joke kill
Here are two conversations from Friends both involving "that joke would've killed."

1.【Ross: No, I’m getting back down ‘cause she lives in Poughkeepsie. She seems really great, but she’s like totally great, but she lives two and a half hours away.

Chandler: How can she be great if she’s from Poughkeepsie? (laughs, at they all look at him) That joke would’ve killed in Albany.】

2.【Ross: I have this date tomorrow night and I have to look cool. Her name's Joan. She's in fashion. She works for Hugo Boss.

Rachel: Hugo Boss? I thought you said she was in fashion. At the Ralph Lauren offices, that would've killed.】

My questions are:
1. "kill" in both sentence means that "the joke is so funny that it's gonna make you laugh", right? some other people say that it means “if you tell this joke, you would be killed”...

2. if "kill" really means "the joke is so funny", can you tell me why? i read the contexts above for so many times, still i don't get it.
thanks:)

Question

joke kill
Here are two conversations from Friends both involving "that joke would've killed."

1.【Ross: No, I’m getting back down ‘cause she lives in Poughkeepsie. She seems really great, but she’s like totally great, but she lives two and a half hours away.

Chandler: How can she be great if she’s from Poughkeepsie? (laughs, at they all look at him) That joke would’ve killed in Albany.】

2.【Ross:  I have this date tomorrow night and I have to look cool. Her name's Joan. She's in fashion. She works for Hugo Boss.

Rachel: Hugo Boss? I thought you said she was in fashion. At the Ralph Lauren offices, that would've killed.】

My questions are:
1. "kill" in both sentence means that "the joke is so funny that it's gonna make you laugh", right? some other people say that it means “if you tell this joke, you would be killed”...

2. if "kill" really means "the joke is so funny", can you tell me why? i read the contexts above for so many times, still i don't get it.
thanks:)

Answer

'The joke would kill' means 'The joke is so funny that you would die laughing'.

Answer

In the context, "that joke would've killed in Albany" means "that joke would've been really funny if told in Albany."

Same thing with the other example: The people at Ralph Lauren would've thought that joke was really funny, even if Ross didn't think it was funny.

Answer

In informal usage, 'kill' or 'killer' can often be used in the sense of being successful, or making a very effect impact.

eg She was dressed to kill.

This means that her outfit made a real impact. It impressed people, and the woman got what she wanted. A new man? A business deal?

They really made a killing with that new product line.

This means the public loved the product. It was a commercial success, and the company made a lot of money.

So, in a way, the joke context is the same idea. Somebody told a joke. It went down really well. Everyone laughed =  success.

Answer

OK I am not American so I don't get the first joke totally myself either.  However, it basically means that people in Albany don't think people from Poughkeepsie are great for some reason that is not shared or agreed by the others.  For example, it is not uncommon in England for people to joke that the Irish are stupid.  A joke relying on this might make English people laugh but probably not Irish people.

The second joke relies on the fact that whereas the general population (and Ross) consider Hugo Boss to be a fashion label people at Ralph Lauren believe it to be so far inferior to their label that it can't even be called fashion.  Basically if you can think of a label in China which makes high end bespoke clothes and one off-the-peg, then if you are a snob you might see the first as fashion and the second as imitating fashion.

Answers · 6

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