The joke is on you

Feifei Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I’m Feifei and joining me is Rob…

Rob
Hello! Hey, Feifei. Have you heard the news?

Feifei
Gossip, you mean.

Rob
No, no - it’s true! We’ve been given the day off! So, sorry, I’m not going to hang around - I’m off to the beach.

Feifei
Hold on! Who says?

Rob
Neil. He said the boss told him that we’ve all worked so hard we don’t have to work today!

Feifei Hmm. It sounds like a wind-up to me - a wind-up is another way of saying ‘a trick or joke’. I’m sure Neil was joking!

Rob
April Fool, Feifei! I was joking! I wanted to trick you - to see if you’d leave the office and… take the day off.

Feifei
Ha ha, very funny. Well, actually, I have got the day off today. So the joke is on you, and it starts now. Goodbye.

Rob
Feifei, where are you going? Come back and explain what ‘the joke is on you’ means … please!

Feifei
….OK, Rob! When ‘the joke is on someone’, it means the person who has tried to make you look silly has ended up looking silly themselves. The joke has backfired. And now you look silly, Rob.

Rob
Point made, Feifei. Here are some more examples of this phrase in action…

Examples
Daisy laughed at my ‘terrible’ dress sense, until she found out I was wearing a designer dress - I guess the joke’s on her now!

Ha, you thought I’d never beat your time for completing the marathon. But I have, so the joke’s on you!

I know you were trying to be funny by saying I’d never pass my exam. But now you’re the only one who hasn’t, so the joke’s on you, I’m afraid!

Feifei
This is The English We Speak from BBC Learning English and we’re looking at the phrase ‘the joke is on someone,’ which means someone has tried to make someone else look silly but ended up looking silly themselves! So this perfectly describes you, Rob - the joke about taking a day off is ‘on you’.

Rob
I was just having a laugh at April Fool’s Day. But, hold on. Where is everybody? The office is empty.

Feifei
Ha - not another one of your ‘jokes’?

Rob
No, seriously - look, there’s an email. It says ‘Due to a power failure the office is out of action. You can all take the day off.’ Ha, looks like we’ve all got a day off after all - the jokes on you, Feifei!

Feifei
Ah well, enjoy your free time.

Rob
Fancy going to the beach?

Feifei
No, thanks. Bye, Rob.

Rob I was joking. Bye.