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in: Trope, Comedy Tropes, Language Tropes, Inherently Funny Words

Inherently Funny Words

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Cquote1
"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."
—Neil Simon, The Sunshine Boys
Cquote2


Fact: Whether by pronunciation, spelling, or use, some words are just plain funny. List your favorite Inherently Funny Words here!

Warning: Do not use any of these words to try to make an unfunny sentence funny.

See also Narm, which is what happens when Inherently Funny Words crop up in inherently unfunny contexts.

Examples of Inherently Funny Words include:


Words With A "K"[]

Cquote1

 Del: What's "duck à l'orange" in French?

Rodney: [pause] It's canard.

Del: I know it's hard!

Cquote2
Cquote1

 Booker: Why did you name me Booker?

Orson: I like books.

Booker: I'm glad you don't like kumquats!

Cquote2


Words With an "oo" Sound[]

Cquote1

 Torg: Oasis's booby-traps crunched up the robot pretty bad, but it's still salvageable! (...) Hey! I just used the word "booby" in a serious sentence!

Cquote2

Celebrity Names[]

  • Al Albuquerque, Detroit Tigers relief pitcher.
  • Anurag Dikshit.
  • Barack Hussein Obama.
  • Barkevious Mingo. Winner of 2009's Name of the year (have a look around that site, while you're at it).
  • Bear Grylls
  • Benedict Cumberbatch. (Technically it's Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch. No, really.)
  • Benjamin Netanyahu
  • New England Patriots running back Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis (known to fans as The Law Firm)
  • Bent Koch
  • Bhumibol Adulyadej
  • Bill Boner, former mayor of Nashville, Tennessee. Do not ask about the campaign signs he once used.
    • You don't need to ask. Better still, it's a campaign fan, so you can wave a Boner in front of anyone's face anytime!
  • Billy Bob Thornton
  • Billy Mays!
  • Bonar Law (who did not enact legislation prohibiting public erections, but it would have been even funnier if he had)
  • Bono - even his given name, Paul Hewson, is funny.
  • Boutros-Boutros Ghali
  • Brad Pitt, at least to some of us.
  • Bram Moolenaar, creator of the Vim text editor.
  • Bristol Palin
  • Bruce Boxleitner
  • Bruce Cockburn
  • The late Cardinal Sin, Archbishop of Manila. Even he himself made jokes about his name.
  • Chone Figgins
  • Chuck Mangione, as demonstrated by King of the Hill. It helps to say it in Dale Gribble's nasally twang.
  • Chuck Norris
  • Clive Staples Lewis (even he hated it and preferred "Jack")
  • Coco Crisp, Major League Baseball player
    • Does he enjoy Cocoa Krispies?
      • His given name is, arguably, even worse: Covelli Loyce Crisp
  • Boof Bonser is the legal name of a Major League Baseball player.
  • Crispin Freeman, the voice actor of Kyon, Itachi, and many others.
  • Crispin Glover, an actor. His name sounds like a brand name for gloves. Crispy gloves.
  • Not sure if it counts because he's fictional, but Palpatine (in addition to having a funny name) was originally named Cos Dashit.
  • Craig Killmaster
  • Creflo Dollar
  • Dan Aykroyd
  • Darren Puppa. An ESPN announcer once referred to this NHL's goaltender's glove as the "Puppa Scoopa"
  • Darryl Strawberry
  • David Hooner (see the "oo" rule).
  • Desmond Tutu
  • Dick Assman
  • Dick Armey
  • Dick Bona
  • Dick Bong
  • Dick Butkus
    • As exploited frequently by Mystery Science Theater 3000, which would sometimes have riffs to the tune of "don't forget your Dick Butkus collector's plate!" during a scene at a gas station.
  • Dick Cass, Baltimore Ravens president.
  • Dick Hymen Hyman
  • Dick Pole, Cincinnati Reds pitching coach
  • Dick Pound, ex-IOC vice-president and ex-president of the World Anti-Doping Agency. Extra funny in that he has three names to pick from, and still settled on Dick.
  • Dick Trickle, NASCAR driver
  • Dick Van Dyke
  • Donald Trump
  • Dudley Manlove
  • Emerson Boozer, New York Jets running back
  • Engelbert Humperdinck. I dare you to say it with a straight face.
  • Esa-Pekka Salonen
  • Fair Hooker, a '70s NFL wide receiver.
  • Flozell Adams
  • Forrest Tucker
  • Forrest Gump
  • Francesco Cappuccino
  • Fred Fuchs
  • Funk & Wagnalls, as both Dick Martin and Ed McMahon will attest.
  • Gay Gasper, a fitness instructor
  • Gay Search
  • Gloria Estefan
  • Goodluck Jonathan
  • Guido van Rossum (inventer of the Python programming language)
  • Guy Mann-Dude
  • Hakan Loob
  • Han Hoogerbrugge (OO phonetic)
  • Harry Kalas
  • Hedy Lamarr (see "Hedy LaRue" from How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying and "Hedley Lamarr" from Blazing Saddles, not to mention the pet headcrab in Half Life 2)
  • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Brilliant poet with the name of a porn star.
  • Hillary Rodham Clinton
    • It was at one time extremely common for women who got married to drop their middle name and move their maiden name to the middle spot. That's what happened here; she was born Hillary Diane Rodham.
  • Hosni Mubarak
  • Ima Hogg
  • Jack Fightmaster
  • Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh
  • Jensen Ackles, at least at first. His name sounds like a law firm.
  • Jian Ghomeshi
  • Jimbob Duggar (Even funnier when said in an obnoxious southern accent.)
  • Jimmer Fredette
  • Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, Britain's Chief of The Defence Staff and owner of the greatest name ever.
  • Joey Buttafuoco
  • John Keister
  • John Kricfalusi
  • John Stamos
  • Jubal Early, the Confederate general who led the Shenandoah Campaign in The American Civil War.
    • "Shenandoah" itself is pretty funny.
  • Larry Csonka, football great, as used to marvelous effect in "The Final Sacrifice", an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000: "He just finished his exhaustive, 4 volume biography of Larry Csonka!".
  • Learned Hand — Judge Learned Hand
    • What's really hilarious about this is that this was his middle name. He actually preferred being "Learned Hand" over being "Billings Hand." Ouch.
  • Lemmy Kilmister
  • Leon Trotsky
  • Leonard Woodcock
  • M. Night Shyamalan
  • Madison Hedgecock
  • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
  • Matt Damon
  • Matthew Gray Gubler
  • Mickey Rourke
  • Mike Figgis. His surname is particularly popular as a source of hilarity for English students.
  • Mike Huckabee
  • Mike Hunt (Green Bay Packers linebacker)
  • Mike Litoris
  • Misha Collins
  • Mitch Gaylord
  • Muamar Khadafi
  • Myke Hawke
  • Neil Cicierega
  • Niccolò Machiavelli
  • Orlando Jones
  • Paul Anka
  • Pat Buttram
  • Patrick Kilpatrick
  • Pelham Grenville Wodehouse was, to use his own phrase, a victim of raw work at the font. No wonder he abbreviated his name.
  • Peter Beter
  • Peter Stormare
    • His birth name was Peter Ingvar Rolf Storm. He's awesome, but he should've become a supervillain with that name.
      • He isn't a supervillain?! Have you seen Fargo?
  • Petey Pablo
  • Pia Zadora
  • Pieter Botha
  • Pieter van den Hoogenband
  • Radek Bonk
  • Randy Bumgardner
  • Reince Priebus
  • Richard Braine
  • Ron Stuart
  • Rip Van Winkle
  • Robert Dinwiddie
  • Robert Loggia. That's R, as in "Robert Loggia..."
  • Rod Blagojevich
  • Roger Bumpass
  • Ron Tugnutt
  • Rowsdower. Zap Rowsdower
  • Rusty Kuntz, former Major League Baseball player
  • Samuel Gompers
  • Saxby Chambliss
  • Scott Ramsoomair. Bonus points for the "oo" sound.
  • Splapp-Me-Do
  • Skip Hinnant (of The Electric Company and Fritz the Cat fame.)
  • Skwisgaar Skwigelf
  • Slartibartfast
  • Slobodan Milošević
  • Sonny Tufts
  • Spanky DeBrest (Seriously. He was in Art Blakey's band.)
  • Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (President of Indonesia; his name sounds especially funny in Russian)
  • Uwe Boll
  • Vanilla Ice
    • Since this is a stage name, he has no one to blame but himself and possibly his manager. His actual name is Robert van Winkle (not that that's necessarily much better).
  • The Von Trapp Family
  • Walter Mondale
  • Wim Kok (former Dutch prime minister)
  • Y. A. Tittle
  • Yelnick McWaWa
  • Yo-Yo Ma
  • Yogi Bera (the pro baseball player, not the cartoon bear)
  • Yoko Ono (Oh, no!)
  • Yolanda Squatpump
  • Any of the Zappas but especially Dweezil
  • ZaSu Pitts
  • Zsa Zsa Gabor
  • Zun

Given Names[]

Cquote1

  Brad: "Hello and welcome to the 6 o'clock news, I'm Chester Snapdragon McFisticuffs..."

Cquote2


Animal Names[]

  • aardvark
    • aardwolf
  • alligator
  • anemone
  • badger
  • axolotl
  • banana slug.
  • baboon
  • Beagle. According to Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, Snoopy is a beagle because it's a funny word.
  • Bear
  • beaver
  • bees
  • blue-footed boobies (a kind of bird)
  • blue-tongued skink (a type of lizard).
  • boll weevil
  • Bubo bubo, a.k.a. Eurasian eagle-owl.
  • buffalo
  • bullshih. This is what the offspring of a Shih-Tzu and a bulldog is actually called.
    • And here I thought Cockapoodle was bad!
    • Lots of designer-dog names were specifically designed to invoke this trope.
    • Not bad, not bad. But as for the crowning dog breed name, I give you the Chiweenie, half chihuahua, half dauschund (weiner dog). Made funnier considering they are just about the most hideous, most blindingly adorable animals you will ever see.
  • bumblebee
  • bunnies
  • camel
  • cebu
  • chachalaca
  • chicken
  • chihuahua
  • chinchilla
  • cockatoo
  • coelacanth (See-la-canth)
  • cow (Gary Larson said so)
  • crab
  • crappie
  • dickey-bird
  • dik dik (A type of antelope. Adam Sessler once made a Catch Phrase out of it).
  • dingo
  • duck
    • Scientifically proven to be true in most languages - duck jokes even translate well even when they rely on language-specific puns.
  • dodo
  • dugong
  • dung beetle
  • echidna. just try to say it out loud. It's wierd AND funny.
  • emu
  • frog
  • gerbil
  • gibbon
  • goats
  • gopher
  • gnu
    • don't forget, GNU's not UNIX!
  • goose (see also "oo" sounds, but "geese" is just as funny)
  • great tit
    • really, any kind of tit
  • hamster
  • hartebeest (particularly when mentioned in the Flanders and Swann song as an animal the gnu is g-not)
  • herring
  • hippopotamus
Cquote1

 "Your Majesty, if you were king, you wouldn't be afraid of anything?"

"Not nobody! Not nohow!"

"How about a hippopotamus?"

"Why, I'd thrash him from top to bottom-us!"

Cquote2
  • horned toad
    • or better still, "horny toad"
  • horse
  • humuhumunukunukuapua`a (Hawai`i's State Fish)
  • iguana
  • kangaroo
  • kiwi
  • koala (especialy if they come from Koala Walla Land.)
  • kukaburra
  • Kunekune
  • liger (the offspring of a lion and a tiger)
  • lizard
  • llama. It's got to be the double L.
    • alpaca
    • guanaco
    • vicuña
  • lobster
  • lumba-lumba (Malaysian for dolphin)
  • manatee
    • seacow
      • both got nothin' on Dugong
  • mandrill (a kind of old-world monkey; separate the two words with a hyphen for full effect)
  • marmot
  • mongoose
  • monkey
    • Even more inherently funny than duck. Especially when used as an Adjective. Go ahead, add the word "monkey" to any verb or nn-proper noun you can think of.
      • So, what about "duck-monkey"?
    • It's also useable as a handy verb. Or an expletive. Especially as an expletive.
    • There's a type of flower called the Sticky Monkey Flower, apparently because its sticky and it looks like the face of a monkey. Try thinking about sticky monkeys without laughing.
  • moose (...once bit my sister...)
    • This has led to something of a fundamental difference in the perception of the animal in the US and Europe; it's hard to remember sometimes that the "majestic elk" in folklore isn't the larger animal in the Pacific Northwest, but the goofy animal that Americans, and increasingly the rest of the Anglophone world, know as the "moose."
  • narwhal
  • ocelot, according to Greg Proops
    • Proops is quite the funny name too.
  • orangutan
  • otter. Try inserting it into an average sentence.
  • penguin
  • pig
  • platypus
  • polliwog
  • {{{Video Game/{Iji}} pony}}
  • Pudu. This is a real creature (look it up!), the world's smallest deer. Scientific name? Pudu Pudu.
  • Quokka.
  • sheep (known to blow up real baaaaaad)
  • SNAAAAKE!!
  • sperm whale
  • SPIIIIIIDERS!
  • spotted shag (actually a kind of seabird)
  • squid
  • squirrel
  • titmouse (which is neither a tit [breast], nor a mouse)
    • And one variety, the tufted titmouse.
  • Tits! They're actually cute little birds.
    • Pictures of them make surprisingly good offerings when people online ask for tits without specifying which kind.
  • Tree sloth
  • trout
Cquote1

 Anything goes in

Anything goes out

fish, bananas, old pajamas

mutton, beef and trout

Cquote2
    • Or, if you prefer:
Cquote1

 Often thinks that travel widens

"Stay at home," the trout obliges

Cquote2
  • turtle
  • walrus
    • I has a bukkit!
  • weasel (one of Dave Barry's favorite words)
  • weimaraner (a breed of dog)
  • wombat (actually a very dangerous animal, but a funny name to be sure). And even their dangerousness is in a very Killer Rabbit way; since they have a similar ecological niche to rabbits and look like them, though they are rather larger than any rabbit.
  • woodcock
  • yak
  • yellow-bellied sapsucker
  • Most if not all animal noises as well, some of which have already been listed.


Place Names[]

  • Whose Line Is It Anyway? lampshaded a whole string of this in one session of Scenes From a Hat, when the suggestion "Cities that shouldn't have a song about them" came up:
Cquote1

 Ryan: We wuv u, Walla Walla, Washington...

Colin: Proud...citizens of Doglick!

Ryan: We call it Butte (not Butt), Montana...

Jeff: Who wants an Oxnard? I do! I do!

Ryan: (with a stoned look on his face) What's the matter with Weed?

Cquote2
  • Abu Dhabi, hence its abuse in Garfield comics.
  • Albuquerque, NM
    • Not only Weird Al, Bugs Bunny knew it was funny ("I knew I should've taken a left turn at Albuquerque.") Made funnier by his Brooklyn accent that toined it into Albecoikie.
      • It even shows up in a Halo fanfic, of all places, narrated by a Covenant Elite: "...we had landed on the UNSCDF orbital platform Albuquerque. I had no idea which was more bizarre: The platform's name, which tied my mandibles in knots..."
  • Antananarivo, Madagascar
  • Antwerp, Belgium
  • Attawapiskat, ON, Canada
  • Azerbaijan
  • Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
    • Even funnier when you know that "Baden" means "Baths."
      • So it's German for "tub-tub"?
      • Actually, no. "Baden" is a German verb which translates to "to have a bath" and "to bathe". The correct German word for "Baths" would be "Bäder".
  • Bald Knob, AR/WV/VA
    • "Knob" here is a dialect word for "hill/mountain", which explains why there are not one but three cities named after a nearby summit with exposed rock.
  • Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
  • Bangkok, Thailand
  • Batman, Turkey. Apparently they've tried to sue Warner Bros.
  • Beaver County, PA. With two boroughs called Beaver and Big Beaver and a city called Beaver Falls...
  • Belchertown, MA
  • Belgium
    • "Things were getting pretty Belgium, so..."
  • Big Bone Lick State Park, Kentucky
    • Located near the towns of Beaver Lick and Rabbit Hash...
    • Heck, "Kentucky" itself becomes somewhat funny after saying it enough times.
  • Bird-in-Hand, PA
  • Blue Ball Lane, Surrey
  • Blue Ball, PA
  • Boring, OR. Whenever a resident makes the newspapers, the headline always reads something like: "Boring man arrested for..."
  • Boogardie, WA, Australia
  • Booger Hollow, Arkansas. Look it up.
  • Booger Mountain, North Carolina. Known for Christmas trees; their marketing campaign is "Always Pick a Booger!"
  • Botswana
  • Bora Bora
  • Bruce Rock, WA, Australia
  • Bundaberg, QLD, Australia
  • Buttzville, NJ
  • Caniapiscau, Quebec, Canada.
  • Cape Foulwind, New Zealand
  • Cape Horn. If you don't get it, just yell "I really like Cape Horn!" really loudly and quickly in front of all your friends.
    • ... K-porn? Oh dear. Ain't the same thing as K-pop, is it?
  • Chattahoochee River
    • Chattahoochee, Florida
  • Chattanooga, Tennessee
  • Cheesequake State Park, New Jersey
  • Chicken, AK
    • So named because they couldn't spell Ptarmigan.
  • Chittagong, Bangladesh.
  • Cleveland.
  • Climax, Michigan
  • Clitheroe, Lancashire, England (the middle syllable is pronounced like "the", but still)
  • Cockalofty, Hereford, England
  • Cockburn Town, capital city of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
  • Cockfield, County Durham, England
  • Cockfosters (a Piccadilly Line destination)
  • Cocklebiddy, WA, Australia
  • Condom, France. Where you can find the Condom Cathedral. No, it's not made of rubber.
  • Cooma, NSW, Australia
  • Cox Bight, TAS, Australia
  • Cuba, Missouri
  • Cucamonga, CA (Animated characters are required by law to pronounce it "KOOK... aMUNga!")
    • The full name is "Rancho Cucamonga", which might be even funnier.
  • Cut and Shoot, TX. No, really.
  • Czechoslovakia
  • Denial Bay, SA, Australia (I have no idea why)
  • Dike Access Road, Washington (if you've ever driven north on I-5 from Portland to Seattle, you couldn't have missed the sign)
  • Dildo, Newfoundland, Canada
  • Dingle Peninsula, Kerry, Ireland
  • Diss, Norfolk, England
  • Djibouti (congratulations, you just laughed at thousands of starving people.)
    • Sheik sheik sheik, sheik sheik sheik, sheik djibouti...oh yeah!
  • Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine
  • Dookie, Australia.
  • Dooomadgee, QLD, Australia (yes, with three o's, I checked)
  • Dubbo, Australia
  • East Taphouse, Middle Taphouse and West Taphouse, County Cornwall, UK
  • Embarrass, Minnesota, USA
  • Eromanga Basin, Australia.
  • Fazakerley
  • Fernando Poo (see entry above on "poo")
  • Fingringhoe
  • Fishkill, New York
  • Floyds Knobs, Indiana, USA
    • And in the same state, French Lick.
  • Flippin, Arkansas, USA
  • Fort Gay, West Virginia
    • Microsoft didn't think it was funny (that, plus they didn't know there really was such a place). An Xbox Live user from there got banned for it. The user had to fight to keep his account. Even the mayor got involved, and MS only reinstated his account when it started making national news.
  • Fucking, Austria; which had problems with British tourists stealing their signs.
    • Same country: Oberfucking, Unterfucking, and Fuckersberg.
  • Great Cockup and Little Cockup. These are the genuine names of two hills in England.
    • Both are near the town of Cockermouth, which itself belongs on the list.
  • Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
  • The Gliese 581 System
  • Gosh, Armenia
  • Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico (this is funnier to Spanish speakers than English, mind you.)
  • Guam
  • Hackensack, NJ (mentioned in many Joisey jokes)
  • Hahatonka State Park (in the Ozarks in Missouri)
  • Ha Ha Road, London
  • Hamtramck, Michigan
  • Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada
  • Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, Alberta, Canada
    • So called because First Nations hunters used to chase buffalo off the cliff.
    • Dave Barry: "I have called the centre, and when they answer the phone, they say, very politely--I absolutely swear this is true--'Head-Smashed-In, may I help you?'"
  • Hell, Michigan (which does tend to freeze over in the winter)
  • Hialeah, Florida (Bells Are Ringing has Handel's Hialeah Chorus)
  • Hoboken, NJ. "Yeah, but that's Hoboken."
  • Hohokus, NJ
  • Hooker County, Nebraska
  • Humptulips, WA. (Yes, it's said like you think.)
  • Ii, Finland
  • Illibilli, Sudan (which is also the longest palindromic place name)
  • Intercourse, Pennsylvania, right around Amish country.
    • When the town was named it referred to a rail road crossing.
    • In case you didn't know, Intercourse is right near some other towns named Gap, Bird-in-Hand, Paradise, and Blue Ball. I'll let your dirty mind fill in the rest.
      • Though, sadly, there appears to be no Foreplay.
      • Don't forget Virginville, PA!
  • Idaho
  • Inaloo, WA, Australia
  • Islamabad, Pakistan
  • Jackson Hole, Wyoming
  • Jalalabad, Afghanistan
  • Kalamazoo, Michigan (that "zoo" is the crucial syllable is ably demonstrated by the song "I've Got A Gal In Kalamazoo")
    • Ironically, there is no zoo in Kalamazoo. There is, however, an aircraft museum called the "Air Zoo".
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kapuskasing, ON Canada
    • Robert Munsch even wrote a story about a girl who just wanted to go to Kapuskasing because the name was so awesome.
  • Kennebunkport, Maine
  • Keokuk, Iowa
  • Kiek in de Kök, Tallinn, Estonia
  • Kokomo, Indiana. Sadly, nothing like the Beach Boys song.
  • Kola Superdeep Borehole, Russia (which happens to be in the Murmansk Oblast)
  • Kush (now known as the much less funny "Sudan")
  • Lahaina, Hawaii
  • Lackawanna, New York
  • Lake Merrimu
  • Lake Minnetonka (where you have to purify yourself)
  • Lake Okeechobee
  • Lake Titicaca
  • Lake Winnipesaukee (What About Bob)
    • Lake Made-Of-Winnipesaukee!
  • Liechtenstein
  • Lizard Lick, North Carolina
  • Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Wales
  • Loachapoka, Alabama (another real place, pronounced "low-cha-POKE-ah")
  • Lucky Slap, Angus, Scotland
  • Luxembourg
  • Medicine Hat, AB Canada
  • Meat Camp, North Carolina
  • Minnehaha Falls, Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • Mississippi
    • Pascagoula, Mississippi
  • Monkey Mia, WA, Australia
  • Moose Factory, ON Canada
  • Moose Lake, Minnesota
  • Muff, County Donegal, Ireland
  • Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan Republic of Artsakh It's Complicated...
  • Nempnett Thrubwell, England
  • Nicaragua
  • Nizny-Novgorod, Russia
    • And for that matter Novgorod.
  • Ngorongoro, Tanzania
  • Normal, Illinois
  • Norway, or is that just me?
  • Nob End, Lancashire, England
  • Okefenokee Swamp
  • Oktemberyan, Armenia
  • Olongapo, Phillipines (Known to anyone who's served in the US Navy's Pacific Fleet as the host city of U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay)
  • Oonadatta, SA, Australia
  • Orlando, Florida.
  • Orly, France ("NO WAI!")
  • Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
    • In fact, Burkina Faso itself is a pretty funny name.
  • Pahrump, Nevada
  • Relating back to funny animals, Penguin, TAS, Australia
  • Peculiar, Missouri
    • Allegedly named because the first two or three names submitted for the town were already in use elsewhere in the state; they were reportedly told to "choose something peculiar".
  • Pee-Pee Town
  • Penistone, Yorkshire, England. Not pronounced how it looks, but with a short E. Suffers from the Scunthorpe Problem nevertheless.
  • Petaluma, California
  • The River Piddle, England, near the towns of Puddletown, Tolpuddle, Piddlehinton, Piddletrenthide, Affpuddle, Briantspuddle and Turnerspuddle. How I love being British.
  • Pimperne, Dorset, England. Just let that imagery simmer for a little while.
  • Pismo Beach, CA.
  • Pratts Bottom, London
  • Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
  • Qatar. Looks strange enough to English-speakers because it violates the q-u rule, but it's pronounced like "cutter".
  • Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut, Canada.
    • How the heck do you pronounce that?
      • Badly.
  • Ramsbottom, Lancashire, England.
  • Regina, SK, Canada. Innocent enough if you don't know how to pronounce it (rhymes with 'vagina').
  • Ringarooma, TAS, Australia
  • Romanshorn, Switzerland (recently featured in Irregular Webcomic)
  • Santa Claus, Indiana
  • Saratoga Springs, NY
  • Saskatchewan, Canada, but that may be because of this song.
    • Also, nothing rhymes with Saskatchewan.
    • Not to mention its biggest city, Saskatoon.
  • Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. (Possibly even funnier when rendered as "S!!!!horpe" by internet censorware.)
    • If pages related to it are not just blocked.
  • Seattle, WA
  • Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! PQ, Canada. Exclamation points and all.
  • Sexmoan, Pampanga, Philippines (sadly, nerfed)
  • Sheboygan, Wisconsin
  • Shitterton, Dorset, England. The village that dare not speak its name.
  • Six Mile Bottom, Cambridgeshire, England (this is honestly a real place)
  • Smackover, Arkansas [1]
  • South Kumminin, WA, Australia
  • Sparta (or SPAAAAAAAAARRTAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!)
  • Stampersgat ("stomper's hole"), the Netherlands.
  • Swadlincote, Derbyshire, England
  • Tallahassee, Florida.
  • Termonfeckin, County Louth, Ireland.
  • Tierp, Sweden
  • Timbuktu, Mali, Africa
    • Which inspired the name of the One-Hit Wonder group Timbuk3 (of "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" fame)
  • Tippecanoe, Indiana
    • "Tippecanoe and Tyler too"
  • Tittybong, Vic, Australia
  • Tlaquepaque, Mexico
  • Toad Suck Ferry (near Conway), Arkansas
  • Toast, North Carolina
  • Togo. Formerly the European colony Togoland.
  • Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico
  • Tuckahoe, Pennsylvania
  • Tumbarumba, NSW, Australia
  • Turkey Scratch, Arkansas (birthplace of The Band's Levon Helm)
  • Tuzigoot, Arizona (pronounced too-see-goot)
  • Twatt, Shetland, Scotland
  • Two Egg, Florida
  • Upper Volta
  • Ur (not related to Ur Example) and Uruk
  • Useless Loop, WA, Australia
  • Versailles, MO doesn't look so funny, but it's pronounced "versaylz".
  • Vulcan, Alberta, Canada
  • Wagga Wagga, Australia
  • Wahoo, Nebraska
  • Walla Walla, WA.
  • Wanglik (AKA Hengli,) China
  • Wankdorf Stadium, Bern, Switzerland, Home of the Young Boys.
  • Wanker's Corner, Oregon.
  • Waterloo, either because of the -oo or the bathroom implications. Or both.
  • Wawa, ON Canada
  • Westward Ho!, Devon, England.
  • Weed, CA. Mentioned earlier, but too briefly. They like to lampshade it, too: one of the town's mottoes is "Try legal Weed!"
  • Wetwang, England
  • What Cheer, Iowa.
  • Windpassing, Austria.
  • Winnipeg, MB Canada
  • Wolverhampton, England. It doesn't seem like it'd be that funny, but believe me, it is.
  • Woonsocket, Rhode Island (and South Dakota)
  • Wonthaggi, Australia (known locally as Wonni or The Thag, often depending on your opinion of the place)
  • Worms, Germany (famous in history for the Diet of Worms)
  • Yazoo City, Mississippi
  • Yeehaw Junction, Florida
    • Former name was Jackass Junction, Florida
  • Yemen
  • Zimbabwe
  • It'd probably be easier to list the British hamlets whose names don't qualify.
  • Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsijänkä, Finland

General[]

Cquote1

 "Hope Rob don't say balls nasty!"

"Balls nasty."

Cquote2
Cquote1

 "Your boy's a limey fork-flinger, Mother. What 'will' the bridge club say?"

Cquote2
Cquote1

 There was aphids on the lettuce

and I...ate every one

Cquote2


Inherently Funny Words by language[]

Celtic languages[]


Yiddish[]

  • Anything in Yiddish, or sounding like Yiddish, even (Note that about half of the examples are either Hebrew and German words, or very close to them. Yiddish practically mishes the rediculoucy of those two languages and takes it aup to eleven):


other Germanic languages (minus English)[]

  • Afrikaans:
    • Aardvark- literally "earth pig"
    • (my personal favorite) Free Sample= Gratis Monster (Gratis pronounced Hratis)
    • Hell, "Afrikaans" itself is pretty funny.
    • Trying listening to someone with an Afrikaans accent speak English. They sound like some sort of mutant who bounces between Australia, the UK, and some alternate dimension on business regularly.
    • For other examples, see the entire of the film District 9.
      • For a further, greater example, see Lethal Weapon: "But... You're blick!"
    • Klipspringer
  • Dutch:
    • tentoonstelling
    • sokken
    • pannekoek
    • daarna
    • zeehond
    • varken
    • telefoon
    • nieuw
    • kinnesinne
  • German:
    • Achtung
      • !
        • !!!
          • Gesundheit!
    • Arschgeige
    • Lederhosen
      • funny word for a funny garment
    • Flammenwerfer
    • Pritschenwagen ("pickup truck", which is pretty funny itself)
    • Wolpertinger, a mythical creature that is itself meant to be frightening but, seeing as it's a bunny rabbit with large antlers, ends up as adorable
    • Kaninchen. In other words, a li'l fluffy bunneh!
      • Karnickel, a regional term for the same li'l bunneh! (But it is better because it has more k's!)
    • Gegenüber
    • Kampfflugzeug
    • Kofferraumdeckel
    • Mannschaft (which is simply the word for "team" but sounds dirty)
      • "Ich spiele gern mit mein Mannschaft, jeden tag."
    • Schwanz ("tail"; in slang it can mean what you think Mannschaft means)
    • Ochsenschwanzsuppe (ox tail soup, but considering what the word above can mean...)
    • Schnurrbart
    • Dick (it means "thick" in the measurement-and-body-shape-senses)
    • Schlange ("snake")
      • By extension, the English slang term "schlong".
    • Siebenfacher Sonnenkreis (OK, so it's two words, but this phrase from The Magic Flute never fails to crack me up)
    • Spinnenfinger ("spider fingers", unattactively long (often cold) fingers, that look like spiderlegs; especially funny if spoken in a Hessian dialect)
    • Ausfahrt (highway exit)
    • Gegengegangen
    • Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft. Longest-published word in the language, at 79~80 letters (nowadays, it would be written with a triple F).
    • Ananas
    • Schmetterling (Butterfly. Interestingly, "schmettern" means to strike hard/violently)
    • Schnauzer
    • Schwippschwager (The brother in law of your brother or sister in law)
    • Und (and), if said in the right way.
    • Wienerschnitzel
    • Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung ("speed limit")
    • Pferdefedern (literally, "horse feathers")
    • Dirndl
    • packen
    • kaputt
    • Mumpitz (which means something along the line of "balderdash")
    • Ach!
    • Vergnügt (pronounced "fair-gnyct." go ahead, try and say it without giggling.)
    • Dudelsack, pronounced "doodle-zock". It means "bagpipe".
    • Schmaltz
    • Büstenhalter
    • Pfannkuchen
    • rumspringen
    • Oddly enough, schadenfreude. It means receiving pleasure at the pain of others.
    • Fünfundfünfzig (Foonf-oont-foonf-zic. It means 55.)
    • Walpurgisnacht
    • Schnupfen
    • Besteckschublade
    • vollgepfropft ("choked up")
  • Swedish
    • Basically, anything at IKEA. One particular example, appleflarn, an oat cookie with apple pieces baked in.
    • 'Fart' means 'speed', as in 'velocity'. There are roadsigns in Sweden with words such as 'Infart', 'Utfart', 'Påfart' and 'Avfart'. In = In. Ut = Out. På = On. Av = Off. Also, 'Cruise control' is 'Fartkontroll'.
    • slut ("end"; pronounced "sloot")


Italic and Romance languages[]

  • Latin:
    • The pronoun hic, haec (pronounce [haik]), hoc. Also works if you're a Francophone, as "hic" is the onomatopoeia for hiccups in both French and English.
      • The Asterix comics went to town with this — every time they showed a drunk Roman, they'd use all three pronouns for his hiccups.
    • Not to mention, the verb 'facio'. (And to go with imperatives- 'Dic me! Dic me!' It ought to have some indicators for long vowels, but not in our textbook...)
    • ambulabamus ("We were walking")
      • In fact, any verb ending in -bimus, -bamus, -bimini or -bamini is funny.
    • plumbum (lead)
    • superbum (superb)
  • French:
    • bibliothèque
    • ennui
    • escargot
    • fromage
    • ménage
    • caoutchouc, especially in the song Ça Plane Pour Moi
    • pamplemousse (used as a running gag in the webcomic Bob the Angry Flower)
      • Used incorrectly, nonetheless; "pamplemousse" actually means "grapefruit".
      • There's even a band that derives it's name from this word, though they change the spelling to Pomplamoose.
    • poisson
      • "Who poisoned the poisson?"
    • poubelle
      • plus belle qu'une poubelle
    • merde, even better because it means poop (as well as made famous by Monty Python).
    • phoque, pronounced like a certain English F word (elementary school French class was never the same when they came up with that silly zoo program where you clicked on the animals, and all you could hear was "phoque", "phoque"...)
    • quinze
    • harpe, and since the h is silent, it makes someone saying sound as if they are trying some strange seal bark. Try continually saying "arp arp arp arp" with a French accent and not laugh.
    • hockey, especially when "au" is used before it.
    • calculatrice
    • le fromage est mort parce que le chat est dans l'aspirateur or: the cheese is dead because the cat is in the vacuum cleaner.
    • agrafeuse, the lovely word for stapler
    • affiche, or "poster" used in the same way with a French accent
    • concombre, or cucumber
    • raplapla, meaning tired
    • roploplo, usually used as plural, roploplos
  • Spanish:
    • chimichanga (a Mexican dish)
    • hablaba (he/she/it spoke)
    • trabajaba (he/she/it worked)
      • And by association, trabajábamos (we worked)
    • mundo (world)
    • mofongo (a Puerto Rican dish)
    • bufanda (scarf)
    • jipijapa (Panama hat)
    • galimatías (gobbledygook)
    • Perú, emú, cebú, anticucho (according to the -oo phonetics)
      • Ñandú. Seriously, try to say it with a straight face.
    • marmota (groundhog)
    • panza (belly)
    • By extension, most words with the suffix "-ito" and "-ita" as a diminutive ("pancita")
      • Not to mention you can repeat the diminutive as many times as you like for emphasis, thus something extremely small could be chiquitititititito" or "chiquitiquitiquitico"
    • pie (foot) (pronounced PEE-eh)
    • sacapuntas (pencil sharpener)
    • equipaje (baggage). Say it out loud.
    • catorce (fourteen)
    • yuxtaponer (to juxtapose) and all its conjugations: yuxtapusiste, yuxtapuesto, yuxtaponga...
    • cacahuate (Mexican Spanish for peanut)
    • marmita (cooking pot)
    • limpiaparabrisas (windshield wipers)
    • poner, pongo (to put, I put)
      • And puse ("I put" in the past)!!! Meow, meow...
    • pescado (fish)
    • atún (tuna)
    • pez globo (blowfish)
    • facón (a sword carried by Argentinian cowboys)
    • quizás (perhaps)... again, say it out loud.
    • desafortunadamente (unfortunately)
  • Italian:
    • squillante
    • Adverbs which are formed by adding the suffix "-mente" to present participles ending in "-ente". Particularly the word indipendentemente ("independently"). More so if you still haven't grasped its proper pronunciation.


Japanese[]

  • Japanese:
    • Japanese has a good bit of reduplication, usually used to indicate some degree of vagueness; there's even a character used to indicate repetition of the previous kanji (々). As such, you end up with words like 時々 "tokidoki" (sometimes, "time-time"), 黙々 "mokumoku" (mute, "silence-silence"), 中々 "nakanaka" (rather) or 我々 "wareware" (we "I-I").
    • desu - if you don't think it's funny, say it five times fast without giggling.
    • kyuukyuusha (ambulance)
    • koko/soko/asoko (here/there/over there)
    • demo (but)
    • eeto (erh...), n, and other stopgaps and fillers
      • In particular, "ano...," meaning "that..." is popular as well, sounds slightly dirty in English and IS dirty in Spanish.
    • moshimoshi
    • haha (mother) and chichi (father)
    • aso, because if you say it the right way...
    • chin - while still a body part, it's not in the same region as the english one.
      • Try below the belt. Actually, almost any euphemism for a penis is Japanese is hilarious. There's at least twelve.
    • Nobuatsu Aoki.
    • Baka (largely thanks to Akane Tendo)
    • bukkake (the smart bomb of dirty words. First off, few people know what it is - those who don't go home and look it up..."AAAAAAAAAAGH!" It also has a totally clean alternate meaning as a style of noodle preparation. Plus, it's ridiculously fun to say). And it can also be easily confused with "Bokukko".
    • Moshi moshi
    • Yoshi
    • Oppai
    • bonkura
    • Itadakimasu (somewhat appropriately, sounds like "Eat a duck, we must")
    • Nani?! Standard for any moe-blob.
    • Dango
    • No da!/Na no da!
    • Gyūnyu (cow's milk)
    • Washi (how old men say "I" or "me"). Try saying it in an old man's voice.
    • -tachi, a collectivizing suffix for all the various gender- and age- specific ways to say "I" (ore/boku/atashi/watashi/etc.), which can add a humorous nuance beyond the meaning of "we" ("Ore-tachi"="we [tough guys]...")
      • The word "tomodachi" was originally made by applying the collectivizing "-tachi" to the word "tomo" (friend), but nowadays this word also means a single friend. How to make a noun which explicitly means "a group of friends"? Well, of course, add the same suffix once more: "tomodachitachi"!
    • Seieki.
    • 若干 (jakkan), despite being more or less synonymous with ちょっと (chotto) or 少し (sukoshi), is considered more inherently funny.
    • Atatakai - warmish
      • Even more fun in past tense, "Atatakakatta"
    • Uso. It means "Lie".
    • Midori means green and is insanely fun to say (though not as much as tokidoki)
    • Wagamama (selfishness)
    • Hikikomori, but probably not funny if you are one.
    • Hito is 'person', while hitobito is 'people'.
    • mimikaki
    • Ninki (popular)
    • Nonki (easy going. Trying it and the above in rapid succession.)
    • Shishunki (puberty). Especially funny for Russian speakers when transliterated (using the Polivanov system) as "сисюнки", which is dangerously close to the Russian word for "titties".
    • konichiwa
    • shiitake (as in the mushrooms)
    • Basically any by itself, especally "Pu" (see "Poo" above), and any other symbols ending in "U" (for the same reasons of he "oo" words).
    • The sequence of numbers, 8-8-7-1 (hachi hachi nana ichi)
      • Using the slightly less popular Japanese variation for "seven", the same sequence is "Hachi-Hachi-Shichi-Ichi.
    • geso (squid tentacles for eating)[2]
    • sumo (a funny name for a funny sport)
    • Ninja
    • Unputenpu (trusting something to chance). Fans of Kaiji will be familiar with this one.
    • Kuuki versus Kukki: the first means "air," the second is the Japanese pronunciation of "cookie." You will get them mixed up.
    • Many Japanese Pokémon names qualify as this, with many of them being portmanteaus of existing words:
      • Pikachu ("Pick a chew, any chew!")
      • Fushigisou (Ivysaur)
      • Shizarigā/Shizariger (Crawdaunt)
      • Roobushin/Roopushin (Conkeldurr)
      • Būbā/Boober (Magmar)
      • Matadogasu (Weezing)
      • Ragurāji (Swampert)
      • Kekkingu (Slaking)
      • Bosugodora/Bossgodora (Aggron)
      • Mukuhōku (Staraptor)
      • Rejigigasu (Regigigas; fun to say in English as well)
      • Gigaiasu (Gigalith)
      • Gamageroge (Seismitoad)
      • Darumakka
      • Hihidaruma (Darmanitan)
      • Rankurusu (Reuniclus)
      • Baibanira (Vanilluxe)
      • Shikijika (Deerling)
      • Mebukijika (Sawsbuck)
      • Tamagetake (Foongus)
      • Gigigiaru (Klinklang)
      • Shibishirasu (Tynamo)
      • Shibibīru (Eelektrik)
      • Ononokusu (Haxorus)
      • Genosekuto (Genesect)
  • mushi
  • Mushishi


Other Languages[]

  • Aboriginal Australian languages:
    • kookaburra
    • Woop Woop. Yes, it's a place.
    • kangaroo
    • wallaby
    • Toowoomba
    • Woomera
    • Coonamble
    • Wagga Wagga
    • Goondiwindi
    • didgeridoo
    • Wollongong
    • Wombat
    • Bundanoon
    • Tubbarubba
  • Armenian:
    • apoosh (meaning fool)
    • chezarmanak (meaning "don't be suprised")
    • duduk
    • saganakagoyn (brown)
  • Finnish:
    • saippuakuppinippukauppias (the world's longest palindrome, 'meaning' "soap cup bunch merchant")
    • Kalevala
    • höpö-höpö! (meaning "nonsense!")
    • lämpimämpi (meaning "warmer")
    • saarikaari (meaning "arch of islands")
    • hihhuli (meaning "fanatic" and also the only Finnish word with a geminate "h")
  • Polish:
    • fart ((good) luck)
    • pies (dog, mostly funny due to the false friend)
    • potrzebie
  • Russian
    • бутерброд (sandwich) pronounced "booterbrod". Comes from the German word "Butterbrot" (Butter bread, aka Bread with Butter)
    • глупый (stupid) pronounced "gloopyi"
    • Phobos-Grunt (Фобос-Грунт), where "Grunt" is pronounced "groont".
    • гофрированный (like, wrinkly metal. Damn, it got funnier) pronounced "gophrirovannyi"
    • грымза (old hag, borrowed from Polish) pronounced "gryimza".


  • Turkish:
    • Bashi-Bazouk
      • Along with the rest of Captain Haddock's vocabulary. Captain Archibald Haddock, to give his full name...
    • Ali Baba
    • babaganoush
    • sesame
    • baklava
    • Constantinople
      • Istanbul
    • elele
  • Chinese
    • Bōluó (pineapple)
    • Moo Goo Gai Pan
  • Indonesian
    • Kerbau (water buffalo)
    • Kuda (horse)
  • Marathi
    • dabbawala (someone who delivers lunchboxes)
  1. ↑ As in "you bet your sweet..."
  2. ↑ We have Ika Musume to thank for that, de geso.
  3. ↑ pronounced "dug"
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