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{{short description|Words which have been described as inherently funny}}
'''''POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!'''''
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025|cs1-dates=D mm yy}}
An '''inherently funny word''' such as the one above (from an anonymous prankster, who, as you'll notice, also took our '''Sources''' page) is a word which native speakers often find to be ], for reasons ranging from ] to ] innuendo.
An '''inherently funny word''' is a word that is humorous without context, often more for its ] structure than for its meaning.


] tradition holds that words with the {{IPAslink|k}} sound are funny. A 2015 study at the ] suggested that the humor of certain ]s can be explained by whether they seem rude, and by the property of ]: the improbability of certain letters being used together in a word. The philosopher ] posited that humor is a product of one's expectations being violated.
Some words, such as '']'', '']'', '']'', and '']'' refer to unusual items for some people, which adds to their surprise or humor potential. Conversely, other words gain humor by being completely ordinary, such as '']'', '']'', or '']''.
Others acquire "naughty" humor by being similar to sexual terms or terms which refer to bodily functions, especially excretion, such as '']'', '']'', '']'', ], '']'', et cetera.


==Funny words in English==
As a generalization, words deemed "inherently funny" for their sound (rather than meaning or potential misinterpretation) may often resemble baby's ] or otherwise may have very strongly-defined syllables.


] words can be found in ]'s 1972 play '']'', in which an aging comedian gives a lesson to his nephew on comedy, saying that words with ] are funny:{{refn|name=Chaffee}}
] and ] words often seem funny to ] speakers, in particular those that begin with the {{IPA|/ʃ/}} ("sh") sound, spelled ''sch-'' (or sometimes ''sh-'' in Yiddish), as in the derisive prefix ''shm-''/''schm-'': "] schmoedipus!". Texts in ] often seem comical to English-speaking readers, in part because much written Dutch is partially intelligible, but curiously spelled from an English-language ].


{{blockquote|Fifty-seven years in this business, you learn a few things. You know what words are funny and which words are not funny. Alka Seltzer is funny. You say 'Alka Seltzer' you get a laugh ... Words with 'k' in them are funny. Casey Stengel, that's a funny name. Robert Taylor is not funny. Cupcake is funny. Tomato is not funny. Cookie is funny. Cucumber is funny. Car keys. Cleveland ... Cleveland is funny. Maryland is not funny. Then, there's chicken. Chicken is funny. Pickle is funny. Cab is funny. Cockroach is funny – not if you get 'em, only if you say 'em.{{refn|name=Helitzer}}{{refn|name=Franzini}}}}
==Comedy==
Some influential ]s have long regarded certain ]s in the ] as being "inherently funny" and have used these to enhance the ] of their comic routines.
By propagating the ] that the words used are funny, comedy routines may increase the comedy potential of the words by adding another level of comic association.


], a professor of the public understanding of ] at the ], conducted a small experiment to determine whether words with a ''k'' sound were actually considered funnier than others for English speakers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newscientist.com/letter/mg19426070-700-quacked-humour/ |first=Ivan |last=Berger |title=Quacked humour |work=] |date=6 June 2007 |access-date=20 June 2017}}</ref> His ] tested the degree of funniness among a family of jokes based on animal sounds; the joke rated the funniest was also the one with the most ''k'' sounds:
The radio panel game '']'' includes an occasional round called "]", in which the panelists take turns to say a single word each. A player is eliminated from the game if anyone in the audience ] at their word ("even the merest titter"). The winner is the last player standing. The fact that this game works, and that it is possible to predict more or less accurately which words are safe to use and which are unsafe, can be construed as evidence that the phenomenon is real. (The word ''titter'' in the instructions for the game achieves a comic effect: it may have a claim to be itself an inherently funny word.)


{{blockquote|Two ducks were sitting in a pond. One of the ducks said: "Quack". The other duck said: "I was going to say that!"<ref name=Wiseman>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2007/apr/21/weekendmagazine |title=The truth about lying and laughing |first=Richard |last=Wiseman |author-link=Richard Wiseman |work=] |date=20 April 2007 |access-date=20 June 2017}}</ref>}}
==Examples of references to the concept==
]," or "]."]]
* ] ] considers ] to be an inherently funny word.
* In ]'s play '']'', a ] says: "Words with a '']'' in it are funny. '']'' is funny. '']'' is funny. '']'' is funny. All with a ''k''. '']''s are not funny. '']''s are not funny."
* An episode of '']'' has Bobby tell the above quote to his father, Hank.
* ] paralyzes his vocal cords when he tries to cram in too many "Comedy K's" on "]."
* The '']'' episode "]" features ] as a ] who, in attempting to teach the android ] the concept of humor, refers to words ending in a ''k'' as funny.
* In ] sketches:
** Monty Python's "]" sketch finds humor in the pure sounds of English words and their inherent "woodiness" (good) or "tinniness" (bad).
** Another Monty Python sketch, "]", includes a humorous list of words: '']'', '']'', '']ies'', '']''.
** A third Monty Python sketch details "]", including "B*M", "B*TTY", "P*X", "KN*CKERS", "KN*CKERS", "W**-W**" and the word "SEMPRINI" (actually the surname of a contemporary ] ], ], who was famous for constantly being on the radio).
** The imaginary exclamations ''Ni!'' and ''Ecky-ecky-ecky-ecky f'tang-zoop-boing! Goodem-zoo-owli-zhiv!'' are used by ] in '']''. These became instantly popular and are considered inherently funny, when pronounced in the manner the Knights do.
* ]'s 1991 book ''Dave Barry Talks Back'' reprints a column on linguistic humor. He contrasts the phrases "] wearing a ]" with "Richard Nixon wearing a neck ]", and "Scientists have discovered a 23rd moon orbiting ]" with "Scientists have discovered a giant weasel orbiting Jupiter." He concludes that ''weasel'' is a very funny word - "You can improve the humor value of almost any situation by injecting a weasel into it."
* In the '']'' episode "]", ] tells ] during a lesson at his clown college: "Memorize these funny place names: ], ], ], ]." Homer finds the last example hysterical.
* Comedian ] talks about '']s'', '']'' and '']'' in his older routines.
* In the ], ] '']'' comic strip, Dilbert uses his computer to determine the funniest words in the world, coming up with '']'', ''weasel'', '']'', and any reference to '']''.
* The word '']'' is sometimes called the funniest word in the English language. This was popularized by the ] comedies '']'' (featuring their "]" routine) and '']''. This effect might have more to do with the actual animal than the English word for it, as in ], after conducting a scientific cross-cultural joke experiment known as ], psychologist ] concluded that ducks are funny in all the studied countries: "If you're going to tell a joke involving an animal, make it a duck."
* "'']'', by the way, is a very funny word." &mdash;], review of '']''.
*The radio comedy '']'' came up with the inherently funny word '']''.
*Comedian ], in routines such as "]", emphasizes the '']'' in '']'' to draw laughter from the audience, in addition to the use of the word '']''.
*]'s '']'' scripts often include funny nonsense words, such as ''spon'', ''ploogie'', ''plinge'', '']'' and ''needle nardle noo''.
*On ''],'' Lorelai Gilmore posits that "]" is the funniest word ever and '']'' is also very funny, and creates what she considers a wonderful catchphrase, "Oy with the poodles already."
*There is a ] ] called ], which has its own , since "]" is often thought of as an inherently funny word; The Spleen is also the name of one of the comic ]es in the film '']''.
*In the ] '']'' by ], the word ] was presented as an inherently funny word.
*In his DVD commentaries, ''Simpsons'' creator ] has proclaimed the word '']'' to be at least 15% funnier than the word '']''. This idea is based on a theory by '']'' writer ]. In the show ''Futurama'', "underpants" is almost always used in lieu of "underwear."
*The '']'' game produced by ] simulates the "psychic combat" of the '']'' novels by having the players choose a word or phrase and then repeat it over and over; the first player to laugh loses the psychic combat.
*'']'' writer ] has avowed that "']' is always go-to" (always elicits a laugh).
*], ], and ] ] ] ], when required to choose a ], chooses "Spoon!"
*In an episode of the ] '']'' entitled "Eric's Stash", the character ], during a round of pot-smoking, repeatedly says, "You know what’s a funny word? Pickleweasel!"
*The skit/song 'Bulbous Bouffant,' performed by ] and picked up by ], is a routine based entirely off of inherently funny words like ], ], and ].
<!--In the interest of keeping this list short and manageable, please try to limit additional contributions to those given by notable figures. Consider whether the addition adds value to the article as a whole. And remember to cite your sources. Please keep this disclaimer at the bottom of the list. -->


A 2019 study presented at the ] showed ] (AI) could predict human ratings of humorous words. After collecting humor ratings from multiple people on 120,000 individual words, they were able to analyze the data using AI algorithms to identify clusters of people with similar tastes in humor. The words with the highest mean humor ratings were identified as "asshattery", "clusterfuck", "douchebaggery", "poppycock", "craptacular", "cockamamie", "gobbledegook", "gabagool", "nincompoops", "wanker", and "kerfuffle".<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gultchin|first1=Limor|last2=Patterson|first2=Genevieve|last3=Baym|first3=Nancy|last4=Swinger|first4=Nathaniel|last5=Kalai|first5=Adam|title=Humor in Word Embeddings: Cockamamie Gobbledegook for Nincompoops|url=https://proceedings.mlr.press/v97/gultchin19a.html|website=Proceedings of the 36th International Conference on Machine Learning|date=24 May 2019 |pages=2474–2483 |arxiv=1902.02783 |access-date=14 July 2023}}</ref> This study not only found that AI could predict average humor ratings of individual words (and differences in mean ratings between women and men), but it could also predict differences in individual senses of humor.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hutson|first=Matthew|date=17 June 2019|title=Bejesus! A cockamamie AI can predict which craptacular words you'll find funny|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/bejesus-cockamamie-ai-can-predict-which-craptacular-words-you-ll-find-funny|website=Science|access-date=14 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Fadelli|first=Ingrid|date=26 February 2019|title=A new study explores humor in word embeddings|url=https://techxplore.com/news/2019-02-explores-humor-word-embeddings.html|website=TechXplore|access-date=14 July 2023}}</ref>
== Answering the question "What is funny?" ==


Robert Beard, a ] of ] at ], told an interviewer that "The first thing people always write in about is funny words".{{refn|name=Ask the Experts}} Beard's first book was ''The 100 Funniest Words in English'',{{refn|name=Ask the Experts}} and among his own selected words are "absquatulate", "bowyangs", "collywobbles", "fartlek", "filibuster", "gongoozle", "]", and "]".{{refn|name=Beard}}
Determining whether a word is inherently funny, some say, is subjective and based on context. Therefore, there can never be a consensus on the answer of "What is funny?", or many other questions explaining the nature of such an abstract concept.


The evidence above suggests that factors neurologically akin to ] and the ] (i.e., sounds having inherent associations with semantics) contribute to inherent funniness of words. Clearly, though, ] layers coexist with it in the underlying mechanisms.<!--]--> Some words are humorous not necessarily because of their pronunciation, but because of (1) the absurdity of their own meanings (for example, ''centicameral'', which would refer to a legislature composed of 100 chambers or houses, but its humor derives from the conceptual ridiculousness of such a governmental institution<!--]-->) or (2) the absurdity of the ] contrast of their meaning with their form (for example, as with '']'' and '']'').
It is part of the mythology of actors and writers that the consonant ]s (so called because they start suddenly or "explosively"); that is: p, b, t, d, k, and g are the funniest sounds in the English language - particularly when found in short words since these "create the greatest tension" (tension being a key to comedy). Example: ''Underpants'' is funny, ''underwear'' is not. Shorter words are held to "create tension" because separating words from the normal flow of speech is very difficult cognitively, and it's more difficult to discern whether a short word has ended or not. Now look again at that list of funniest words. Duck is not only admirably short but both starts and ends in a plosive, and the other plosives are legion.


==Rudeness and entropy==
Additionally, the meaning of the word certainly plays a factor. "Duck" is funny in nearly every language, presumably because ducks are seen as a silly animal. Additionally, when taboos are associated with certain words, that can make a word humorous. The ideal funny word, then, would have the proper linguistic characteristics, a humorous meaning, and be well fitting the context of the situation and the character of the speaker.


A 2015 study published in the ''Journal of Memory and Language'' examined the humor of ]s.{{refn|name=Alberta}}{{refn|name=Lewis}} The study used a computer program to generate pronounceable nonsense words that followed typical English spelling conventions and tested them for their perceived comedic value to ]s.<ref name=SoundFunny/>
Unresolved questions about inherently funny words include:

* Are there any known ] or ] reasons for why these words are funny?
The funniest nonsense words tended to be those that reminded people of real words that are considered rude or offensive.<ref name=SoundFunny/>{{refn|name=Shariatmadari}} This category included four of the top-six nonsense words that were rated the funniest in the experiment: "whong", "dongl", "shart" (now slang, not a nonsense word<ref>{{cite web |title=shart |url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/shart/ |website=Dictionary.com |access-date=16 January 2021}}</ref>), and "focky".<ref name=SoundFunny>{{cite web |url=http://www.rd.com/magazine/funny-words/ |title=This is why some words just sound funny – and others don't |work=] |date=13 February 2017 |access-date=20 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004161757/https://www.rd.com/article/funny-words/|archive-date=4 October 2022}}</ref> To explain why these words seemed funny, the study's author said "The expectation that you've read or uttered a rude word is raised{{Snd}}and then violated, because in fact it's harmless nonsense. There's a sense of relief{{Snd}}of getting away with it."{{refn|name=Shariatmadari}}
* Are the funny sounds the same in other languages?

After removing from consideration the words that seemed rude, another factor was suggested to also be significant. The study's lead author, Chris Westbury from the ], suggests that the humor of certain invented words can be explained by the property of ].{{refn|name=Alberta}} Entropy (specifically ]) here expresses how unlikely the letter combinations in certain nonsense words are: the more unlikely the letters are to be used together in English, the more funny the combination is likely to be found. Nonsense words such as "rumbus", "skritz", and "yuzz-a-ma-tuzz", which were created by children's book author and illustrator ], were found to have less probable letter combinations and to seem funnier than most ordinary English words.{{refn|name=Kaplan}}{{refn|name=Shariatmadari}} According to Westbury, "there's actually a consistent relationship between how funny are and how weird they are".{{refn|name=Lewis}}

The entropy explanation also supports the notion that words with a 'k' in them tend to be more funny, as the letter 'k' is one of the least ] in the English language.<ref name=SoundFunny/>

The idea that humor can be predicted by a word's entropy corresponds to the work of 19th-century German philosopher ], who posited that humor is a product of one's expectations being violated.{{refn|name=Lewis}}{{refn|name=Shariatmadari}} According to Westbury, "One reason puns are funny is that they violate our expectation that a word has one meaning".{{refn|name=Alberta}} Violating expectations corresponds mathematically to having a low probability combination of letters, which also makes the word seem particularly funny, according to Westbury.{{refn|name=Shariatmadari}}

To provide a possible evolutionary explanation of these phenomena, the authors of the study said that unusual occurrences may be experienced as indicating the presence of potential threats, and that humor may be a way of signalling to others that one has realized that a perceived threat is actually harmless. Westbury said "Strange as it may seem, that same mechanism may be activated when you see an unlikely looking word or a highly taboo one{{Snd}}you experience relief as you recognize that it's completely harmless{{Snd}}just a joke."{{refn|name=Shariatmadari}}

==See also==

*]{{Snd}}a form of ] humor involving saying something that is meaningless or not funny when the audience expects it to be funny.
*]{{Snd}}a phrase mentioned as an example of a word or phrase that is beautiful purely in terms of its sound without regard for its semantics
*]{{Snd}}words that evoke an idea in sound
*], and the theme that ]{{Snd}}explorations of how a phenomenon such as inherent funniness of words is an ]
*]{{Snd}}the use of an incorrect word in place of a word that sounds similar
*]{{Snd}}mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near-homophony
*]{{Snd}}the poetic use of nonsensical words or phrases
*]<nowiki/>a word that suggests a sound that it describes
*]{{Snd}}includes names which seem offensive, inadvertently humorous, or highly charged
*]{{Snd}}the idea that vocal sounds or phonemes carry meaning by themselves

==References==
{{reflist|refs=

<ref name="Alberta">{{cite press release |website=ScienceDaily |publisher=University of Alberta |title=How funny is this word? The 'snunkoople' effect |date=30 November 2015 |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151130131847.htm}}</ref>

<ref name="Ask the Experts">{{cite web |url=http://www.bucknell.edu/x61914.xml |title=Ask the Experts: Robert Beard on language |publisher=Bucknell University |date=6 May 2010 |access-date=20 June 2017}}</ref>

<ref name="Beard">{{cite book |first=Robert |last=Beard |title=The 100 Funniest Words in English |date=2009 |publisher=Lexiteria |location=Lewisburg, PA |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hItWPgAACAAJ |isbn=978-0-61-526704-3}}</ref>

<ref name="Chaffee">{{cite book|editor1=Chaffee, Judith|editor2=Crick, Oliver|title=The Routledge Companion to Commedia Dell'Arte|date=2015|publisher=Routledge|location=London, UK; New York, N.Y.|isbn=978-0-415-74506-2|page=181|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BUGLBQAAQBAJ&q=Neil+Simon+Sunshine+Boys&pg=PA181|language=en}}</ref>

<ref name="Franzini">{{cite book|last1=Franzini|first1=Louis R.|title=Just Kidding: Using Humor Effectively|date=2012|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-144221-336-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pBe5K2Mh0o0C&pg=PA138|language=en|page=138}}</ref>

<ref name="Helitzer">{{cite book|author1=Helitzer, Melvin|title=Comedy techniques for writers and performers : the hearts theory of humor writing|date=1984|publisher=Lawhead Press|location=Athens, OH|isbn=978-0-91619-900-5|page=118}}</ref>

<ref name="Kaplan">{{cite news|last1=Kaplan|first1=Sarah|title=Scientists have figured out what makes Dr. Seuss so silly|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/12/02/scientists-have-figured-out-what-makes-dr-seuss-so-silly/|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=2 December 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Lewis">{{cite web |author=Lewis, Danny |date= 7 December 2015 |title=Finally There's a Scientific Theory for Why Some Words are Funny |work=Smithsonian |location=Washington, D.C. |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/finally-theres-scientific-theory-why-some-words-are-funny-180957462/}}</ref>

<ref name="Shariatmadari">{{cite news |author=Shariatmadari, David |date=26 November 2015 |title=From whong to quingel: the science of funny words |work=The Guardian |location=London, UK |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/26/from-whong-to-quingel-what-makes-a-word-funny}}</ref>

}}

==Further reading==
*] (1991), ''Dave Barry Talks Back'', 1st edn., New York: Crown. {{ISBN|0-517-58546-4}}.
*], ''Humor Reference Guide: A Comprehensive Classification and Analysis'' (Hardcover) 1998 {{ISBN|0-8093-2097-5}}
*{{cite journal |author1=Westbury, C. |author2=Shaoul, C. |author3=Moroschan, G. |author4=Ramscar, M. |date=January 2016 |title=Telling the world's least funny jokes: On the quantification of humor as entropy |journal=Journal of Memory and Language |volume=86 |pages=141–156 |doi=10.1016/j.jml.2015.09.001 }}

==External links==
{{spoken Misplaced Pages|inherently funny word.opus|date= 5 June 2020}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/words-that-sound-funny |title=Grammar Girl: Words that sound funny |first2=Mignon |last2=Fogarty |author-link2=Mignon Fogarty |first1=Kevin |last1=Cummings |work=Quick and Dirty Tips |access-date=20 June 2017}} <!--This web page cites the Misplaced Pages article "Inherently funny word", making it questionable as a source. See WP:CIRCULAR-->
*{{cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/top-10-funny-sounding-and-interesting-words |title=Bumfuzzle, Cattywampus, Gardyloo & More: Top 10 Funny-Sounding & Interesting Words |website=]|access-date=20 June 2017}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inherently Funny Word}}
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]
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Latest revision as of 00:14, 13 January 2025

Words which have been described as inherently funny

An inherently funny word is a word that is humorous without context, often more for its phonetic structure than for its meaning.

Vaudeville tradition holds that words with the /k/ sound are funny. A 2015 study at the University of Alberta suggested that the humor of certain nonsense words can be explained by whether they seem rude, and by the property of entropy: the improbability of certain letters being used together in a word. The philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer posited that humor is a product of one's expectations being violated.

Funny words in English

Vaudeville words can be found in Neil Simon's 1972 play The Sunshine Boys, in which an aging comedian gives a lesson to his nephew on comedy, saying that words with k sounds are funny:

Fifty-seven years in this business, you learn a few things. You know what words are funny and which words are not funny. Alka Seltzer is funny. You say 'Alka Seltzer' you get a laugh ... Words with 'k' in them are funny. Casey Stengel, that's a funny name. Robert Taylor is not funny. Cupcake is funny. Tomato is not funny. Cookie is funny. Cucumber is funny. Car keys. Cleveland ... Cleveland is funny. Maryland is not funny. Then, there's chicken. Chicken is funny. Pickle is funny. Cab is funny. Cockroach is funny – not if you get 'em, only if you say 'em.

Richard Wiseman, a professor of the public understanding of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, conducted a small experiment to determine whether words with a k sound were actually considered funnier than others for English speakers. His LaughLab tested the degree of funniness among a family of jokes based on animal sounds; the joke rated the funniest was also the one with the most k sounds:

Two ducks were sitting in a pond. One of the ducks said: "Quack". The other duck said: "I was going to say that!"

A 2019 study presented at the International Conference on Machine Learning showed Artificial Intelligence (AI) could predict human ratings of humorous words. After collecting humor ratings from multiple people on 120,000 individual words, they were able to analyze the data using AI algorithms to identify clusters of people with similar tastes in humor. The words with the highest mean humor ratings were identified as "asshattery", "clusterfuck", "douchebaggery", "poppycock", "craptacular", "cockamamie", "gobbledegook", "gabagool", "nincompoops", "wanker", and "kerfuffle". This study not only found that AI could predict average humor ratings of individual words (and differences in mean ratings between women and men), but it could also predict differences in individual senses of humor.

Robert Beard, a professor emeritus of linguistics at Bucknell University, told an interviewer that "The first thing people always write in about is funny words". Beard's first book was The 100 Funniest Words in English, and among his own selected words are "absquatulate", "bowyangs", "collywobbles", "fartlek", "filibuster", "gongoozle", "hemidemisemiquaver", and "snollygoster".

The evidence above suggests that factors neurologically akin to sound symbolism and the bouba/kiki effect (i.e., sounds having inherent associations with semantics) contribute to inherent funniness of words. Clearly, though, semantic layers coexist with it in the underlying mechanisms. Some words are humorous not necessarily because of their pronunciation, but because of (1) the absurdity of their own meanings (for example, centicameral, which would refer to a legislature composed of 100 chambers or houses, but its humor derives from the conceptual ridiculousness of such a governmental institution) or (2) the absurdity of the heterological contrast of their meaning with their form (for example, as with sesquipedalian and sesquipedalophobia).

Rudeness and entropy

A 2015 study published in the Journal of Memory and Language examined the humor of nonsense words. The study used a computer program to generate pronounceable nonsense words that followed typical English spelling conventions and tested them for their perceived comedic value to human test subjects.

The funniest nonsense words tended to be those that reminded people of real words that are considered rude or offensive. This category included four of the top-six nonsense words that were rated the funniest in the experiment: "whong", "dongl", "shart" (now slang, not a nonsense word), and "focky". To explain why these words seemed funny, the study's author said "The expectation that you've read or uttered a rude word is raised – and then violated, because in fact it's harmless nonsense. There's a sense of relief – of getting away with it."

After removing from consideration the words that seemed rude, another factor was suggested to also be significant. The study's lead author, Chris Westbury from the University of Alberta, suggests that the humor of certain invented words can be explained by the property of entropy. Entropy (specifically Shannon entropy) here expresses how unlikely the letter combinations in certain nonsense words are: the more unlikely the letters are to be used together in English, the more funny the combination is likely to be found. Nonsense words such as "rumbus", "skritz", and "yuzz-a-ma-tuzz", which were created by children's book author and illustrator Dr. Seuss, were found to have less probable letter combinations and to seem funnier than most ordinary English words. According to Westbury, "there's actually a consistent relationship between how funny are and how weird they are".

The entropy explanation also supports the notion that words with a 'k' in them tend to be more funny, as the letter 'k' is one of the least frequently used letters in the English language.

The idea that humor can be predicted by a word's entropy corresponds to the work of 19th-century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, who posited that humor is a product of one's expectations being violated. According to Westbury, "One reason puns are funny is that they violate our expectation that a word has one meaning". Violating expectations corresponds mathematically to having a low probability combination of letters, which also makes the word seem particularly funny, according to Westbury.

To provide a possible evolutionary explanation of these phenomena, the authors of the study said that unusual occurrences may be experienced as indicating the presence of potential threats, and that humor may be a way of signalling to others that one has realized that a perceived threat is actually harmless. Westbury said "Strange as it may seem, that same mechanism may be activated when you see an unlikely looking word or a highly taboo one – you experience relief as you recognize that it's completely harmless – just a joke."

See also

References

  1. Chaffee, Judith; Crick, Oliver, eds. (2015). The Routledge Companion to Commedia Dell'Arte. London, UK; New York, N.Y.: Routledge. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-415-74506-2.
  2. Helitzer, Melvin (1984). Comedy techniques for writers and performers : the hearts theory of humor writing. Athens, OH: Lawhead Press. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-91619-900-5.
  3. Franzini, Louis R. (2012). Just Kidding: Using Humor Effectively. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 138. ISBN 978-144221-336-4.
  4. Berger, Ivan (6 June 2007). "Quacked humour". New Scientist. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  5. Wiseman, Richard (20 April 2007). "The truth about lying and laughing". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  6. Gultchin, Limor; Patterson, Genevieve; Baym, Nancy; Swinger, Nathaniel; Kalai, Adam (24 May 2019). "Humor in Word Embeddings: Cockamamie Gobbledegook for Nincompoops". Proceedings of the 36th International Conference on Machine Learning: 2474–2483. arXiv:1902.02783. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  7. Hutson, Matthew (17 June 2019). "Bejesus! A cockamamie AI can predict which craptacular words you'll find funny". Science. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  8. Fadelli, Ingrid (26 February 2019). "A new study explores humor in word embeddings". TechXplore. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Ask the Experts: Robert Beard on language". Bucknell University. 6 May 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  10. Beard, Robert (2009). The 100 Funniest Words in English. Lewisburg, PA: Lexiteria. ISBN 978-0-61-526704-3.
  11. ^ "How funny is this word? The 'snunkoople' effect". ScienceDaily (Press release). University of Alberta. 30 November 2015.
  12. ^ Lewis, Danny (7 December 2015). "Finally There's a Scientific Theory for Why Some Words are Funny". Smithsonian. Washington, D.C.
  13. ^ "This is why some words just sound funny – and others don't". Reader's Digest. 13 February 2017. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  14. ^ Shariatmadari, David (26 November 2015). "From whong to quingel: the science of funny words". The Guardian. London, UK.
  15. "shart". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  16. Kaplan, Sarah (2 December 2015). "Scientists have figured out what makes Dr. Seuss so silly". The Washington Post.

Further reading

  • Barry, Dave (1991), Dave Barry Talks Back, 1st edn., New York: Crown. ISBN 0-517-58546-4.
  • Shibles, Warren, Humor Reference Guide: A Comprehensive Classification and Analysis (Hardcover) 1998 ISBN 0-8093-2097-5
  • Westbury, C.; Shaoul, C.; Moroschan, G.; Ramscar, M. (January 2016). "Telling the world's least funny jokes: On the quantification of humor as entropy". Journal of Memory and Language. 86: 141–156. doi:10.1016/j.jml.2015.09.001.

External links

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