Are you joking? | WordReference Forums

Are you joking?

    • I would say "are you joking me" in colloquial speech, but I wouldn't call it correct, even for colloquial speech. It's one of those things where people get the two idioms mixed, I think. So don't be too caught off guard if you hear someone say "are you joking me?"
     
    If using the first one, I would simply say "Are you joking?" (wiithout the me, the me is implied)

    "Are you kidding me?" Sounds to me quite american, it's correct but I for one would never use this.

    :)
     
    ElRojito said:
    I would say "are you joking me" in colloquial speech, but I wouldn't call it correct, even for colloquial speech. It's one of those things where people get the two idioms mixed, I think. So don't be too caught off guard if you hear someone say "are you joking me?"
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    Just for the archive, neither verb is an idiom, and the reason the pronoun is used with one but not the other is simple. "To joke" is an intransitive verb, while "to kid" is a transitive verb and therefore takes an object. Another verb with a similar meaning that falls into the latter category is "to tease," as in "Are you teasing me?"
     
    gengo said:
    Just for the archive, neither verb is an idiom, and the reason the pronoun is used with one but not the other is simple. "To joke" is an intransitive verb, while "to kid" is a transitive verb and therefore takes an object. Another verb with a similar meaning that falls into the latter category is "to tease," as in "Are you teasing me?"
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    For me, "Are you joking?" and "Are you kidding?" are most often hypothetical, a reaction of disbelief.

    "Are you teasing me?" I've never heard used hypothetically in that sense, but maybe that's regional. "Are you joking me?" sounds incorrect, never heard it at all.
     
    Schmilsson said:
    For me, "Are you joking?" and "Are you kidding?" are most often hypothetical, a reaction of disbelief.

    "Are you teasing me?" I've never heard used hypothetically in that sense, but maybe that's regional.
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    I gave "Are you teasing me?" as another example of a transitive verb that takes an object particle, as does "to kid." I didn't say that it would be used in exactly the same way as the other two, although I can imagine scenarios in which all three could be used.
     
    Schmilsson said:
    For me, "Are you joking?" and "Are you kidding?" are most often hypothetical, a reaction of disbelief.

    "Are you teasing me?" I've never heard used hypothetically in that sense, but maybe that's regional. "Are you joking me?" sounds incorrect, never heard it at all.
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    IMO it depends on how it is said. If said with an expression of disbelief, it means "what you just said or asked sounds idiotic!" in which case it is offensively demeaning.
     
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