Idioms and Sayings about Laughter - English Vocabulary

8,961 views ・ 2020-10-22

English with Jennifer


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Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English
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with Jennifer.
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They say that laughter is the best
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medicine.
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Do you agree? Well, you can't laugh at
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everything in this world,
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but I do think it's easier to get
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through life
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if you have a sense of humor. I also
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think that knowing some idioms about
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laughter
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will make communication easier for you,
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so that's what we're going to focus on
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in this
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lesson.
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[Laughter]
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Idioms are a colorful way of speaking.
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You can't take the words
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literally. For example, if someone laughs
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their head
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off, it doesn't mean that their head
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falls off.
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That would be like a scene from a horror
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movie. To laugh your head off
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simply means to laugh a lot, to laugh
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loudly,
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and laugh uncontrollably.
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Some comedies are so funny you spend the
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whole movie
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laughing your head off. Can you recommend
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any movies like that?
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Note there is a slightly vulgar version
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of this idiom:
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laugh your --- off, but you can't use that in
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polite company.
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Okay?
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Have you ever faced doubt from other
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people?
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If someone didn't believe in a plan you
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had
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and then you actually succeeded and even
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profited from
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it, then you might be laughing all the
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way to the bank.
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I read about a guy who invested money in
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lottery tickets.
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Many would say that's a waste of money . 48 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,200 But he used
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math to calculate lucky numbers, and he
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won millions of dollars!
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He was laughing all the way to the bank,
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and I bet all the skeptics
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wished they had him for a friend.
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Another way we can express that success
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came despite other people's doubts
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is by asking the question, "Who's laughing
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now?"
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Think of all the gamers and artists
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who've made a good living
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on YouTube or another social media
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platform.
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Others might have questioned or even
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laughed at their career choices,
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but who's laughing now? Some top creators
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make
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thousands of dollars a day.
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Sometimes we're the ones with the doubt.
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If you don't think that something is
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true or possible, you can say,
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"Don't make me laugh." This means you
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believe the idea is ridiculous.
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For example, someone suggests that your
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friend might end up
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marrying her older neighbor. You don't
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think this is true.
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Your response: "Don't make me laugh. First,
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of all, the guy is 20 years
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older than her. Second, she only talks
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about him to complain.
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She hates the guy."
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Okay. Wuick review before we go on. Number
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one.
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If you're able to laugh at all things,
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including yourself,
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you have a sense of
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humor. Wou can have a sense of humor.
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You can lose your sense of humor. You can
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develop a sense of humor.
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Two. Many believe that laughing is
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healthy.
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That's why they say that laughter is the
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best
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medicine.
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Three. If you find something hysterical
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and you laugh
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uncontrollably, you could laugh until you
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cry,
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which is what I sometimes do, or you
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might
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laugh...
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you might laugh your head off.
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Four. If you profit from an action or a
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plan that others had doubts about,
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you can say that you're laughing all the
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way to
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the bank. Of number five. You can ask the
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question,
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"Who's
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who's laughing now?"
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Six.If something sounds absurd, it's
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unlikely or completely ridiculous,
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you might comment, "Don't make...
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don't make me laugh."
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All right. As I mentioned, I can actually
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cry if I laugh too hard.
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Do you ever laugh until you cry? It's
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like
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laughing until it hurts.
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This happens when the situation is
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extremely funny
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and we laugh out of control.
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But there are situations when laughter
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is not appropriate.
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Sometimes our initial reaction to a
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situation
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is to laugh, but then someone explains
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why the situation
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is actually serious.
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At the office, Owen got stuck in the
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elevator with his ex-girlfriend.
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He didn't want to spend any time with
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her, so he tried to open the
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doors with his bare hands. It's no
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laughing matter.
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He ended up hurting his wrist and
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breaking a finger.
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The expression here is, "It's no laughing
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matter."
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In surprising situations, we may not know
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how to react.
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If the dog steals your phone and buries
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it somewhere in the front yard,
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you may not know whether to laugh or cry.
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Here's a true story. One time I showed up
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at the wrong dinner party.
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Really. Not only did I show up uninvited
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at the wrong restaurant, I was missing at
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the party where I was invited!
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Honestly, I didn't know whether to laugh
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or cry.
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Thankfully, no one at either party took
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offense.
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It's nice when things work out despite
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difficulties. Right?
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You already know the idiom "be laughing
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all the way to the bank."
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That's mainly for financial success. In
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general, if you achieve success
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despite other people's jokes and
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laughter, you can say that you had the
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last laugh.
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Did you know that the first movie with
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talking in it wasn't expected to be a
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success?
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But the movie studio had the last laugh
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because soon after
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all the movies had talking in it and
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audiences
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said goodbye to silent movies.
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Speaking of movies, did you know that
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Steven Spielberg
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applied to film school and got rejected
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twice? Well, he had the last laugh because
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he ended up becoming a famous
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director, producer, and screenwriter. And
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he's won countless awards.
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How about another quiz. Let's see how
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much you remember.
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Number one. Sometimes you laugh really
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hard.
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You can laugh until you
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cry or until it
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hurts.
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Two. If the situation is rather serious
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and there's no humor to be found,
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then we say, "It's no...
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it's no laughing matter."
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Three. If you're extremely surprised and
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you're feeling a range of emotions,
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you may not know whether to
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laugh or cry.
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Four. People initially laughed at the idea
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of a horseless carriage,
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but those who made the first automobiles
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had
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they had the last laugh because today
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everyone around the world drives around
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in cars.
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Few people ride around on horses.
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Let's end with some lines from a poem by
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Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
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She was an american poet, and the poem is
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called
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"Solitude." Listen. And if you wish, you can
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tell me what you think the poet meant
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in the comments. Laugh,
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and the world laughs with you; /Weep,
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and you weep alone;/ For the sad old earth
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must borrow its mirth,/ But has trouble
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enough of its own./
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Sing, and the hills will answer;/
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Sigh, it is lost on the air;/
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The echoes bound to a joyful sound,/
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But shrink from voicing care./
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That's all for now. Please like the video
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if you found it useful and
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interesting. As always, thanks for
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watching
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and happy studies!
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Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and
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Instagram. And try something new!
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Download the app Hallo and join me for a
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live stream.
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Students can hop on camera and get
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speaking practice in real time.
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