But we have to be careful; not everyone laughs at the same things. While some of us may admire a work colleague or fellow student for their clever and well-told joke, others may consider them sarcastic, offensive or just an idiot! According to Professor Schweitzer, from the University of Philadelphia's Wharton School, a worker or boss who successfully uses humour is seen as both confident and competent, which in turn increases his or her status. He says "Being funny is taking a risk, and being risky shows confidence." His study 'Risky Business: When Humour Increases and Decreases Status' also found that someone who tells inappropriate jokes is also seen as confident but they're also regarded as incompetent.

So telling the right jokes in the office or classroom can spread some happiness but if you still think working and studying is no laughing matter, take note of a study published in The Journal of Behavioural and Applied Management in 2006, that found for healthcare workers, emotional exhaustion was significantly lower among those who experienced greater levels of fun at work. And other research has discovered that teams who share more jokes gave more supportive and constructive statements to each other – and that's no joke!

词汇表 amusing 引人发笑的，好笑的

hilarious 非常滑稽的

parody 滑稽地模仿

tickle someone’s funny bone 令某人发笑

humourless 缺乏幽默感的

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