美国国家公共电台 NPR Opinion: Here's A Dad Joke! What Does The Buffalo Tell His Son In The Morning?

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Why don't you hear a pterodactyl go to the bathroom? The P is silent. I'm a father; I tell dad jokes. See that farmer? A man - outstanding in his field. Peter Sokolowski, editor at large of Merriam-Webster, defined dad jokes for us as, quote, an obvious or predictable pun or play on words and usually judged to be endearingly corny or unfunny. See that documentary about beavers¹? What a great dam show.

You may not believe this, but there was a time when I was known to make comic observations on social and political issues that some people found pointed², sharp and contemporary. Now I say, termite³ walks into a bar and asks, is the bar tender here? Did you get a haircut? No, I got them all cut. I think dad jokes begin to pop out of fathers when the most important audience in life becomes our children. You want to make them laugh by any means necessary - silly faces and comic belches⁴. When they gain the power of speech, you stoop to dad jokes.

That graveyard's so popular people are dying to get in. What does the buffalo⁵ tell his son in the morning? Bye, son. Our daughters are too sophisticated to traffic in such humor now but I still tell them dad jokes, the way I still speak to our family with some of the winsome⁶ little childhood phrases they used to use - ooh, that soup is picey (ph); well, I got to go worken (ph) - even as our daughters have grown far too refined and now enunciate⁷ like Dame⁸ Judi Dench.

Fathers, like mothers, see their children as all ages at once; it is the special vision of parents. We recognize that self-assured teen and poised⁹ adolescent in front of us, but we also see them through a smoke of memories and tears as the infants and toddlers we once held and held so close, as we tried to earn the happy bubbles of their giggles¹⁰. We will see our children that way, somewhere in our minds and hearts, even on the day they win the Nobel Prize.

I've come to regard dad jokes as a sign that even as our children outgrow¹¹ our low humor, fathers never outgrow our duty to make them feel encouraged, loved and cherished and to try to make our children laugh. You know, I was named after Shakespeare. I know my name is Scott, but I was named after Shakespeare. I ordered a chicken and egg from Amazon. Huh, wonder what will come first.

(SOUNDBITE OF HORACE SILVER'S "SONG FOR MY FATHER")

SIMON: Horace Silver's "Song For My Father."

1 beavers   

海狸( beaver的名词复数 )； 海狸皮毛； 棕灰色； 拼命工作的人

参考例句：

• In 1928 some porpoises were photographed working like beavers to push ashore a waterlogged mattress. 1928年有人把这些海豚象海狸那样把一床浸泡了水的褥垫推上岸时的情景拍摄了下来。
• Thus do the beavers, thus do the bees, thus do men. 海狸是这样做的，蜜蜂是这样做的，人也是这样做的。

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 termite   

n.白蚁

参考例句：

• The termite control was also probed into further in this text.本文还进一步探讨了白蚁的防治方法。
• Termite often destroys wood.白蚁经常破坏树木。

4 belches   

n.嗳气( belch的名词复数 )；喷吐；喷出物v.打嗝( belch的第三人称单数 )；喷出，吐出；打（嗝）；嗳（气）

参考例句：

• A volcano belches smoke and ashes. 火山喷出黑烟和灰土。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• A volcano belches forth smoke and ashes. 火山喷出烟和尘埃。 来自互联网

5 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

6 winsome   

n.迷人的，漂亮的

参考例句：

• She gave him her best winsome smile.她给了他一个最为迷人的微笑。
• She was a winsome creature.她十分可爱。

7 enunciate   

v.发音；（清楚地）表达

参考例句：

• Actors learn how to enunciate clearly in the theatrical college.演员在戏剧学院学习怎样清晰地发音。
• He is always willing to enunciate his opinions on the subject of politics.他总是愿意对政治问题发表意见。

8 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

9 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

10 giggles   

n.咯咯的笑( giggle的名词复数 )；傻笑；玩笑；the giggles 止不住的格格笑v.咯咯地笑( giggle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Her nervous giggles annoyed me. 她神经质的傻笑把我惹火了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I had to rush to the loo to avoid an attack of hysterical giggles. 我不得不冲向卫生间，以免遭到别人的疯狂嘲笑。 来自辞典例句

11 outgrow   

vt.长大得使…不再适用；成长得不再要

参考例句：

• The little girl will outgrow her fear of pet animals.小女孩慢慢长大后就不会在怕宠物了。
• Children who walk in their sleep usually outgrow the habit.梦游的孩子通常在长大后这个习惯自然消失。