--- title: Pranks: harmless fun or real harm? — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Pranks: harmless fun or real harm?», a lesson of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: A good prank is one where everybody laughs afterwards, including the person pranked, and nobody is hurt, frightened for real, embarras --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/) / Pranks: harmless fun or real harm? # Pranks: harmless fun or real harm? Lesson 204 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 31 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/everyday/204-pranks/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/0/) — A good prank is one where everybody laughs afterwards, including the person pranked, and nobody is hurt, frightened for real, embarrassed in front of many people or left with a mess. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/1/) — A whoopee cushion usually passes this test. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/2/) — Before any prank, ask: Could anyone get hurt? - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/3/) — Is this person truly afraid of it? - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/4/) — Will something be damaged or wasted? - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/5/) — Will they be humiliated? - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/6/) — Would they agree to it? - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/7/) — If any answer worries you, do not do it. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/8/) — Some pranks are never okay: pulling a chair away as someone sits (they can hurt their back or head), tricking someone about food they are allergic to (allergies can kill), pranking animals, damaging property, prank phone calls, and ringing doorbells and running away. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/9/) — Teasing works the same way: the other person's feelings decide whether it is still fun. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/10/) — Look at their face and ask «Are you okay with this?» - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/11/) — Example: a girl in Auckland hides a rubber snake in her brother's drawer, and he screams and cries, because he is truly scared of snakes. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/12/) — She stops, says sorry and helps him calm down. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/13/) — A prank that hurts someone is no longer a joke. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/14/) — The other person's feelings decide whether teasing is still fun; look at their face and ask. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/15/) — Everyone can like what they like, and teasing about interests makes people hide what they enjoy. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/16/) — Never pull a chair away as someone sits; they can fall and badly hurt their back or head. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/17/) — A harmless prank is one where everyone laughs, including the person pranked, and nobody is harmed. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/18/) — A prank that spoils someone's food or day is not funny to them. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/19/) — A sudden fright can make people fall or feel unwell, so never scare people near stairs or roads, or people who are frail or have a heart condition. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/20/) — For someone with a real fear, like of spiders or snakes, a fake one can cause panic rather than fun. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/21/) — Prank calls can scare or annoy people, especially older people living alone. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/22/) — Being laughed at by many people online can be very humiliating, so do not film pranks without agreement. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/23/) — Damaging property in a prank means someone must clean or pay for it, and it can be a crime. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/24/) — Animals do not understand jokes; pranks frighten, stress or hurt them. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/25/) — When a prank goes wrong and someone is upset, stop, say sorry and help. - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/26/) — Never trick anyone about what is in their food, because food allergies can kill. - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/27/) — A boy in Florida pulled a chair away as his friend sat down; the friend hit his head on the floor, was knocked out for a moment and had to go to hospital. - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/28/) — Teenagers in Glasgow made a fake 999 call as a prank; an ambulance went to the address while a real patient across town had to wait longer for help. - [29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/29/) — Pulling chairs, tripping and pushing people into water are "pranks" that cause broken bones and head injuries. - [30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/204-pranks/30/) — Prank calls to 911, 999, 000 or 111 tie up help that someone in real danger needs, and they are against the law. - ← previous: [Jokes and teasing: when is it still funny?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/203-jokes-and-teasing/) - next →: [Pet care, food and responsibility](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/205-pet-care-food-and-responsibility/) - ↑ back to [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/)