The Hundred Funniest Words. Part Two.

The following was in the Comments section of the first part of this post, offering alternatives for the 100 Funniest Words list.


5 comments:

Bob: July 18, 2013 at 1:36 PM

perhaps one of these? cockatoo (or cockatiel), lalapalooza, palooka, titmouse, slinky (the toy), plop, boo-boo, tipsy, or frankfurter?


bobo45rpm@verizon.net: July 18, 2013 at 8:43 PM

To update the list, we could scratch off broccoli, dropkick, breadbox, salami and chickenfat, and add on the following - shiitake, smegma, stroganoff, Sheboygan, taint, Bangkok, chowder, pluot, cock-eyed, knockwurst, tchochke, pumpernickel, sarcophagus, cadaver, Lake Titicaca, whirlygig, tubesteak, spleen, crotchety, vacillate, masticate, tinsel, fracus, organ grinder, scruples, yogurt, edamame and flatulence. MORE TO COME.

bob: July 19, 2013 at 7:59 AM

Arugula, sphincter, zygote, canker sore, Altoid, scrotum, gherkin.


Tom: July 19, 2013 at 10:22 AM

putz, dipstick, douche, schmendrick


R.: July 19, 2013 at 1:41 PM

I have two things to say:

1-as far as i am concerned broccoli was a one season wonder and should be removed from the list. after the hoo-haw about the remark by president bush (the first) it lost a lot of ground in the funny department

2-a lot of these words are funny because of the way they sound, but a many of them are funny because (how can i put this DELLLL-i-cat-ly), they evoke funny images, or at least images that inspire one to smile. I put pickle and cucumber in this category, among others.
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As a result, I can see that there will already be a part three.
I had intended today to analyze each suggestion and pass judgment on them, revamping my list in the process.
Then "R."s comment turned up.
A theory and a theme was presented here that could hardly be ignored: the connection between funny words and phallic symbols.
This already brings to mind that the word "phallus" was left off the list.

And it leads me to want to regale you with the two funniest uses of the word that I have found, in my travels.
I once mentioned my passion for Variety Cryptic Puzzles.
These are very creative crosswords that have a theme that you have to figure out for several of the answers.
I first discovered these puzzles when Stephen Sondheim began constructing them for New York Magazine.
In one of his first puzzles, the answer to the clue was undoubtedly "phallus"
But the place for it to be entered had too many letters, and the clue indicated in parentheses "two words".
I had yet to figure out the theme that would lead me to make the right entry.
Then, by solving other clues, the theme hit me right between the eyes.
The theme words were to be entered in Pig-Latin.
So phallus was to be entered as "Alice Faye"
Sondheim thought of this.
Bravo.

The other use of "phallus" that tickles me no end is in the form of a limerick:
Here goes------
"There once was a lady from Dallas,
Who used TNT for a phallus.
They found her vagina in South Carolina,
And her rectum in Buckingham Palace"

Until next time,

Mark Rothman, custodian of the 100 funniest words.


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