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"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
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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.
Words With A "K"[]
- Pickle
- Bikini
- BONK!
- Cake (real or fictional)
- Chicken
- Cock
- Multiple meanings only add to the hilarity.
- Cookie
- Contraption
- Corn
- Crapulous
- Dinkleberg
- Duck
- As seen on Only Fools and Horses:
Del: What's "duck à l'orange" in French? |
- Fuck
- There's a reason some say "funny as fuck!"
- Funky
- Gadunka!
- Gashunk - Clearly the sound a shark makes when it kicks down a door.
- Hankie
- Honk
- Honkeyfication (Sadly, this word is useless for basically anything other than the subject of Michael Jackson.)
- The Onion's word for the transformation of MJ was Blackendectomy
- Honky-tonk
- Badonkadonk
- Corsendonk (though some contend the word "Belgium" is, itself, sufficiently amusing)
- Badonkadonk
- Kerfuffle
- Kettle
- Knickers
- Knickerbocker
- Kookaburra
- Kumquat
Booker: Why did you name me Booker? |
- You eat the kumquat, snickering a little at how funny a word "kumquat" is.
- Kumquat was actually found to be the funniest word in the English language in one famous study.
- Lutefisk
- McGurk
- Merkin
- Muckluck
- Okie-dokie
- Monkey
- Octorok
- Percolator
- Perquackey™
- Puck
- Puke
- Pumpernickel
- Scallywag
- Scuttlebutts. About 70% of the comedy of the video is based on this principle; characters names include Kip Baum O'Hara, Benjamin Benjamin, Dr. Durt Curtis, and Patsack Malone.
- Sock
- Socket
- Spank
- Spackle
- Spatchcock
- Spork
- Yak
- Akinator
- Akbar
- Hickcicle.
- Blacula, especially when used as a common noun as opposed to a proper one.
Words With an "oo" Sound[]
- albumen (Look Around You: "Watch out for the new albumen — it's out now.")
- There's a character called Brian Albumen in Rik Mayall's TV show 'Believe Nothing'.
- bamboozle
- bassoon (including Shatner's bassoon)
- baboon
- bazooka
- behoove
- beluga
- bewildered
- bloop
- booby
- boob
- And by extension, Boobies!!
- boogaloo (particularly electric ones)
- booger
- boondoggle is probably worth two. It probably had a real meaning once, but is now only ever heard in the context of political messes.
- boop
- By extension boop-boop-a-doop
- Boota
- booty
- booze
- Broo (Broos themselves aren't very funny, though)
- bosom (which can be pronounced with either the vowel of "book" or "duke." Extra funny if said by a very old man reading The Bible in church.)
- brouhaha
- Bugenhagen
- caboose
- cahoots
- canoodle
- canoe
- cebu
- chartreuse
- cockadoodie
- cock-a-doodle-doo
- Cthulhu
- cuckoo
- didgeridoo
- discombobulated
- doodad
- doodle
- doofus
- dooky
- doohickey
- doom
- doot
- doozy
- droopy
- Dubong. Which, interestingly, sounds a lot like 'dick bong' when heard during a spread.
- dude
- Or perhaps dood!
- duty
- fedora
- festoon
- floozy
- Flugelhorn
- Food
- Fool
- And, by extension, Foo.
- "Foo" actually predates Mr. T. It originated from the now little known comic strip Smokey Stover. In this case however, it wasn't meant to sound like "fool", it was just a nonsense word.
- Baka
- Aho (made funnier by the fact that this is an onomatopoeia for the sound a crow makes, hence the recurring gag seen in anime)
- Froot Loops
- goo goo g'joob (from I Am the Walrus)
- goober
- Google. How did you think it became so popular?
- On a related note, Yahoo! as well.
- Goomba
- goop
- gruel
- gubernatorial (the 'u' is pronounced as 'oo')
- Smoot-Hawley Tariff
- haboub (Arabic word for sandstorm, used recently to describe the Arizona dust cloud)
- hoopla
- Humpty Doo, Australia
- hullabaloo
- impromptu
- indubitably
- inglenook
- kablooie
- Kaboodle
- Kalamazoo
- kazoo
- koo koo ka choo (from Mrs. Robinson)
- kook
- Kugel. Especially noodle kugel.
- lollapalooza
- loo
- loofah
- ludicrous
- lutefisk (LOO-da-fisk: a gelatinous fish product eaten by Norwegians on Christmas.)
- macaroon
- maroon
- moo
- Mooooo!
- Moogle
- Mook
- moon
- moose (including møøse)
- ...and, by extension, Moose Jaw, SK
- or Moose Factory ON. Yeah, Canada has some funny place names...
- Not to mention mousse.
- Mufasa!! Mufasa, Mufasa, Mufasa!!
- noodle
- nincompoop
- nougat
- obtuse
- oo, ooo, OOO, ooooo, OOo, Ooo (but not oooo)
- Ook
- oogle
- oompa loompa
- oomph
- oops
- Inherently funny and funny in its usual context.
- Ouagadougou
- pantaloons
- patoot/patootie
- "Pazuzu!"
- Petaluma
- picaroon
- picayune
- poltroon
- poo, poop
- "Poop" is the only word in the English language that is funny in absolutely any context. No, really. It's been scientifically proven. Twice. In every language.
- Naturally; science requires replication for proof. Luckily, poop is inherently easy for humans to replicate.
- "Poo Nugget" cannot be used while maintaining a straight face, try it.
- AND THEN THEY EAT DA POO POO
- Proof, bitches - It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a show known for its willingness to use the word "shit", has an episode in its fourth season called "Who Pooped the Bed?", where "shit" is scarcely used. "Poop" is funny. Lampshaded, even.
- Try "poo gas", a la Freakazoid
- Earthbound has a character NAMED Poo. It's hard not to break out laughing in the middle of serious moments because of this. Probably they got some Narm in our RPG...
- Pooh anyone?
- Dammit, man what more evidence do you need? The poo-pooing alone is a court-martial offense!
- And how could we forget Poopie?
- Poopiewuffen
- Agent Mulder's reference to a 'Poo-storm' in the censored in-flight version of the X-Files movie. Originally 'shit-storm,' whoever did the voiceover intentionally overemphasized the POO.
- Zoosmell Pooplord
- poopie suit
- After all, there is no law of diminishing comedic returns with space poop.
- "Iiiii am, the Great Mighty Poo / And I'm going to throw my shit at you..."
- "Poop" is the only word in the English language that is funny in absolutely any context. No, really. It's been scientifically proven. Twice. In every language.
- pooch
- poodle
- poon
- poontang
- Pooka
- POOT
- pootermobile
- or any word with -mobile
- poubelle
- protuberance ("Now, inject the serum. This should cause the foci to protuberate." Thank you, Trauma Team.)
- prune
- puce
- and, by extension, prepuce
- punanny
- ratatouille
- Roomba/Scooba
- rutabaga (often cited in cartoons when the name of a vegetable is needed for this very reason)
- Schnoodle (cross between a Schnauzer and a Poodle)
- Labradoodle (Labrador + Poodle)
- Scootaloo
- Scooper Dooper
- scruples
- SCUBA
- Shaboozey!
- shadoof - Yes, this word actually exists. It's a sort of small crane for lifting water.
- Shih Tzu
- Shipoopie
- Shoopuff
- snu snu - even better when you find out what it means
- snickerdoodle
- snood
- Soup
- spittoon
- spoo
- spooge
- spoon
- spoot
- stoop
- strudel
- switcheroo
- Thu'um
- Timbuktu
- Toon
- Tooting Bec
- tuba
- tube
- Tuesday (when a random day of the week needs to be referenced in a comedic line, it's usually Tuesday.)
- tutu
- Uboa (though the man himself is either Nightmare Fuel or hilarious, depending on who you ask).
- Ubuntu
- unununium
- uterus (uter-you! uter-me! ...Okay, I'm done.)
- vacuum tubes
- voodoo
- Also, hoodoo.
- "Who do?"
- "Now go do - that voodoo - that YOU do!"
- You remind me of the babe./What babe?/The babe with the power./What power?/The power of voodoo./Who do?/You do./Do what?/Remind me of the babe.
- I got voodoo, I got hoodoo, I got things I ain't even tried!/And I got friends on the other side~
- vuvuzela
- wahoonie
- wazoo
- Whiffenpoof
- Whoops
- witloof
- woodchuck
- Woolloomooloo
- Woobie. Seriously, just try and say it with a straight face.
- zeeky boogy doog
- zoo
- zucchini
Celebrity Names[]
- Al Albuquerque, Detroit Tigers relief pitcher.
- Anurag Dikshit.
- Barack Hussein Obama.
- Any other President with an unusual given name, particularly the more obscure 19th century ones - Millard Fillmore, Ulysses S Grant, Rutherford B Hayes, and Grover Cleveland fall in under this. You might also see Zachary Taylor treated in this way in works from before about 1980 when the name started to be popular with parents of newborns.
- 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.)
- Eh, at this point, it just makes him hotter. To nerds.
- 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)
- Actually, 'Bonar' is pronounced to rhyme with 'honour'. Doesn't stop it looking funny when written down though.
- 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
- Does he enjoy Cocoa Krispies?
- 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.
- By extension, and intentionally, the Darths and Droids version "Puppeteen".
- 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
HymenHyman - 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.
- Relatedly, Zingelbert Bembledack, Yingybert Dambleban, Zangelbert Bingledack, Wingelbert Humptyback, Slup ben Walla, Kringelbert Fishtybuns, Steviebuns Bottrittrundle, Tringelbert Wangledack, Klingybun Fistelvase, Dindlebert Zindledack, Engelbert Humptyback, Zengelbert Bingledack, Vingelbert Wingledanck...
- Izzard is a little off base here, since Engelbert Humperdinck ( whose real name is Arnold Dorsey) took his stage name from a real 19th-century operatic composer. Though the name is no less funny as a result.
- Relatedly, Zingelbert Bembledack, Yingybert Dambleban, Zangelbert Bingledack, Wingelbert Humptyback, Slup ben Walla, Kringelbert Fishtybuns, Steviebuns Bottrittrundle, Tringelbert Wangledack, Klingybun Fistelvase, Dindlebert Zindledack, Engelbert Humptyback, Zengelbert Bingledack, Vingelbert Wingledanck...
- Esa-Pekka Salonen
- Fair Hooker, a '70s NFL wide receiver.
- As then-Monday Night Football commentator Don Meredith put it, "I've never met one of those."
- 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
- Staff Sgt. Max Fightmaster, US Army.
- Staff Sgt. Max Fucking Fightmaster.
- Staff Sgt. Max Fightmaster, US Army.
- 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?
- His birth name was Peter Ingvar Rolf Storm. He's awesome, but he should've become a supervillain with that name.
- Petey Pablo
- Pia Zadora
- Pieter Botha
- Pieter van den Hoogenband
- Radek Bonk
- Randy Bumgardner
- Reince Priebus
- Richard Braine
- Ron Stuart
- Rip Van Winkle
- And on that note, Robert Van Winkle
- Robert Dinwiddie
- Robert Loggia. That's R, as in "Robert Loggia..."
- Rod Blagojevich
- Roger Bumpass
- Don't forget Bill Fagerbakke.
- 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
- Your Mileage May Vary as to whether or not "Dweezil" is worse than "Moon Unit".
- ZaSu Pitts
- Zsa Zsa Gabor
- Zun
Given Names[]
- Aberforth
- Abernathy
- Albert
- Algernon
- Aloysius
- Archibald
- Archimedes
- Bernard
- Bert, or Bertram
- If your name happens to be Bertram, do not marry a woman named Gertrude, or else you will be known to all and sundry as "Bertie and Gertie". Like some bad music hall act.
- Bertha
- The ever-classic Bob (especially if Edmund Blackadder says it. That has a lot to do with the fact that Rowan Atkinson has a stutter when he tries to pronounce the letter B)
- Brian
- I want to cwucify Bwian and wealease Wodewwick.
- Caboose. Actually his last name, but his full name is Michael J. Caboose. Though, Grif might be funnier.
- Chesterdrawers
- Cos Dashit, the original name for the equally funny-named Emperor Palpatine.
- Cluck was my Grandmother's maiden name. I also knew a few Gobbles growing up.
- Deutch
- Dick
- Donny
- Dora, particularly when combined with allusions to 'explorer'.
- Dorcas
- Durwood
- Dwayne!
- Jerome
- Gregor (is a weird name)
- Dumas, what a unfortunate last name.
- Elmer
- Ernie
- Ethelbert
- Eugene
- Ezekiel
- Fegelein
- Filbert
- Fillmore
- Flaherty
- Garth
- Gaylord
- Also, just Gay.
- Gibby
- Gladys
- Any variation of those German surnames that sound like the call of a turkey.
- Hank
- Hans (especially in the context of "Ach! Hans, run! It's the lhurgoyf!")
- Hogarth
- Hortense
- Hubert
- Jeff
- Jehosephat
- Jethro
- Josh
- Meet Josh Jepson...~
- Lamar
- Lester
- Lipschitz, and variations
- Logan
- Louise
- Lucie Ascam
- Lulu
- Hey, Mac!
- Sticking Mc in front of anything, too
Brad: "Hello and welcome to the 6 o'clock news, I'm Chester Snapdragon McFisticuffs..." |
- Madanach
- Maynard
- Melvin (one of the most common names in Mad Magazine, from the first issue on)
- Mervin
- Morag
- Morton
- Mufasa, Mufasa, Mufasa!!
- Neku (say it 10 times fast)
- Neji. Rhymes with both "Reggie" and "wedgie". Go on, repeat it to yourself over and over.
- Ned (or Neddy)
- MRS. NESBIT.
- Norbert
- Oonagh
- Percy, Percival
- Patchouli
- Penelope
- Phinneas
- Pussy, especially paired with the last name "Galore"
- Ralph
- Rupert
- Rutigar
- Seymour
- Sheldon
- Sindri
- Surname example: Snodgrass.
- Note on that, Chitty. And Beaglehole.
- Seckendorf
- Stan
- Steve. Stretch it out. Steeeeve.
- Strunk
- Sven (and Ole)
- Tarquin, the metonym of pretentious child-naming.
- Thaddeus
- "Thrakazog! With a 'K'! Boy are you ever rude!"
- Tiesenhausen
- Todd
- Waldo, Wally (particularly when combined with allusions to "where's")
- Walter (especially when combined with Sobchak)
- Wilberforce
- Bathsheba
- Elvendork (it's unisex!)
- Woody
- Yogi
- Zu-Zu
- ...And, of course, just about anything to be found at the Pophangover site Awkward Names.
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
- Except in Orleans County, USA, where "goat" was officially pronounced Not Funny... by udge Punch (no, really).
- 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
"Your Majesty, if you were king, you wouldn't be afraid of anything?" |
- 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
- seacow
- mandrill (a kind of old-world monkey; separate the two words with a hyphen for full effect)
- ...mand-rill?
- "Mandrill is the drill that will pierce the Heavens!!!" ... ...sorry, couldn't resist.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Aww!
- But what do you call it when one of those breeds with a bantha?
- 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
Anything goes in |
- Or, if you prefer:
Often thinks that travel widens |
- 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
- just never knock it, as the song advices.
- 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:
Ryan: We wuv u, Walla Walla, Washington... |
- 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..."
- 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.
- 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".
- Even funnier when you know that "Baden" means "Baths."
- 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
- which is just down the road from Phuket
- Oh, and its ceremonial name? * deep breath* Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathon Amon Piwan Awatan Sathit Sakkathatiya Witsanukam Prasit. Longest place name in the world, people! (For those curious, it means "The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous royal palace that resembles the heavenly abode where above reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarm".)
- 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?
- ... K-porn? Oh dear.
- 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.
- Along with Pussy, France and Anus, France. It really is the home of the city of love.
- 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
- If we're doing unusual Native American-derived town names, try this: Mooselookmeguntic, ME.
- Heck, half of Maine towns, rivers, etc.
- Or how about Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg? (Allegedly it means "I fish on my side, you fish on your side, nobody fish in the middle," but that's just an urban myth from the 1920s. The Other Wiki says it means "Englishmen at Manchaug at the fishing place at the boundary.")
- That's why locals, among themselves at least, refer to it as Lake Webster.
- 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
- To the point where Animaniacs had an entire song about it - just because, as the Warners put it "we really like saying its name!"
- "The 'Uranus' of Lakes!"
- 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
- Similarily, Kostroma Moose Farm, Russia. Exactly what it sounds like, but still funny.
- Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan CA
- Moose Lake, Minnesota
- Muff, County Donegal, Ireland
- Nagorno-Karabakh,
AzerbaijanRepublic of ArtsakhIt'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.
- How the heck do you pronounce that?
- 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.
- Waterloo Road.
- Or the ABBA song.
- 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
- Joey from Friends: "It almost sounds like a real place!"
- Zimbabwe
- It'd probably be easier to list the British hamlets whose names don't qualify.
- Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsijänkä, Finland
General[]
- Absquatulation
- Aglio e Olio (pronounced Ah-lee-oh-lee-oh-lee-oh)
- Alfalfa
- Antidisestablishmentarianism (often used in parodies of Spelling Bees)
- antipope (it was a real job description at one point in time, when there were also two other popes)
- If applied to a real Pope, does it explode?
- For that matter, what about pasta and
antipastaantipasto?
- aplomb
- appendage
- applejohn
- artichoke
- arugula
- ass
- autogyro
- avuncular
- baby
- bacon
- bagel
- ballcock
- balls
"Hope Rob don't say balls nasty!" |
- ball washer
- Balzac
- banana (especially for those who can spell it but don't know where to stop, like Nanny Ogg)
- bangers and mash (sausages and mashed potatoes)
- Any other British food counts.
- barf
- barrels
- bauble
- bebop
- beef jerky
- bendy straw
- "bippy"[1]
- billion with emphasis on the "B"
- bimbo
- bladder (and gallbladder too)
- blastocyst
- blastospore
- trophoblast
- blimp
- Zeppelin
- blog
- blubber
- blunderbuss
- boffo
- bog
- bogus
- bong
- bonk
- Sound effect or euphemism, either way.
- see also boink.
- Because Scientific Progress Goes Boink.
- borborygmus
- bosom
- bouilibasse
- boy
- bozack
- braaaaaaaains
- medulla oblongata
- subarachnoid space
- Brass Eye
- The title itself, and every last one of its made-up words and character names.
- brobdingnagian (started off as a fictional word from Gulliver's Travels, meaning someone from the giant island of Brobdingnag; now an actual dictionary word meaning "large")
- Brussels sprouts
- bubble
- bug
- bulbous bouffant
- Bullywug
- Bunbury
- bunion
- burble
- babble burble banter bicker brouhaha balderdash ballyhoo...it's all talk: Back Talk
- burger
- butt
- Also, any of the other words used in Bulbous Bouffant by The Vestibules (warning: link contains sound)
- Try and say the phrase "President Abraham Lincoln was buttbuttinated by an armed buttailant" and not break into fits of laughter.
- butler
- buttle
- buttress
- Butt Monkey
- Buttscratcher
- mmmmmmmBUTT-SCRATCHAAAAAA??
- mmBUTT-SCRATCHAAAA!!
- mmmmmmmBUTT-SCRATCHAAAAAA??
- bum
- butternut
- buttery (this adjective can be combined with anything)
- cactus
- cake
- callipygian
- Which is a Sophisticated As Hell way of saying "DAT ASS".
- cantankerous
- caribou nibbling on the croquet hoops
- cattywampus (or catawampus)
- caucus
- chainsaw
- cheat
- cheese
- chicken
- cillia
- cinnamon
- "ciminiminiminiminiminon"
- "Cinnamon, no!!"
- claven
- Clavicus majorus
- cloaca (Robin Williams's favorite word, according to Inside The Actors Studio)
- cockamamie
- cock, as in a hill.
- cock-of-the-walk (or simply "cock"; a rooster)
- cockle
- cockpit
- cocksure
- condom, when pronounced with a British accent
- copacetic
- cookies
- corn
- cosine (Dave Barry's favorite word for poking fun at math teachers)
- cowpoke
- crotch
- On a related note, say "crotch pox" without giggling. I dare you.
- cucumber - funny in multiple languages. Look it up on a translator. I dare you.
- cuckold
- Cuisinart
- dakka
- Darjeeling
- dead
- debenture
- defenestrate. Partly because of the word itself, and partly because it means "to throw someone/something out a window."
- Which is why teaching about the all-important Second Defenestration of Prague can be so difficult. (It started the Thirty Years War, so it's pretty Serious Business.)
- derp
- dexterous
diabetesdiabeetus- diarrhea
- Although probably not so funny if you've actually suffered from it.
- dickey
- dickweed
- dillweed
- "...So, in the words of A. A. Milne, 'Get out of my chair, dillhole.'"
- dingleberry
- dingus
- dinner
- diphthong
- dipstick (what you use to measure how much oil a car has)
- discombobulated
- dongle
- donniker
- doppelgänger (yes, it comes from German, but in English it's another way of saying "Evil twin")
- dork
- douchebag
- dowel
- Dracula
- duodenum
- dung (it's brown and sounds like a bell)
- dunk
- dwarf
- dysentery
- eggnog
- eggplant
- And the British word for eggplant, aubergine
- ego
- ejaculate
- on a related note, ejecta
- endoplasmic reticulum
- Golgi apparatus
- epidermis - it sounds dirty to grade schoolers; "your epidermis is showing". Say it to anyone who you think won't know any better.
- epididymis - It's part of the male reproductive system, so it's even sort of dirty.
- epiglottis
- ewok
- face, and anything that happens to it, especially, for some reason, if it's violent. This is why comedic characters don't want to be hit there.
- falafel
- fart
- fartlek
- feckless
- feet
- fickle
- filibuster
- finger
- C'mon; As a noun, it's a simple, everyday word describing in non-silly and non-vulgar language one of our most important body parts. As a verb, it means manual sex. And now, you're going to think of that the next time you hear the word.
- Unless you're in a marching band or similar, where "finger through your part" is a perfectly reasonable command from the guy on the podium. We're well aware of the irony.
- College bands tend to lose even the last bit of clarification and just say "everyone finger your parts". Expect the saxes to take this literally every time.
- "They call them fingers, but I've never seen them fing."
- Oh, there they go.
- Made even funnier by "fing" being the Hungarian word for "fart".
- "It's funny how 'fingerpuppets' sounds okay as a noun..."
- Combined with the above to create "Pull my finger"
- Also used to refer to "Looking over someone's stats" in MU* . As in: "Jesus + fingered you".
- All guitarists know the dangers of breaking a g-string while fingering a minor.
- C'mon; As a noun, it's a simple, everyday word describing in non-silly and non-vulgar language one of our most important body parts. As a verb, it means manual sex. And now, you're going to think of that the next time you hear the word.
- flabbergasted
- flaccid
- flagon
- flan
- flange
- flange lubricator
- flatus/flatulence
- flibbertigibbet
- floccinaucinihilipilification
- The longest nontechnical word in the English language. And it actually means nothing (sort of).
- floss
- flotilla
- fluffy
- foibles
- follicle
- fork
- Frankenstein
- frick
- fucitol
- fulcrum
- Fungus
- fustilarian
- Garbonzo
- gargle
- gargoyle
- Gargamel
- gasoline
- gazebo
- Even funnier if pronounced "gaze beau"
- gazumping
- gherkin
- giblets
- appropriately, giggle
- gimp
- gnome
- goblin
- goggle (including Professor McGoggle)
- Gonk
- Gonzo
- gourd
- Gorn
- Glee
- Grapist
- gremlin
- grommet
- guano
- gumption
- guts
- ham (especially if large)
- harpies/herpes
- head cheese (it's neither head nor cheese; it's actually jellied, cured meat [2])
- hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (the fear of overly long words)
- hobnob
- hobo, or indeed, hoboes.
- hoity-toity
- Homo erectus
- Guess what? A famous gay bar in Brussels is named like this. They had it coming.
- hornswoggled
- Horribifuckus
- Hottentot
- Hufflepuff
- Huggbees
- humbug
- Hunkpapa (a Native American tribe of which Sitting Bull was a member, not a Hot Dad.)
- idiot (Pronounced IYYYY-DYOT)
- iguana
- inexplicably (this one gets bonus points for both sounding funny and having an implicitly hilarious definition)
- innuendo (it's an example of itself)
- jackalope
- Jarate
- jelly (especially in the context of brains)
- jet sparrow
- jibblie
- jimmies
- jingo (including Jingo)
- jockstrap
- John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
- joint
- Kabuki (especially Kabuki Warriors)
- Kalgan
- Kaputnik. (Actually "Sputnik" itself sounds sort of funny.)
- ketchup (you can't because you're Too Slow)
- Klopman, as in the Klopman Diamond, which, as one beautiful lady found out to her dismay, comes with a terrible curse. (Used as a Running Gag on Garfield and Friends).
- knees
- knobby knees
- Krankor
- Krebs Cycle
- kumquat (given inordinate emphasis in The Fantasticks)
- lagomorph
- lacquer, and by extention, lacquer thinner
- lasagna
- As in "Ow! My lasagna!"
- leblebi (roasted chickpeas). Come to think of it, "chickpea" is sort of, um, funny.
- lepton
- lesbian (Go on, try it--preferably loudly. LESBIAN!)
- As in one Boston Legal episode, where Alan gets an entire conference room to chorus "LESBIAN!" just to annoy Brad.
- What's funny about that? Wasn't Danny Thomas one?
- lickety-split
- lingum (A copper necklace worn by Mesopotamian priests, in the shape of a dong.)
- Linoleum
- And linolenic acid.
- LOL, appropriately given what it means.
- Similarly, ROFL and ROFLMAO when pronounced as actual words.
- WTF? OMG!!!
- ROFLMAO-TSE-TUNG
- "My ROF Lcopter goes soi soi soi soi soi soi..."
- Similarly, ROFL and ROFLMAO when pronounced as actual words.
- lolipop
- loquacious
- lozenge
- luggage
- It's what you lug.
- macadamia
- macropterous (thank you Penny Arcade!)
- malaise
- manly, or man- as a prefix (as in man-reaction)
- Manbag, Mangina, Manboobs.
- Man Faye
- Mahogany.
- But not just any mahogany! Mahogany from the trees of planet Malchior 7! Where the trees are 300 feet tall and breathe fire!
- ...Mahogany.
- But not just any mahogany! Mahogany from the trees of planet Malchior 7! Where the trees are 300 feet tall and breathe fire!
- Mansquito
- marzipan
- masterpiece
- masticate
- matriculate
- mauve
- meatball
- Meeple
- Menards
- Meow.
- meringue
- Mesopotamian
- millinillion (that's 10^3003)
- Mohorovicic discontinuity
- moist
- monocle
- monopoly
- mop
- mrifk
- muffin
- the only thing more funny than a muffin, is an Otis Spunkmeyer Muffin
- mukluk
- Murloc
- mushroom
- mustard
- nabob
- nachos
- nadir
- Nerf
- niblets
- nipple
- n****r
- noisome, which means smelly.
- n00b
- nosegay
- nostril
- nubbin
- Nude, either with or without the diphthong
- nugget
- nunchuck
- nuts
- oblong
- Ogopogo, which is even more fun because it's a palindrome.
- ointment
- onomatopoeia
- onomatopoeic
- orifice
- pancreas
- As aptly demonstrated by the Beach Boys pastiche "Pancreas" on Weird Al Yankovic's 2006 CD Straight Outta Lynwood.
- "Ow, my pancreas!"
- pants
- Nice pants.
- And on that subject, Monkey Pants.
- "Some would say 'in my pocket'. I choose to say 'in my pants'.
- pancake
- pantaloons
- panties (Anatomy of a Murder even lampshades this)
- pantyhose
- parcheesi
- pasta
- peacock
- Peanuts!
- pianist
- peewee
- pegs
- penis ("HAHA, PENIS")
- peon
- persnickety
- Pfargtle
- phlegm
- philatelist
- piano
- piblokto
- pickle
- tickle
- motorsickle
- an' I don't wanna die, I just wanna ride my - mo-otorcy...cle
- pickle weasel (That 70s Show)
- pie
- Pikachu
- Often used by Chelsea Handler on her show as a reference to a woman's private parts, thus ensuring that nobody aware of this will watch Pokémon in quite the same way ever again (although she spells it "Peekachoo").
- pimp - There's just something about the short I + M + double P that gets me. A high school friend would once torture me to distraction by saying "pimpin' pope" and sending me into paroxysms of laughter.
- pineapples
- pipsqueak
- piscene
- philtrum (It's that little groove in the middle of your upper lip, just under your nose.)
- pneumatic
- Plumbum, the Latin word for lead.
- pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (Monty Python's Flying Circus made the mistake of abbreviating this 45-letter word to "pneumonoconiosis," but its definition of this as "a disease miners get" is priceless)
- pogo
- polyp
- Not if you have to get one removed (or worse yet, if it can't be removed)...
- polymascotfoamalate
- ponce
- Pond.
- Pope
- Popemobile
- Papalmover!
- ANYTHING-mobile is pretty funny, actually
- Popemobile
- popery (rarely used, but incredibly funny)
- Papist is kind of a funny word too, if still kind of offensive. Come on. Say it.
- pork
- Especially pulled pork.
- porn
- pororoca
- potatoes
- power cycle
- pox
- pudding
- Puma
- Pumpkin
- puppet
- Quandong (it's a kind of fruit, OK?)
- Quark
- queef
- RASINS?!?
- RAM CROTCH!!!!
- Recidivist
- rhombus, or rhomboid (what makes it funny...is it the Rh factor?)
- Rowsdower. Zap Rowsdower.
- rubber dinghy
- Hell, both "rubber" and "dinghy" are just as funny separately.
- rubbish
- rucksack
- ruckus
- rump
- Rumplestiltskin
- rumpus room
- sackbut (a musical instrument similar to the trombone)
- sacroiliac
- savvy
- schist (as in Manhattan schist)
- schwa
- scoliosis
- scone (at least when pronounced as "scon")
- scrotum (not that inherently amusing, but when abbreviated to the first syllable only...)
- sebaceous
- sebum, "the dirtiest non-dirty word there is"
- sextant
- shagpile
- sheeple - See "meeple," above.
- shenanigans
- shimmying
- shuttlecock (the thing you use in Badminton)
- skink
- skinnamarink
- sleaze
- Slorddly
- smegma
- smite
- snugglebunnies
- spaghetti
- "pasghetti"
- Spam, even before it was widely used for Internet junk mail. Whether it was funny before the Monty Python sketch is left to historians.
- spatula
- Spazer
- spelunk (as Calvin demonstrates, it makes a good onomatopoeia for throwing a rock into a body of water)
- Spelunky
- spelunker
- sphincter ("Asphinctersayswhat?")
- splanchnic
- Splee
- spleen
- "My spleen!"
- AAUUUUUUUUUUGH!!! MY SPLEEEEN!!!
- "The liver!" "The heart!" "THE SPLEEN!!"
- "My squeedlyspooch!"
- It's doubly funny when used in the phrase "venting one's spleen", which sounds like something really gross.
- Spork
- sporran
- spotted dick
- spunk
- squab
- squalid
- Squee
- squeegee
- Squick
- squirm
- squishy
- stallion
- stickler
- sundry
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
- supercillious
- SWORD VAN
- Syzygy
- tangelo
- taco
There was aphids on the lettuce |
- tarnation
- teepee
- thingamajig
- thrice
- thwart and all variations (thwarted, thwarting, etc.)
- titillate
- tittle (the dot at the top of a lowercase I or J)
- titular
- toaster (especially if it shoots Projectile Toast)
- tomato
- Torgo
- trampoline
- triangular (but only when pronounced with a broad "a")
- trilby
- trope (if you've been hanging out here long enough)
- trousers
- trundle
- truss
- tumescence
- turban
- turducken
- turgid
- turgidity
- turnip
- tusks
- twee
- udder
- ukelele
- ululate
- underpants
- Ken Keeler, one of the head writers of Futurama, declared that the word underpants is 20% funnier than the word underwear.
- Perhaps this is due to the fact that the term "pants" is also quite funny.
- ungulate ("a hoofed mammal", though it would make a darn fine verb as well)
- unguent
- Uranus
- Urectum
- urinal
- urinal cakes are also much more hilarious than just regular cakes
- uvula (the funny-looking thing that dangles at the back of the mouth)
- varlet
- vestigial
- vegetable (Cite: Edmund Blackadder declaring himself to be "the Black...Vegetable", the name "Land of Vegetables". QED.)
- Volcanicityyyyyyyy. Of course, it's a known fact that Matt Berry can make anything sound funny. Including the word "customer".
- voluptuous
- vulva
- wacky
- wad
- waddle
- Or even Chris Waddle
- waffle
- Wankel rotary engine
- wazir
- WcDonald's
- weenie
- welshp
- wenus
- whaargarbl
- whirligig
- whatchamacallit
- Widdly Scuds?
- wiener
- wiggle
- Wii
- Wrinklefucker
- wizard
- Womp Rat (am I spelling that right?)
- Woobie
- Woy Woy
- Wumpus
- Wuzzle
- yam
- youngling
- yurt
- ziggurat
- zaftig
- zamboni
- Almost sounds like a Russian Bond villain, doesn't it? "You'll never get away with this, Zamboni!"
- Anything made up by Spike Milligan (The Goon Show, for example, got a lot of mileage from "Ying tong iddle i po".)
- Inherently Funny Words can quickly derail a spelling bee:
- Say it with me: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
- Homaged and made funnier by The Nostalgia Critic's review of Batman and Robin. How bad was it? Only one word could describe it: "Iiiiiit's super-crap-a-fuck-a-rif-ic-ex-pi-al-a-bull-shit!"
- George Carlin once did a routine where he talks about foods he can't eat because they have funny names. "I can't eat *snicker* bananas. And I could never eat *suppressed guffaw* kumquats!"
- The YouTube channel PronunciationManual uses these a lot, and makes the problem worse by blatantly mispronouncing them.
Inherently Funny Words by language[]
Celtic languages[]
- Welsh:
- Newyddion
- Nodwedd
- Llandudno
- Aberdovey. Sounds lovely, doesn't it?
- Not to mention that "penguin", one of the funniest of them all, originally derives from Welsh.
- Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (punchline in a few films, like Barbarella). Here is how you pronounce it.
- Eisteddfod
- Ystradgynlais (aka "why strangle us")
- Bangor
- Abbeycwmhir
- Popty-ping (colloquial term for "microwave")
- Pili-pala ("butterfly")
- Irish:
- Scoite
- Shillelagh
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):
- Alter Kocker
- blech (a metal sheet you place on your heated stove to keep food warm, especially during Shabbos)
- bupkis
- cockamamie
- ferkokter
- fershlugginer
- hoohah,
- veeblefetzer
- ganef
- gefilte fish
- gevalt
- kabosh
- kreplach
- kvetch
- matsess
- meshuggenah
- paskudnyik
- nogoodnik
- plotz
- putz
- schlemiel
- schlemazel
- schlepp
- schmaltz
- schmegege
- schmuck
- Which just happens to literally mean "penis". Now You Know. Then again, that meaning probably just makes it funnier.
- schnook
- schnorer
- schvitz
- shmooze
- shpilkis
- tuchus
- verklempt
- vershpuket
- The classic and incredibly useful "Oy vey!"
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")
- Achtung
- 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)
- 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.
- 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.
- Romanian:
- The surname of Romanian singer (of Hungarian ethnicity) Daniela Gyorfi has similar pronunciation with Romanian words for "rag" and "hooker". Add some scandal over her past love affairs and cue twenty years of rough jokes on her sex life.
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)
- shouboushaaa~ (fire engine)
- Chikatetsu (subway)
- 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
- Although what went on in the place of the same name is considerably less funny.
- 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")
- Hungarian:
- 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
- Bashi-Bazouk
- Hebrew
- 'Me' is who and 'hu' is he and 'he' is she.
- dag [3] (fish)
- Dikduk (grammar)
- Bakbuk (bottle)
- Lama (why)
- Melafefon (cucumber) - funny in pretty much every language
- Tarnegol (rooster)
- Timtum (stupidity)
- Tookie (parrot)
- "AAH AAH, EEE EEE, TOOKIE TOOKIE!"
- This reference won't work both ways, due to how hebrew handles foreign names/words - The word for parrot is written using the letters Tav and Kaf (Tūkī, in scientific transcription), used only in native words and in transcriptions of arabic, and the character name is written, also in scientific transcription, as "Ṭūqī-Ṭūqī".
- "AAH AAH, EEE EEE, TOOKIE TOOKIE!"
- Chinese
- Bōluó (pineapple)
- Moo Goo Gai Pan
- Indonesian
- Kerbau (water buffalo)
- Kuda (horse)
- Marathi
- dabbawala (someone who delivers lunchboxes)
- ↑ As in "you bet your sweet..."
- ↑ We have Ika Musume to thank for that, de geso.
- ↑ pronounced "dug"