you're walking over to the gym for PE, Peter asks: "Why did the turtle cross the road?”
"To get to the Shell Station," he laughed.
A "Shell Station” is a type of gas station - this is funny because it’s saying a "Shell gas station" would be useful to give a turtle fuel (who has a shell)
At school, Jane and Tim made tentative plans to hang out over Thanksgiving break. Tim said, “I have some family plans and a hockey tournament so let's play it by ear and decide what to do on Friday."
Don't plan in advance
Act according to the current situation
Rosie is at her aunt's house for Thanksgiving and it's time for dessert. Rosie looks at the spread of dessert laid out on the table and then looks at her cousin and asks, “Just curious...do you think these are all of the options?"
Rosie is hinting that she hopes there are more dessert options
Maybe there is nothing she likes on the table
At the lunch table, Nicole opens her lunch box and says, "A tuna sandwich, again? My mom is Mother of the Year!"
Nicole is annoyed her mom packed her tuna for lunch again
On Halloween, Jeff told the math class his favorite joke: "Why are skeletons so calm?"
"Because nothing gets under their skin!" he laughed.
The idiom "get under my skin" means to irritate or annoy someone.
Since skeletons don't have skin, they don't get annoyed.
At the Thanksgiving buffet, my older cousin said that I'd never be able to eat all of the food I put on my plate. She'll have to eat her words when she sees that I finished everything.
To admit that what she said was wrong