Neil: Hi there, Helen. Now, something really funny happened to me on my way here this morning.
Helen: Oh, really? Do tell me. I love a funny story!
Neil: Right. A man got on my bus wearing his shoes on the wrong feet.
Helen: OK. And what happened next?
Neil: Then he started speaking to me. He asked if I liked Shakespeare.
Helen: Oh, right.
Neil: And then he started reading one of Hamlet's famous speeches!
Helen: Yeah, Neil?
Neil: Yeah?
Helen: You told me it was a funny story. But I'm not laughing. It's not funny. It's a bit weird.
Neil: Yeah - I meant funny peculiar, not funny ha-ha.
Helen: Funny peculiar?
Neil: Yes, 'funny' is usually something you laugh about. But sometimes we use 'funny' to mean 'strange' or 'weird'. Because it has these two meanings - sometimes people want to make it clear which one they mean. 'Funny ha-ha' is for things which make you laugh, and 'funny peculiar' describes...
Helen: It describes things which are weird!
Neil: That's it. These are our phrases in today's The English We Speak. Let's hear some examples.
A: Martin was late every day last week. B: That's funny. A: You mean funny peculiar? B: Yeah, it's strange. He's always on time.
A: I went to a funeral last week. Everyone there was in a good mood. It was funny. Funny peculiar, I mean. B: Yeah that does sound a bit odd. But a funeral is a celebration of someone's life.
Helen: Anyway, Neil, thanks for your story about the guy on the bus. Do you know what happened on my way to work today?
Neil: No?
Helen: The bus driver was telling jokes.
Neil: That's funny, peculiar. It's odd for bus drivers to tell jokes. But was the joke funny ha-ha?