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Well, I just laughed. Does that count -- Anonymous
Well, I just laughed. Does that count -- Anonymous
*Me too -- Thomas
*Me too -- Thomas

You missed the point; the article says "to enhance the humor of their comic routines". It doesn't mean that badgers are always funny, but it does mean that if you tell a joke about a smallish mammal in your shed, you'll want to use "badger", as the effect will be funnier than saying "cat". Also, a comedian who is talking about old U.S. presidents would never say "[[John Adams]]" when he has the chance to say "[[Mallard Fillmore]]" or "[[Grover Cleveland]]". [[User:Deltabeignet|Deltabeignet]] 23:15, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC)


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:CGS, I just want to let you know that when I read in your comment above, "where I live badgers are fairly common", I burst out laughing. [[User:Guppy|Guppy]] 15:20, 25 Sep 2003 (UTC)
:CGS, I just want to let you know that when I read in your comment above, "where I live badgers are fairly common", I burst out laughing. [[User:Guppy|Guppy]] 15:20, 25 Sep 2003 (UTC)

:"Sock" is not supposed to be funny without context. Actually, I might not consider it inherently funny, unless said in a British accent with sharp emphasis. Few words are funny on their own (although there are many notable exceptions: rutabaga, belch, googol). The article says "to enhance the humor of their comic routines", which is entirely different. As I've noted already, this means that, for example, a joke about vegetables is inevitably going to be funnier when the teller says "rutabaga" instead of "celery". In a joke about mammals, "badger" will be funnier than "cat". "Mallard Fillmore ate a rutabaga and badger muffaletta" vs. "James Madison ate a celery and fish sandwich"; you tell me which is funnier.


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Revision as of 23:15, 17 March 2005

Krusty the Clown: "Memorize these funny place names. Walla Walla. Keokuk. Seattle."

Maybe some links to other Wiki pages? Funny, Joke, Humor, etc... --Dante Alighieri

This actually works: I just subvocalised "sock", "pock", "kack", "kumquat", "rutabaga", "balloon", "bassoon", and found myself laughing involuntarily. -- Anon.

I've always thought that the sound of the word "potato" spoken slowly was hilarious. --Dante Alighieri
See for instance the dialogue between (IIRC) Sam and Gollum in the movie of The Two Towers ... the carefully enunciated "po-ta-toes" is worth a grin. --FOo 15:08 14 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Is there any physiological or linguistic reason known about why this works? Are the funny sounds the same in other languages? -- Anon.

I always thought any word with an "oo" sound in it was funny, food being an exception for being such a common word. But even the face one makes saying it is funnier than most vowels. This list confirms that suspicion, look how many of these have it. "Poop"... "Boob"... two of the same consonant surrounding the "oo" sound seem to make it even funnier. "Noon" would probably be hilarious if we didn't hear it so much.PJV

Hmmm. This article is highly idiosyncratic and POV at the moment, and really this belongs in the context of a wider article on comedy or humor IMHO. --Robert Merkel 00:35 Nov 28, 2002 (UTC)

The article is slightly silly, but the phenomenon is real, and well-known to comedians. It also has potentially interesting avenues of serious inquiry: I would not be surprised if someone had made an academic study of this -- if not, they should. -- Anon.

See also "Proposed Research Topic #2: Funny Words" at http://metaphoricaldwelling.org/Language/ and "The power of the plosive" at http://www.namingnewsletter.com/Plosives.html

The funniest sounding word I know in English (offhand) is scacchic. -phma

I am very confused. What is it that you are saying is funny about these words? You just have a list of words, informing the reader that they a funny! WTF? CGS 12:23 18 May 2003 (UTC)

This article is nonsense, I vote for deletion. Mintguy 12:27 18 May 2003 (UTC)

These words are hilarious ... well ... at least the idea that anyone could be so foolish to think they are "inherently funny" by some "law of nature" is hilarous. Don't delete!Move to "Deleted jokes and other nonsense" - this delightfully asinine silliness deserves to be preserved. Tannin


I don't think this should be deleted or removed. It's an interesting and real concept that comedians discuss and believe in. --The Cunctator

However, after reading the article I still don't understand. Are you saying that if I tell my mother that "I am missing a sock" she will laugh? If I say "there is a badger in the garden shed" will people laugh? I have never encountered this. CGS 18:09 18 May 2003 (UTC).

Well, I just laughed. Does that count -- Anonymous

  • Me too -- Thomas

You missed the point; the article says "to enhance the humor of their comic routines". It doesn't mean that badgers are always funny, but it does mean that if you tell a joke about a smallish mammal in your shed, you'll want to use "badger", as the effect will be funnier than saying "cat". Also, a comedian who is talking about old U.S. presidents would never say "John Adams" when he has the chance to say "Mallard Fillmore" or "Grover Cleveland". Deltabeignet 23:15, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC)


Does this article refer to funny strange or funny ha ha? What makes things funny ha ha is timing, not static letters. IMHO :) Kingturtle 19:10 18 May 2003 (UTC)

Hmm. Maybe we need an article on comic timing, too. I vote to keep this: "sound" is definitely a real factor in comedy: silly names, for example. The Anome 19:18 18 May 2003 (UTC)

Nothing wrong with this concept (and it is funny ha ha). All words have connotations and denotations. Denotations are the "logical" meanings. Connotations are the "emotional" meanings. If a word has amusing connotations, it may be a funny word; if it has connotations of disgust, it may be a swear-word or an insult; if it is devoid of connotations, it may be used as technical jargon. Compare "poopie", "shit" and "faeces" for instance. Despite the fact that these all refer to the same thing, the connotations mean that one is funnier than the rest and one makes a better insult than the rest. -- Derek Ross 19:31 18 May 2003 (UTC)


Text moved from Votes for deletion:

  • inherently funny word
    • This is just a list of words that the reader is told are funny. It's highly POV and less factual than a copy of The Sun (and about as funny as the latter). CGS 13:02 18 May 2003 (UTC). User:Mintguy also agrees.
    • User:Tannin suggests it is moved to Wikipedia:Bad jokes and other deleted nonsense
    • I disagree. It (or at belief in it) is a real concept. Kind of like God, except not so much. --The Cunctator
    • I disagree also. The article does focus on a longstanding debate in comedy. Is something inherently funny? Most comedians certainly believe that certain words, particularly in terms of their pronounciation and cultural context, are funny. This article needs a lot of work but it does have a basis behind it. But it needs to define context, comedic, traditional and cultural resonnances, etc. In some cultures, 'cack' means marbles and has no humour. Cack is also used as a colloquial meaning as 'fæces', which in some contexts touches on scatological humour and reduce an audience to hysterics. So this article definitely should not be deleted. FearÉÍREANN 05:34 19 May 2003 (UTC)
    • I agree with the above two comments. There is a real issue that this article discusses. It should not be deleted. --Dante Alighieri 04:05 20 May 2003 (UTC)
    • Me, too. This is a good article. Anybody who has ever played Cheddar Gorge knows that this is a real phenomenon. GrahamN 05:30 20 May 2003 (UTC)
      • Surely what makes that funny is the context or juxtaposition of the words. Mintguy
        • Actually, on reflection I was thinking of a different I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue round, the one where they take turns to say single words, the object being not to make the audience laugh. [What is that round called?] It is evident from listening to that that certain words are simply funnier than others. For example "glass" or "filed" are completely safe, whereas "theodolite" or "pustule" would be suicide. GrahamN 02:25 25 May 2003 (UTC)
          • But note the context in which the words are said, which is that everybody is silent and waiting for something funny to happen. Those same words said used properly in a phrase would not have a funny effect (like in "the geographer used a theodolite to find the height of the mountain"). Diego Moya
    • Don't delete it. The concept is well worth discussing. It's just that the current article needs to be replaced with something better. -- Derek Ross 20:06 20 May 2003 (UTC)
    • I think this can stay. It's highly POV right now, but has potential to become a good article. It needs an expanded introduction and more on the psychology of the phenomenon, and hopefully someone will add that eventually. -- Minesweeper 21:49 20 May 2003 (UTC)
    • I would be against deletion; however, I do doubt about the list of words, which seems POV to me.

Okay, so the very existence of "inherently funny" words is POV... Should we move the article? Use of words for comedic effect, anyone? -- Oliver P. 11:02 21 May 2003 (UTC)

That sounds like a sensible suggestion. Mintguy
Karada has just moved the article to my proposed title. I didn't realise that was going to happen so quickly. Perhaps I should have put more thought into the wording... -- Oliver P. 11:30 21 May 2003 (UTC)
I'm moving it back. The article isn't about the use of words for comedic effect, it's about the concept of the inherently funny word. --The Cunctator

This page still bemuses me. What pray tell is inherently funny about the word "sock" without context? (I'm sure I'll regret asking this). Mintguy 17:31 21 May 2003 (UTC)

I asked this before, but noone said anything: Are you saying that if I ask my mother "Have you seen the other sock of this pair?", she will burst out laughing at my funny question? Also, the article says that badger is funny because it's an unusual word. This is an example of the POV - where I live badgers are fairly common. I maintain that no word is inherently funny. CGS 17:42 21 May 2003 (UTC).

Yes CGS I noted that you got no reply, which is why I repeated it. It the word 'Jam' inherently funny? I would say no. But then Eddie Izzard uses the word when he can't think of something to say. It's all to do with context. Mintguy
CGS, I just want to let you know that when I read in your comment above, "where I live badgers are fairly common", I burst out laughing. Guppy 15:20, 25 Sep 2003 (UTC)
"Sock" is not supposed to be funny without context. Actually, I might not consider it inherently funny, unless said in a British accent with sharp emphasis. Few words are funny on their own (although there are many notable exceptions: rutabaga, belch, googol). The article says "to enhance the humor of their comic routines", which is entirely different. As I've noted already, this means that, for example, a joke about vegetables is inevitably going to be funnier when the teller says "rutabaga" instead of "celery". In a joke about mammals, "badger" will be funnier than "cat". "Mallard Fillmore ate a rutabaga and badger muffaletta" vs. "James Madison ate a celery and fish sandwich"; you tell me which is funnier.

It seems that my text at Votes for Deletion has been deleted during the move from that page to here. It is my opinion that while the page itself is ok, the list of funny words here is inherently POV and should therefore be removed. Andre Engels 08:55 22 May 2003 (UTC)

I don't think I lost anything in moving the text across. That last comment was you, wasn't it? "I would be against deletion; however, I do doubt about the list of words, which seems POV to me." If there was anything else that I did lose, I apologise. But anyway, I suppose if we are to keep the article at Inherently funny word, then we are facing a big NPOV problem, because the very existence of such a thing is a point of view. So we have to talk about what other people have claimed about such words. Of course we need examples, to illustrate the sorts of things we're talking about, but they have to be attributed, saying that so-and-so claimed that this word was funny, and so on. -- Oliver P. 19:42 23 May 2003 (UTC)

This discussion is fascinating. It strikes me this article may be the ultimate test of the [in my view dubious] concept of "neutral point of view". Some people are saying "We don't find the words in the list funny, therefore they are NOT funny, therefore they must be deleted." Others (including myself) are saying "We DO find these words funny, therefore they ARE funny, therefore they must be retained." Since humour is COMPLETELY subjective, there is no way of determining who is "right", so both points of view should be given equal weight. Therefore the list should be both deleted and retained. Get out of that! GrahamN 02:25 25 May 2003 (UTC)

Well the NPOV article tells us that where there is a dispute we should describe the dispute including what each side in the dispute says. So I would think that that means changing the article to discuss the worthiness of the concept of inherently funny words, if we take the NPOV article literally. Derek Ross 02:54 25 May 2003 (UTC)
Ok, fair enough. GrahamN 13:49 14 Jun 2003 (UTC)

How come this article is inherently not funny? Kingturtle 06:59 15 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Because describing humour is one of the most humourless things anyone can do. A how to description is invariably never as good as actually doing it. But that doesn't mean it isn't useful knowing the 'how to' information. Many of these words are funny by the manner of their verbal usage, and that obviously cannot be conveyed in the spoken word. FearÉIREANN 07:13 15 Jun 2003 (UTC)
Because the tragedy of comedy is that one must eventually think about it. Tuf-Kat
The discussion of the effect and meaning of sounds is at least 2400 years old. And it is not confined to humor; but also rhetoric, word-magic, etc.... -- Cimon Avaro on a pogo stick 07:28 15 Jun 2003 (UTC)

I was reading all the above and came across - It is evident from listening to that that certain words are simply funnier than others. For example "glass" or "filed" are completely safe, whereas "theodolite" or "pustule" would be suicide. GrahamN 02:25 25 May 2003 (UTC)

And guess what? The moment I came across "pustule" I immediately and utterly unintentionally sniggered, not from its meaning, or from the way it was being said, but simply because of the word. In other words, it seems to prove the point by being an "inherently funny word." And when I take it further and imagine Walter Matthau saying it in his distinctive voice, forget the sniggering, I start laughing out loud. Even the thought of Tom Cruise saying it sounds funny. (Not to mention George W. Bush!!!) FearÉIREANN 07:24 15 Jun 2003 (UTC)

See also: http://people.ucsc.edu/~mleyden/words.htm for someone else's list of "funny words": note the long vowels and K/C/plosive sounds. The Anome 17:32 16 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Okay.. personally, I think 'plosive' should be on the list. That's one of the funniest words I've seen reading the article. --Patteroast 17:36, 20 Apr 2004 (UTC)


And this one: http://timschnabel.net/funny.htm The Anome

I removed the following: Nevertheless, the idea persists. The implication of the line is that the idea, contrary to all the evidence, persists. The implication of the line is a POV dismissal. FearÉIREANN 20:03 16 Jun 2003 (UTC)


Can people please stop moving this page around - it's moved twice today. It will be POV nonsense wherever you put it. CGS 20:27 24 Jun 2003 (UTC).


And, of course, a truly comprehensive list would have Triscuit on it somewhere. Koyaanis Qatsi

Isn't that a cookie with three sides? --Guaka 15:11 11 Jul 2003 (UTC)

What was meant by 'inherently funny' is that it makes comedy more funny when used correctly. Why a deadly rabbit in The Holy Grail? Because it makes it funnier. It's a psychological phenomenon!


This article has twice been listed for deletion and twice kept for obvious reasons. Here is the second deletion debate:

Template:VfD-Inherently funny word


I'd like to include: Sponge pudding and spoon, but they're my own favourites.

Vivian Stanshall and other British comics have got a lot of mileage out of trousers.

Also, monkeys: can't decide if it's the animal the word or a combination of the two. But Alan Partridge's Monkey Tennis is a gem, and I've just had the new All Star Comedy Show on where Vic Reeves played a troubled man who could say nothing but Monkey trousers.

Perhaps if others share a fondness for these they can be included. At present I don't ahve solid enough references. --bodnotbod 22:44, May 6, 2004 (UTC)

Spork

Does no-one else find this to be a very odd-sounding word. zoney  talk 15:32, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)

-- Yes, Spork is indeed a funny word. Guppy 05:34, 18 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I have another one... well, two: gooey ooze, but maybe there are too many funny words in English to fit them all in this article. ;) Sabbut 09:30, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Yeah but so are 'Neptune', 'rhododendron', and 'scrum'. Also, I believe David Letterman once gave someone advice to insert he word 'pants' when necessary, and the name of his produciton company, 'World Wide Pants' is based on that word. Seems that should earn some mention.

One point on this -- there are clearly certain words that, when used in a joke or other humourous bit, are funnier than others. For instance, the concept of putting a monitor in one's pants is somewhat funny, but it just sounds funnier when the word 'lizard' is used. 'Iguana' and 'Chamaeleon' are not bad either, but 'Haitian Curly-Tail' is just weird, and 'skink' might outdo them all.

But all in all, despite the relative equal potential for viciousness and pain, putting a weasel in your pants outdoes them all.

Self-reference

Great article! I see only one problem. The sentence

"The following English words are considered by various contributors to this article to be inherently funny"

is self-referential, which is to be avoided. I would fix it, but I don't know what to change it to. Perhaps someone else has an idea. Dbenbenn 04:42, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I worry that the list is POV in that it needlessly privledges contributors to the article as experts, when in fact they have no special qualifications. The result is that the article tracks the aggregate POV of the contributors, which is not NPOV, nor will it become NPOV no matter how many contributors there are. I propose that the list be trimmed to entries that can be attributed to known and important comedians. Snowspinner 19:29, Jan 13, 2005 (UTC)
Agreed. For a word to be included here, it should be described as inherently funny by some expert. (And important comedians count as experts.) Cite your sources! And that would neatly solve my self-reference issue. Dbenbenn 20:06, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
I agree. Moreover, unless someone starts doing this quickly, the situation will get out of hand. People are adding words left and right. I'd like to help but I hardly know where to find proper sources on this sort of thing. I was considering moving to a new article, but I think once we delete unverified entries it should shrink drastically. Deco 10:55, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Page Title

Shouldn't the page title be "Inherently funny words"? I realize that most wikipedia articles are entitled by the singular of the noun, but this article is more of a list that about an "inherently funny word". If the article told us which word was the specific funny word that it was referring to, that would be one thing, but this is about numerous words. Asbestos | Talk 18:18, 19 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Well, the article Knife talks about many kinds of knives. The noun sort of defines the general subject area. I wouldn't be for a name change, although I might be for removing the list to List of inherently funny words. Deco 01:53, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Personally, I'd be for deleting the entire thing, but there's no point asking for for that. Moving to List of inherently funny words might also work, though it's not just a list page. I'm not sure, and don't really hold any strong feelings either way (just stumbled across this page by accident), but just feel tha the title is odd. No matter. Asbestos | Talk 13:01, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)


The list

I know that this has been discussed endlessly, but I dislike this list of funny words. Not only is it irrevocably POV, but at over two hundred words, it is mind-bogglingly long. Do we really need to list every single word that somebody somewhere might find funny? I'd personaly delete the list entirely, but in the interest of compromise, I'm willing to trim it down to maybe 10 entries. Or maybe keep only the words we have direct citations for, as suggested by snowspinner. If this change occurs, we can then remove the neutrality warning. On a less contentious note, I've deleted the rhetorical questions near the end, as rhetorical questions are not encyclopedic. DaveTheRed 01:38, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Please do — potentially seek legitimate attributions for some of them. Deco 01:52, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC)
You know, the more I look at it, the more I realize that the "list with citations" section we've been talking about already exists on this page. It's under the "Examples of References to the Concept" header. In which case, we can just eliminate the longer list entirely. I will do a quick check to verify the sourced examples, and if no one objects soon, I will make the changes. DaveTheRed 04:31, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC)
Sounds like that would be a very good improvement to the article. — Asbestos | Talk 11:48, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Moratorium on adding new words

Sigh. I just dramatically shortened the list, and already someone has added another word (at least this time there's a source). I suggest we hold a moratorium on adding new words to the list. The examples we have are sufficient, and if people keep adding new words, we'll just run into the same problem we had before. BTW, the new word that was added, was "gherkin", attributed to Irregular Webcomic. I did a google search for "Irregular webcomic" and gherkin, and found nothing. Ergo, it will be reverted. DaveTheRed 07:21, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Watch out — the text of webcomics often cannot be indexed because it is "hidden" in images. I'd try to get an explanation from the contributor first.
I would strongly argue against any policy of requiring prior agreement on adding words, but I think a friendly reminder about notability and citing sources in an HTML comment wouldn't hurt. Those who seem to be making things up can just continue to be reverted; this is innately the sort of list that people enjoy adding things to without evidence. The existing words are a good guide to what is appropriate. Deco 02:57, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)
Your points are well taken. If the original editor wants to add that webcomic thing back, I won't revert. I will post the HTML notice as you requested. DaveTheRed 21:49, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)