[dania]

My first instinct is to say make a joke, but sometimes we say do a joke. I even pulled up an internet news article about Jerry Seinfeld which states that Seinfeld made a joke about bee colonies, then within the comments about the article someone wrote: "He did this joke last time he was on Conan". Well here we see that we can somehow interchange the two. However I wouldn't instinctively say 'he made that joke last time he was on Conan'. Can anyone help me explain to my students when we can or should use make a joke as opposed to do or did a joke? I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. Thanks, Dania

[emile]

Good point. It shows how tricky language can be.

Generally, 'make a joke' is correct.

From what I can tell, 'did a joke' means 'performed a joke' (Seinfeld is a stand-up comedian.)

A normal guy wouldn't 'do a joke', but a comedian or Radio DJ would.

[DaveESL]

Great explanation! As I read Dania's initial post, I agreed with the instincts but I couldn't come up with a rule.

Not to muddy the water, but does this mean that "told" would be more like "made"?