The concept of inherent humor appears to be heavily dependent on culture. Yiddish and German words, for example, are a staple of humor in American English , in particular those that begin with the ("sh") sound, spelled ''sch-'' (or sometimes ''sh-'' in Yiddish). Take for example the derisive prefix ''shm-'' or ''schm-'', as in " Oedipus schmoedipus!" Similarly, texts in Dutch often seem comical to English-speaking readers, perhaps because much written Dutch is partially intelligible but curiously spelled from an English-language Point Of View . The Dutch, on the other hand, consider Swedish to be a very funny language. For speakers of English, most Slavic languages are funny, probably thanks to the excess of Fricative and Affricate sounds. Surprisingly enough, speakers of Slavic languages themselves find all other Slavic languages utterly Hilarious , for instance Czech Language side-splitting for Poles and Belarussians .
It has been determined using the Comparative Method that the Finnish Language developed the sound Ö relatively recently to introduce a fronted counterpart to [o , in line with - [æ and - [y . Moreover, the new sound has found use mostly in words considered by many to be derisive or amusing. For example, the reason the vowel /ö/ was originally used for the word ''pöllö'' "owl" was to make it sound stupid, since the Finnish mythology and folklore always presents the owl as a stupid animal. Most words meaning "stupid" contain /ö/, e.g. ''hölmö, pöhkö, höhlä, höperö, pöpi''. [http://www.kajaaninyliopistokeskus.oulu.fi/kampuslehti/joulu2001/1201.html Words with front vowels, especially with [ö], are inherently funny, or derisive, e.g. ''älä hölise ja kälätä'' "don't talk nonsense and babble". In Finnic linguistics, the term "expressive" is often used. One can consider words such as ''jööti'' "gross chunk" or "törkeä" ''obscene, aggravated (legal)''. Words that contain either /ö/ or /öö/ and are neutral-sounding are uncommon. Notice that this doesn't apply to the diphthongs /öy/ and /yö/, which have developed from earlier sounds, and are not inherently funny.
Some influential Comedian s have long regarded certain Word s in the English Language as being inherently funny and have used these to enhance the Humor of their comic routines.
By propagating the idea that the words used are funny, comedy routines may increase the comedy potential of the words by adding another level of comic association.
For example, the radio panel game '' I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue '' includes an occasional round called " Straight Face ", in which the panelists take turns to say a single word each. A player is eliminated from the game if anyone in the audience Laughs 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.
It is part of the mythology of actors and writers that the consonant Plosive 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'' would be funnier than ''underwear''. 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.
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.
Unresolved questions about inherently funny words include:
- Are there any known Physiological or Linguistic reasons for why these words are funny?
- Are the funny sounds the same in other languages?
Some comedians even maintain that certain numbers are funnier than others, although they tend to rely on context to set up an expectation of size or exactitude. Numbers that are oddly exact (such as the '''') can be amusing. The idea that the answer to the " Ultimate Question Of Life, The Universe, And Everything " is 42 is funny, according to author Douglas Adams , because it is an "ordinary, smallish" number, whereas numbers relating to space tend to be extremely large or extremely small and exact to many decimal places.
Additionally, there is a concept in comedy of the " breaks the pattern.
- The BBC Radio Four panel game '' I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue '' occasionally plays a game in which the contestants have to say random words that do not provoke the (easily provoked) audience to laugh. The words '' Theodolite '' and '' Plinth '' almost always produce laughter.
- Cartoonist Gary Larson considers '' Cow '' to be an inherently funny word.
- In '' in it are funny. '' Alka-Seltzer '' is funny. '' Chicken '' is funny. '' Pickle '' is funny. All with a ''k''. '' L ''s are not funny. '' M ''s are not funny."
- An episode of '' King Of The Hill '' has Bobby recounting the above quote to his father, Hank.
- In an article in the '' New Yorker '' published in 1948, H. L. Mencken argues that "k words" are funny: "''K'', for some occult reason, has always appealed to the oafish risibles of the American plain people, and its presence in the names of many ... places has helped to make them joke towns ... for example, ''Kankakee'', ''Kalamazoo'', ''Hoboken'', ''Hohokus'', ''Yonkers'', ''Squeedunk'', ''Stinktown'' (the original name of Chicago), and ''Brooklyn''."
- The '''' episode " The Outrageous Okona " features Joe Piscopo as a Comedian who, in attempting to teach the android Data the concept of humor, refers to words ending in a ''k'' as funny.
- In Monty Python sketches:
- --- Monty Python's " Woody And Tinny Words " sketch finds humor in the pure sounds of English words and their inherent "woodiness" (good) or "tinniness" (bad).
- --- Another Monty Python sketch, "'', '' Megaphone '', '' Grunt ies'', '' Wankel Rotary Engine ''.
- --- The sketch Election Night Special relays the results of elections involving the Sensible Party, Silly Party, Slightly Silly Party, and Very Silly Party. One candidate running for the Silly Party is named ''Jethro Q. Bunn Whackett Buzzard Stubble and Boot Walrustitty''.
- --- An interview with Raymond Luxury-Yacht (a name in itself not devoid of amusing overtones) becomes yet more absurd upon the insistence of the eponymous interviewee that his name is indeed ''spelt'' that way but is pronounced ''Throatwarbler Mangrove''. The sketch plays upon the non-intuitive pronunciation of surnames such as ''St John'' in Norman St John-Stevas (pronounced ''Sinjun'') or ''Featherstonehaugh Ukridge'' in Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge (pronounced ''Fanshawe Ewkridge'' - to be rhymed with ''nuke-fridge'').
- Dave Barry 's 1991 book ''Dave Barry Talks Back'' reprints a column on linguistic humor. He contrasts the phrases " Richard Nixon wearing a Necktie " with "Richard Nixon wearing a neck Weasel ", and "Scientists have discovered a 23rd moon orbiting Jupiter " 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 a similar vein, an old Internet Phenomenon involved taking lines from the Star Wars movies and replacing one word from the line with the word "pants", with comedic effect. {Link without Title} This suggests that "pants" may be an inherently funny word.
- In '' The Simpsons '':
- --- In the episode "'', '' Keokuk '', '' Cucamonga '', '' Seattle ''." Homer finds the last example hysterical.
- --- In another episode, Krusty the Clown paralyzes his Vocal Cords when he tries to cram in too many "Comedy K's".
- Comedian George Carlin talks about '' Kumquat s'', '' Succotash '' and '' Guacamole '' in his older routines.
- In the December 21 , 1989 '' Dilbert '' comic strip, Dilbert uses his computer to determine the funniest words in the world, coming up with '' Chainsaw '', ''weasel'', '' Prune '', and any reference to '' Gilligan's Island ''.
- The word '' Duck '' is sometimes called the funniest word in the English language. This was popularized by the Marx Brothers comedies '' The Cocoanuts '' (featuring their " Why A Duck " routine) and '' Duck Soup ''. Comedian Joe Penner 's famous " Wanna Buy A Duck? " routine of the 1930s is another example. This effect might have more to do with the actual animal than the English word for it, as in 2002 , after conducting a scientific cross-cultural joke experiment known as LaughLab , psychologist Richard Wiseman 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." {Link without Title}
- "'' Turtle '', by the way, is a very funny word." — Roger Ebert , review of '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''.
- Comedian Ron White , in routines such as " They Call Me 'Tater Salad' ", emphasizes the '' C '' in '' Public '' to draw laughter from the audience, in addition to the use of the word '' Tater ''.
- On '' Gilmore Girls ,'' Lorelai Gilmore posits that " Oy " is the funniest word ever and '' Poodle '' is also very funny, and creates what she considers a wonderful catchphrase, "Oy with the poodles already."
- There is a '' is often thought of as an inherently funny word; The Spleen is also the name of one of the comic Superhero es in the film '' Mystery Men ''.
- In the Comic Strip '' Pickles '' by Brian Crane , the word '' Snood '' was presented as an inherently funny word.
- In his DVD commentaries, ''Simpsons'' creator Matt Groening has proclaimed the word '' Underpants '' to be at least 15% funnier than the word '' Underwear ''. This idea is based on a theory by '' Futurama '' writer Ken Keeler . In the show ''Futurama'', ''underpants'' is almost always used in lieu of "underwear."
- The '' Darkover '' game produced by Eon Games simulates the "psychic combat" of the '' Darkover '' 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.
- '' Saturday Night Live '' writer Bryan Tucker has avowed that '' Monkey '' always elicits a laugh.
- In an episode of the Sitcom '' That 70s Show '' entitled "Eric's Stash", the character Michael Kelso , during a round of pot-smoking, repeatedly says, "You know what’s a funny word? ''Pickleweasel!''
- The skit/song "Bulbous Bouffant", performed by The Vestibules and picked up by Dr. Demento , is a routine based entirely off of inherently funny words like '' Galoshes '', '' Spatula '', and '' Tuberculosis ''.
Sometimes words are invented with a specific purpose to make them funny.
- A classical example would be the '' Jabberwocky '' poem, whose rich set of Nonce Word s, while evoking various emotions, has quite a few inherently funny ones.
- The radio comedy '' Round The Horne '' came up with the inherently funny word ''Gruntfuttock''.
- Spike Milligan 's '' Goon Show '' scripts often include funny nonsense words, such as ''spon'', ''ploogie'', ''plinge'', '' Lurgi '' and ''needle nardle noo''.
The notion of the "inherently funny" word should not be confused with situations when a certain
word sounds funny when unexpectedly used in an inapropriate situation. For example, a Comic Book , Animation , and Live Action Absurdist Superhero The Tick , when required to choose a Battle Cry , chooses ''Spoon!!''
- Barry, Dave (1991), ''Dave Barry Talks Back'', 1st edn., New York: Crown. ISBN 0-517-58546-4.
- The Power of the Plosive, Tips & Tactics, 1st Quarter 1999, ''The Naming Newsletter'', Rivkin and Associates {Link without Title}
- H. L. Mencken, "The Podunk Mystery," ''The New Yorker,'' September 25, 1948.
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