|
Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums "The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
|
View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
Yoshiyuki
Joined: 13 Nov 2003 Posts: 61
|
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 12:12 am Post subject: What's funny about this story? |
|
|
Could anyone kindly help me with this story? I wonder if the Sister just gave her money to a man who had lost his money and looked depressed and that he showed up again in front of her with the money he had won in a gamble by using her money.
Quote: |
Sitting by the window in her convent, Sister Margaret opened a letter from home and found a $10 bill inside. After she read the letter she caught sight of a shabbily dressed stranger leaning against a lamppost below. She quickly wrote, “Don't despair, Sister Margaret” on a piece of paper, put the $10 and the paper in an envelope, and dropped it out the window. The stranger picked it up and, with a puzzled expression and a tip of the hat, went off down the street.
The next day Sister Margaret was told a man was at the door for her. She went down and found the stranger waiting. Without a word, he handed her a roll of bills. “What's this?” she asked.
“That's the sixty bucks you're owed. Don't Despair paid five to one.” |
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
Lorikeet
Joined: 08 Oct 2005 Posts: 1877 Location: San Francisco
|
Posted: Sat May 21, 2016 10:03 pm Post subject: Re: What's funny about this story? |
|
|
Yoshiyuki wrote: |
Could anyone kindly help me with this story? I wonder if the Sister just gave her money to a man who had lost his money and looked depressed and that he showed up again in front of her with the money he had won in a gamble by using her money.
Quote: |
Sitting by the window in her convent, Sister Margaret opened a letter from home and found a $10 bill inside. After she read the letter she caught sight of a shabbily dressed stranger leaning against a lamppost below. She quickly wrote, “Don't despair, Sister Margaret” on a piece of paper, put the $10 and the paper in an envelope, and dropped it out the window. The stranger picked it up and, with a puzzled expression and a tip of the hat, went off down the street.
The next day Sister Margaret was told a man was at the door for her. She went down and found the stranger waiting. Without a word, he handed her a roll of bills. “What's this?” she asked.
“That's the sixty bucks you're owed. Don't Despair paid five to one.” |
|
Yes, but the joke part is that there was a horse named "Don't Despair" running in a race. The man was probably a bookie (person who collects money to place bets on horses--it's illegal) He thought she was making a bet on that horse, but she was really just trying to be kind. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Yoshiyuki
Joined: 13 Nov 2003 Posts: 61
|
Posted: Sun May 22, 2016 3:45 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Thank you so much, Lorikeet, as usual. Your explanation really helped me fully understand the story, which I could never have managed to guess would be a joke. Now I think I can make a complacent smile at it. Thank you again.
Yoshiyuki. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|