♪It’s a piece of cake! – そんなの楽勝！

Why did the students eat their homework?
Because the teacher said (that) it was a piece of cake.

いかがでしょう？笑えましたか？今日はジョークを利用して、楽しく英語の慣用表現を覚えましょう。

リスニングレッスン

トランスクリプト

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English.

Here’s a joke for you. Why did the students eat their homework? Because the teacher said (that) it was a piece of cake.

Did you get it? You can find an idiom in this joke. A piece of cake is something that is easy to achieve. If something is a piece of cake, it’s extremely easy to do. It’s a no-brainer. It’s a breeze.

You can use jokes to learn common sayings and idioms in English. Let me give you some examples. What happens when you throw your clock out the window? Time flies. Why are the baby strawberries crying? Because their parents are in a jam. A horse goes into a bar and the bartender says “Why the long face?” Time flies. Be in a jam. Long face. If you know what they mean, you can laugh.

Now, why don’t you try a quiz? I’ll read three sentences. Please listen carefully and choose the one that is TRUE. Ready?

If something is a piece of cake:

1. it’s challenging.
2. you need someone to help you do it.
3. you can achieve it easily.

答えはこちら3

日本語訳

こんにちは。毎度エイゴの時間をご愛顧いただきありがとうございます。

ジョークをひとつ。生徒たちが宿題を食べてしまいました。なぜでしょう？だって先生が「宿題はケーキだよ」って言ったんだもん！

オチの部分の英語は Because the teacher said that it was a piece of cake です。piece of cake は一切れのケーキですが、これは「容易にできること」を意味する慣用表現なのです。英語で piece of cake! と言えば、さしずめ、朝飯前！とか楽勝！といったところでしょうか。

ジョークを利用して楽しく英語の慣用表現を覚えることもできるでしょう。例えば。窓から時計を投げ捨てたら何が起きるでしょう？ Time flies. 赤ちゃんイチゴはなぜ泣いているのでしょう？ Because their parents are in a jam. 飲み屋に馬がやってきました。飲み屋の亭主は言いました。Why the long face? time flies、be in a jam、long face が分かる人、笑えるでしょう？