Are you kidding?
Are you joking with me?
TRANSLATION
are you kidding? = willst Du mich veräppeln? Machst Du Witze? --- GOOGLE INDEX are you kidding?: approximately 66,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"ARE YOU KIDDING? Why don’t you go ask the 14 million Americans who are out of work whether they’re better off today than they were four years ago?"
- U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner in response to a statement by U. S. President Barack Obama: "I think that we are better off now than we would have been if I hadn't taken all the steps that we took."
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Housing Shortage - ARE YOU KIDDING?
(headline from an online real estate blog)
- U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner in response to a statement by U. S. President Barack Obama: "I think that we are better off now than we would have been if I hadn't taken all the steps that we took."
---
Housing Shortage - ARE YOU KIDDING?
(headline from an online real estate blog)
Did you
know?
are you kidding?
idiom
- an expression of mild surprise or disbelief
(McGraw Hill Dictionary)
---
The expression "are you kidding" is a rhetorical phrase that notes disbelief at something one has heard or read. It relies on the present participle form of the verb "kid," meaning to say something as a joke or making someone believe something that is not true. The origin of the noun "kid" is an Old Norse word for a young goat, a term that is still used today. In the 16th century it became slang for a young child. In the 19th century it was then used to describe young thieves and fighters. The current sense of "making a joke" derived from this usage.
While on the subject of kidding and jokes, this reminds us of the story about the butcher on an island inhabited by cannibals. A traveler wandered into the shop, which specialized in different types of human brains. The sign in the shop read:
Artists' Brains $9/lb
Philosophers' Brains $12/lb
Scientists' Brains $15/lb
Politicians' Brains $19/lb
Upon reading the sign, the traveler noted, "My, those politicians' brains must be popular!" The butcher replied, "Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how many politicians you have to kill to get a pound of brains?"
Internet usage note: the acronym AYKM stands for "are you kidding me?"
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SYNONYMS
are you joking? are you serious?
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"The printer is not working again? Are you kidding?"
idiom
- an expression of mild surprise or disbelief
(McGraw Hill Dictionary)
---
The expression "are you kidding" is a rhetorical phrase that notes disbelief at something one has heard or read. It relies on the present participle form of the verb "kid," meaning to say something as a joke or making someone believe something that is not true. The origin of the noun "kid" is an Old Norse word for a young goat, a term that is still used today. In the 16th century it became slang for a young child. In the 19th century it was then used to describe young thieves and fighters. The current sense of "making a joke" derived from this usage.
While on the subject of kidding and jokes, this reminds us of the story about the butcher on an island inhabited by cannibals. A traveler wandered into the shop, which specialized in different types of human brains. The sign in the shop read:
Artists' Brains $9/lb
Philosophers' Brains $12/lb
Scientists' Brains $15/lb
Politicians' Brains $19/lb
Upon reading the sign, the traveler noted, "My, those politicians' brains must be popular!" The butcher replied, "Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how many politicians you have to kill to get a pound of brains?"
Internet usage note: the acronym AYKM stands for "are you kidding me?"
---
SYNONYMS
are you joking? are you serious?
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"The printer is not working again? Are you kidding?"
