# A Word for 'Funny' That Doesn't Mean Something Else Too. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 25, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704 "2010-03-25T03:16:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/1 "2010-03-25T03:16:43Z")
I was just recently thinking. All the words for “funny” or “comical” also mean, or started out meaning something else. “Funny” means _fun(n)-y_. In other words “full-of-fun”–not just comical per se. According to my dictionary, “comical” means related to a comedy. In Shakespeare’s time at least, a comedy was just a **NON** -tragedy, basically. Again, no humor even implied. “Humorous” relates to the 4 bodily humors, or fluids, doctors once believed the imbalance of caused all diseases. “Jovial” means related to Jupiter. There. I have given all the words I know for funny. Does anyone know of one that doesn’t also mean something else? Thank you all in advance for your replies:) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/2 "2010-03-25T03:24:16Z")
Hilarious? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/3 "2010-03-25T03:25:04Z")
I’m unclear as to what you’re asking. Does “amusing” fit the bill? Or does that not qualify because it derives from the verb “to amuse”? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/4 "2010-03-25T03:28:01Z")
Droll; risible; rib-tickling. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/5 "2010-03-25T03:29:50Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Hilarious? You might have beat me with the punch, since this word just means “very funny” by itself. Actually though, I was thinking. “Hilarious” means “ **very** funny”. Is there a word that just means “[average] funny” by itself. (Surely I am not the only person to see this strange fact [no word by itself, for funny].) ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/6 "2010-03-25T03:30:51Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m unclear as to what you’re asking. Does “amusing” fit the bill? Or does that not qualify because it derives from the verb “to amuse”? I thought I made my question clear:). A word for “funny” that doesn’t mean something else too. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/7 "2010-03-25T03:34:14Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Droll; risible; rib-tickling. I just looked up “droll” in my dictionary, and it says “amusing in and odd or wry way”. Good word. But it doesn’t mean “funny” in an average, simple sense. “Rib-tickling” is good. But it is a compound word. I didn’t say this. But I am looking for a **single** word that means funny. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/8 "2010-03-25T03:39:52Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Droll; risible; rib-tickling. I just looked up “risible”. It means producing laughter. **I’ll accept it!** Now, I guess I will open the floor for other synonyms for “funny”. I still think there are far too few words that mean funny. What other words–and arguments for those words–do others have to offer:). ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/9 "2010-03-25T03:44:08Z")
But _no one_ uses “funny” to mean “full of fun”. If the criterion for exclusion is an etymology which historically been non-static, all words will disappoint. “hilarious”, for example, essentially means “cheerful” in Greek; if “full of fun” is out, then surely this is as well? And yet “rib-tickling” counts? The one with the most obvious alternative literal interpretation? The rules of this game are quite hard to get a grasp of… ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/10 "2010-03-25T03:44:18Z")
jocular ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/11 "2010-03-25T03:46:36Z")
Disregard. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/12 "2010-03-25T03:47:24Z")
“humorous” was dealt with in the OP, and I imagine they will say “jocular” can be taken as “having to do with jokes”, which is not quite “funny”, per se. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/13 "2010-03-25T03:58:13Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m unclear as to what you’re asking. Does “amusing” fit the bill? Or does that not qualify because it derives from the verb “to amuse”? “Amusing” once had something to do with inspiration from the muses, no? See also “awful” and “artificial” from the same famous compliment that Elizabeth paid to Christoper Wren. Language changes, English as fast as the fastest. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/14 "2010-03-25T04:21:33Z")
You mean Queen Anne, I think, although I also think the story’s apocryphal. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/15 "2010-03-25T04:26:59Z")
Hilarious: extremely funny, from the Greek _hilaros,_ for cheerful. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/16 "2010-03-25T04:28:42Z")
Hilarious: extremely funny. From the Greek, _hilaros,_ meaning cheerful. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/17 "2010-03-25T05:15:16Z")
It depends what you mean by “funny”. Funny how? Funny like a clown, like it amuses you? No, no, I really want to know. What the fuck do you mean by “funny”? ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/18 "2010-03-25T05:34:49Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > It depends what you mean by “funny”. Funny how? Funny like a clown, like it amuses you? No, no, I really want to know. What the fuck do you mean by “funny”? Your post might just be a joke. But to answer, I mean “funny” like a joke, if that helps:). ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/19 "2010-03-25T05:37:53Z")
So you want a word with no etymology which means funny and nothing else? Here’s one: Rafrelohdd. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704/20 "2010-03-25T07:16:57Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > It depends what you mean by “funny”. Funny how? Funny like a clown, like it amuses you? No, no, I really want to know. What the fuck do you mean by “funny”? I thought that was the point. The words have other meanings. Funny can mean weird (this steak tastes funny.) Humorous can mean “related to humor.” The OP wants a word like Hilarious, which just means ha-ha funny. I’d also say that risible doesn’t work, as I believe tickling can be considered risible, but that does not mean it’s funny. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-for-funny-that-doesnt-mean-something-else-too/533704.md?page=2)