1

Scenario 1)

Suppose someone is lying to you and you want to tell him / her sarcastically that his words sound too funny (because of the obvious lies he is making up);

Scenario 2)

Suppose someone is cracking very funny jokes for a long time and you've laughed your head off.

For me both of the following sentences make perfect sense and are usable in either former or latter scenarios.

1) Stop making me laugh so much.

2) Stop cracking me up so much.

What's your idea? What do you think of these sentences of mine? Would they sound idiomatic in both senses or they have some slight nuances?

Improve this question
1
  • 1
    In your first scenario, the meaning of the word funny is not the right one. In this context, it means "difficult to explain or understand; strange or curious", rather than "causing laughter". So in your first sentence, you cannot use "making me laugh". Unless the lying itself makes you laugh, because it would be funny (weird) and funny (hilarious). In that case, you could just say "You're hilarious!" for both cases, one would be sarcastic, one would not. It would probably depend on how you pronounce it.
    – MorganFR
    Commented Aug 3, 2016 at 11:51

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

In scenario 1, if you are actually tempted to laugh or have laughed because of the lies, you could say, "Stop making me laugh so much." However, if you actually don't feel like laughing, then it does not make sense. In this case, it would be better to say sarcastically, "You're too funny."

In scenario 2, you are actually laughing at something that is funny because it is meant to be. Therefore, it would be natural to just say, "Stop making me laugh so much."

Your second sentence, "Stop cracking me up so much," would work in the second scenario, but would not quite work in the first if you are not in fact laughing. However, the second sentence sounds less natural in the region that I am from, as one would normally say that they are "cracking up," but not usually say that someone is "cracking me up." That has only been my experience in my region (Southeastern United States), though, and may sound more natural in other regions, as it is more of a non-literal expression that is interpreted based more on regional culture.

Improve this answer
1
  • Yes; you're completely right. I have a south American friend who always uses this term. Thank you very much for being of help.
    – A-friend
    Commented Aug 27, 2016 at 5:35

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .