🗓️ Idiom: Poke Fun at Someone (verb)
💬 Meaning
- To tease or make gentle jokes about someone.
- Often done in a friendly way, not to hurt feelings.
🧠 Example Sentences
- The team poked fun at Ben for wearing his slippers to the online meeting.
- She likes to poke fun at her boss when he forgets his coffee mug again.
- Don’t take it personally, they often poke fun at each other during breaks.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom dates back to the 1800s. The word “poke” means to prod or push, and “poke fun” came to mean teasing or joking with someone, like giving them a playful verbal “nudge.”
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
At lunch, everyone ________ the manager for his new hairstyle.
Answer
poked fun at
2. Choose the correct answer:
If you “poke fun at someone,” you:
a) Help them with their work
b) Make friendly jokes about them
c) Ignore them completely
Answer
b) Make friendly jokes about them
3. Change the sentence using “poke fun at someone”:
“They joked about her typing mistakes during the meeting.”
Answer
They poked fun at her typing mistakes during the meeting.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
📚 Learning Resources
👉 Idioms for Humour in the Workplace
👉 Business English Idioms List
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