what does this sentence mean "it's a joke"
one day evening , i was out for a shopping .
one the street, i was a foreigner ,he wanted buy a caculator,but he couldn't understand what did the seller mean, so i translater for him.
about how much was the caculator,and told him the seller was sold expensive,and wanted help him took discount from the seller.
but he said to me " it's a joke"
i thought a long time what did this sentence,but i can't understand until today
can you help me ?
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Answers · 9
0
It means: this is totally unbelievable.
The custom of quoting high prices and bantering for discounts does not exist in large parts of Europe and North America. We sometimes negotiate for expensive things like computers or cars, but for small things like calculators, you simply pay the price on the price tag. Your friend couldn't believe what was going on in the shop.
0
IT depends on the situation.
"It's a joke" can mean something is very poor, in colloquial English.
"This calculator is so bad, it's a joke".
This would mean that the calculator is so inadequate, it must be part of a joke someone is playing on us. So he could have just been saying the quality of the calculator, or the cost of the calculator, was very bad.
But it depends on the context. I hope this helps
0
I think the 'foreigner' simply expressed disbelief.
the selling price of the calculator would not be reasonable enough. if I may interpret what the foreigner may possibly mean:
"what? X,XXX RMB for this basic calculator? you've gotta be kidding me (or, "it's a joke).
:)
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