It's a joke
Helen: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak from BBC Learning English, I'm Helen. With me today is quite a frustrated-looking Neil. Neil, what are you doing to that mobile phone?
大家好！欢迎收听BBC学习频道的地道英语节目。我是HELEN。 几天跟我在一起的是一脸沮丧的Neil。 NEIL,你把那部手机怎么了？
Neil: Argh, I can't get it to make a phone call. It does everything else: it takes photos, it connects to the internet, it even irons my shirts but it won't make a call!
哎，我没法用它打电话呢！ 其它所有功能都可以，照相啦，上网啦，甚至可以用来熨我的T恤，但是就是不能打电话。
Helen: Your mobile phone irons your shirts?
你的手机可以熨你的T恤？
Neil: No, not really, but honestly it does everything apart from the one thing I want it to do – make a phone call. It's a joke!
额，不是的。但是老实说，它除了我想要它打电话这件事情之外，它什么都能干。 简直是个笑话！
Helen: A joke? But you're not laughing. It can't be a very funny joke.
一个笑话？ 但是你没有笑啊？这个玩笑肯定不怎么好笑！
Neil: Well if you say something is a joke in English it can also mean that it's not very good or not worthy of respect.
额，在英语中如果说什么东西是一个joke的话，意思就可能是‘不怎么好’或者‘不值得尊重’。
Helen: Yes, ‘joke' has a second meaning.
是的，joke还有第二个意思。
Example:The investigation into police corruption was a complete joke. Everyone knows the officers were taking money but they were let off.
对警察腐败问题的调查简直是个笑话！ 大家都知道官员在收钱但是却被宽恕了。
The weather forecast was a total joke. It said it would be warm and sunny but it's freezing and raining.
天气预报简直就是个笑话！ 它说的是会是晴天并且暖和，但是却下了雨并且冷死人了。
Helen: As you heard there in the example, the person described an investigation into police corruption as a joke. This doesn't mean it was funny. It means it wasn't serious.
就像在例句中听到的那样，说话人把对警察腐败问题的调查描述成了一个‘joke’——玩笑。 这并不是说它好笑， 而是指这件事根本不是正儿八经的。
Also the weather forecast was so bad it was described as a joke.
还有就是，天气预报因为太水了而被认为是个玩笑。
Neil: Notice that you can add words before ‘joke' to make the meaning even stronger.
注意一下，大家可以在JOKE前面加上一些单词来加强语气。
It's a complete joke.
这简直就是个玩笑！
Helen: A complete joke. Neil: It's a total joke. Helen: A total joke.
A complete joke。 简直是个玩笑！ A total joke。
Neil: It's an absolute joke.
简直是个玩笑（简直是放屁）！
Helen: Anyway Neil, why don't you just read the instructions for your new mobile phone? Then you'll probably be able to work out how to make a call.
话说回来，NEIL，你怎么不读一下你的新手机的使用手册呢？ 读了之后也许就可以知道怎样打电话了。
Neil: I looked at the instructions but they're an absolute joke. Helen: Oh really?
我看了，但是里面写的简直是开玩笑！ 哦，是吗？
Neil: Well for a start they are in about 17 languages apart from English. Helen: What a joke!
额，第一，它是用17门语言写的，就是没有英语。 开玩笑吧！
Neil: Yeah I know.
是呀！
Helen: Well we've heard lots of jokes in today's programme but there hasn't been much laughing.
额，今天的节目中已经听到了好多玩笑，但是没有人笑呢。
Neil: Argh, what a useless piece of …
啊，简直是废物……
Helen: Let's hope Neil finally works out how to use his phone. Neil: Argh, this is beyond a joke, it really is…
希望NEIL最终可以弄清楚怎样用他的手机。 啊，这比玩笑要离谱多了，真的是……
Helen: Join us again for The English We Speak.
欢迎下次再收听地道英语。
Neil: Argh, mobiles…
啊——手机……