# Why are farts funny? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 2, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359 "2007-03-02T21:46:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ellef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8dc957/32.png) [@Ellef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellef)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/21 "2007-03-03T06:14:46Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Ooh! I know this one in French. The verb form “to fart” is _péter_. If I 'member my conjugations correctly, that means it’s: _je péte_ - I fart \*tu pétes \*- you fart _il/elle péte_ - he/she farts _nous pétons_ - we fart _vous pétez_ - the group of you (or formal you) fart _ils pétent_ - they fart The _é_ is pronounced like the e in bet, so the root word sounds like our word for a companion animal. The noun, I believe, is _le pet_. Masculine, of course. 😉 I’m pretty sure it’s a “vulgar” term like “fart”, and the polite way of saying it translates to “emit intestinal gas” or something. [/QUOTE] In French bakeries, you can buy a cake called a “pet de nonne” (nun’s fart). I could never bring myself to ask for one of those when I lived there. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/22 "2007-03-03T06:58:27Z")
A few weeks ago, I was a guest at a friend’s home. We were expecting to watch a hockey game, but the live feed didn’t do whatever it was paid to do. So there we are. And our hostess introduces “straw-armpit-farts”. There is videotape of this event. I think the current payoff is sufficent. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/23 "2007-03-03T07:10:28Z")
Well. I don’t find them all that funny. I don’t know why. It’s like the lowest common denominator of humor. I guess I’m uptight. ☹ They just seem so unbecoming of a person. I’m always so embarrassed when I do it (which is rare.) I have to try and pass it off with a sneeze. Ugh. I don’t even like admitting that I ever do it. No, I very much don’t find it funny. I don’t even like the word. See? I can’t say it. But I support others’ right to enjoy them and laugh at them. As long as I don’t have to be in the room. I have to admit I find this thread amusing, though. Oh, and for those who wanted a Spanish euphemism: _tirar un pedo_ (the infinitive verb form.) ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/24 "2007-03-03T07:16:57Z")
They are not funny. It is infantile to laugh at or about them. Sorry, that’s just the way it is. I’d tell you to get off of my lawn, too, but you aren’t on it. By the way-- people slipping and falling isn’t funny either, and not because it is malevolent (which it is). It is not funny because we are not amused. PS-- Never say or write “sammitch” or “boobies” either. You sound like a slow-witted seven year-old when you do. Thank you, that is all. –the Management ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/25 "2007-03-03T07:18:25Z")
I meant to write “not because it is malevolent _to laugh_,” in my last post. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/26 "2007-03-03T09:16:25Z")
How are farts _not_ funny? ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/27 "2007-03-03T11:02:56Z")
[QUOTE=dnooman] How are farts _not_ funny? [/QUOTE] When they turn out be nonfartinal, e.g. a shart. Unless said shart is yours, in which case it is still funny. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/28 "2007-03-03T11:29:37Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] LOL!!! 😃😃🙂🙂 HaHaHa!!! I’m trying to type but I’m laughing too much. My wife is very similar, she comes from a non-farting household, and I come from a pronounced Fartaholic household. However, she has let one go a few times where I have heard it and I must trake those rare opportunities to point them out and call her on it because she gets so coy and embarrased. **Kalhoun** - now seriously, 31 years and nary a fart to be heard from you…Come on now!? No way! [/QUOTE] Way. It’s possible that one escaped while I was sleeping, but there are no reports to confirm that (who could tell, with all the farting and snoring from his side of the bed?), so I’m sticking with my original statement. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/29 "2007-03-03T12:34:30Z")
I’m with the OP - I don’t understand bodily function humor. Even when I was in 5th grade I didn’t get, as an adult I \*really \*don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/30 "2007-03-03T18:07:12Z")
“Good one, sweetness! That one sounded just like an angry duck!” Oh, how we laughed. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/31 "2007-03-03T18:16:54Z")
It might be an amusing sidetrack to describe our favroite sounds for them. BRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTT Fwump Ditditditditdit Bweep HOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNKKKKKKKK Fzzzzt ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/32 "2007-03-03T18:34:05Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Ooh! I know this one in French. The verb form “to fart” is _péter_. If I 'member my conjugations correctly, that means it’s: _je péte_ - I fart \*tu pétes \*- you fart _il/elle péte_ - he/she farts _nous pétons_ - we fart _vous pétez_ - the group of you (or formal you) fart _ils pétent_ - they fart The _é_ is pronounced like the e in bet, so the root word sounds like our word for a companion animal. The noun, I believe, is _le pet_. Masculine, of course. 😉 I’m pretty sure it’s a “vulgar” term like “fart”, and the polite way of saying it translates to “emit intestinal gas” or something. [/QUOTE] Mostly correct, but you used the wrong accent: Pèter: _je pète_ - I fart \*tu pètes \*- you fart _il/elle pète_ - he/she farts _nous pètons_ - we fart _vous pètez_ - the group of you (or formal you) fart _ils pètent_ - they fart You are correct that it is pronounced like the e in “bet”, so it therefore uses the _accent grave_. The one you used, _accent aigue_ is pronounced more like a “long a” sound, or “ay”. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/33 "2007-03-03T18:42:00Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Incidentally, I’ve mastered the cough fart conjunction…Anyone else\>? [/QUOTE] So … you’re saying there’s no such thing as halitosis? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/34 "2007-03-03T19:22:57Z")
Tee hee - the BF and I have both come down with horrible colds, but something about his or the V8 he drinks or something has turned him into a veritable fart _maching_. Seriously, I think he’s pooted out a whole complete other person by now! Yeah, it’s getting increasingly hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/35 "2007-03-03T20:43:00Z")
[QUOTE=mnemosyne] You are correct that it is pronounced like the e in “bet”, so it therefore uses the _accent grave_. The one you used, _accent aigue_ is pronounced more like a “long a” sound, or “ay”. [/QUOTE] d’oh! Wow, that’s what I get for being a lazy typist. It was a typo the first time that I cut-n-pasted all the way down. :smack: Do I get partial credit? It \*has \*been 14 years since I’ve taken a class or spoken French. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/36 "2007-03-03T20:55:26Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Incidentally, I’ve mastered the cough fart conjunction…Anyone else\>? [/QUOTE] Along the same lines, my brother mastered the cough/beer-can-pop conjunction in the movie theater. His imitation of the sound of a can being popped is worthy of conspicuous placement in the Sound Effect Hall Of Fame. ---
**Author:** ![Hoops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoops/32/6408_2.png) [@Hoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoops)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/37 "2007-03-04T04:34:33Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Ooh! I know this one in French. The verb form “to fart” is _péter_. If I 'member my conjugations correctly, that means it’s: _je péte_ - I fart \*tu pétes \*- you fart _il/elle péte_ - he/she farts _nous pétons_ - we fart _vous pétez_ - the group of you (or formal you) fart _ils pétent_ - they fart The _é_ is pronounced like the e in bet, so the root word sounds like our word for a companion animal. The noun, I believe, is _le pet_. Masculine, of course. 😉 I’m pretty sure it’s a “vulgar” term like “fart”, and the polite way of saying it translates to “emit intestinal gas” or something. [/QUOTE] Heh. That reminds me: [The Master speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_394.html) ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/38 "2007-03-04T05:33:04Z")
Farts are not always funny . . . at the time. I’ve told this story before, but this seems like a perfect time and place to repeat it. After having a colonoscopy, duing which a large quantity of air was introduced into my colon to stretch it so the fibre-optic camera could see in there, I was led away from the “operation room” to another room that looked more like a large hall containing several gurneys. On all but one of the gurneys were other patients of both sexes, who had just undergone the same treatment as I had. I was told to get on the empty gurney and, with all the others, to begin releasing the air from my colon. There was no odor from these voluminous farts, since every colon had been cleaned out enough to safely pack sausage in, but there was considerable noise. As much as possible all the patients were lying on their sides with backs to each other. The nurse was moving from patient to patient encouraging everyone to release the air, saying things like, “That was a good one!” In spite of the embarrassment, because there was some pain involved with the air that had been pumped into each of us, we strove to follow the nurse’s orders. The room was a veritible symphony of farts. Un-funny farts . . . at the time. When we cleared the room (so to speak) no one looked anyone else in the eye. At a lineup, none of us could have identified anyone. Afterwards I thought the whole thing was howlingly funny. But while it was going on it was definitely not funny. I swear the above is true. It happened at the Kaiser Hospital on Sunset Buoulevard in Hollywood, CA, maybe seventeen years ago. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/39 "2007-03-04T07:59:08Z")
I’m probably one of the few people who don’t think they are funny. I need my humor a bit more sophisticated and cleverly done than what a 13 year old boy finds hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359/40 "2007-03-04T08:11:53Z")
Farts are indeed funny but not the “follow through” ones. Happened to me once ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-farts-funny/394359.md?page=3)