josh
josh — noun
1. a short playful remark or a small story that is meant to make people laugh, with
a short playful remark or a small story that is meant to make people laugh, without causing any hurt feelings.
Vikram's comment was just a harmless josh among friends, not a real complaint.
collocation: harmless josh / just a josh
What started as a light josh about her new hairstyle ended up hurting Lien's feelings.
collocation: light josh / josh about [topic]
The old friends exchanged joshes across the dinner table late into the night.
Tendai took the josh in good spirits and fired back with an even funnier one.
- insult
a remark meant to hurt, not amuse
文法句型
a + josh
josh about + noun phrase
用法筆記
Used almost exclusively in informal spoken American English. The plural form 'joshes' is very rare but attested. This noun is far less common than the verb sense.
常見錯誤
josh — verb
1. to talk to someone in a joking and light-hearted way, gently making fun of them
to talk to someone in a joking and light-hearted way, gently making fun of them or teasing them without meaning any harm.
Élise was only joshing her brother about his new glasses, but he pretended to be outraged.
transitive: josh + someone + about + something
The teammates spent the bus ride joshing with each other over the coach's new rules.
intransitive: josh with + each other over + something
At the family dinner, Uncle Eitan joshed the kids about their messy bedroom for a laugh.
Relax — I am just joshing you! Nobody actually deleted your file.
- praise
expressing approval instead of playful mockery
文法句型
josh + someone
josh + about + something
josh with + someone
be joshing
用法筆記
Almost always friendly in tone — 'joshing' someone implies a close or comfortable relationship. The present participle 'joshing' is more common than the base form. Frequently used in the phrase 'just joshing (you)' to clarify that a remark was not serious.