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An inherently funny word is a word which can be found amusing without any given context, for reasons ranging from onomatopoeia to phonosemantics. Such words have been used by a range of influential comedians to enhance the humor of their routines. It is part of the mythology of actors and writers that the consonant plosives (so called because they start suddenly or "explosively") ''p, b, t, d, k'', and ''g'' are the funniest sounds in the English language.〔In an article in the New Yorker published in 1936, H. L. Mencken argues that "k words" are funny. "K, for some occult reason, has always appealed to the oafish risibles of the American plain people, and its presence in the names of many ... places has helped to make them joke towns ... for example, Kankakee, Kalamazoo, Hoboken, Hohokus, Yonkers, Squeedunk, 'Stinktown' and Brooklyn." In Neil Simon's play ''The Sunshine Boys'', a character says, "Words with a k in it are funny. Alka-Seltzer is funny. Chicken is funny. Pickle is funny. All with a k. Ls are not funny. Ms are not funny."〕 ==Words described as funny== * The ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' episode "The Outrageous Okona" features Joe Piscopo as a comedian who, in attempting to teach the android Data the concept of humor, refers to words ending in a ''k'' as funny. * In the ''King of the Hill'' episode "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Clown," Bobby takes a college class on classic clowning and at one point tells Hank that the letter "k" is a funny sound. * In the December 21, 1989 ''Dilbert'' comic strip, Dilbert uses his computer to determine the funniest words in the world, coming up with ''chainsaw'', ''weasel'', ''prune'', and any reference to ''Gilligan's Island''. * On the cover of his book ''How I Escaped My Certain Fate'', the comedian Stewart Lee nominates ''wool'' as an inherently funny word. * In the ''30 Rock'' episode "Kidney Now!", Dr. Leo Spaceman states that "kidney is such a funny word", and that "it's the hard K sound that's making () giggle". * The BBC Radio 4 panel game ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'' includes an occasional round called "Straight Face", in which the panelists take turns saying a single word. A player is eliminated from the game if anyone in the audience laughs at their word ("even the merest ''titter''"). The winner is the last player standing. * The 2002 LaughLab study suggested that the word "duck" was the most inherently funny animal name, with Professor Richard Wiseman saying that "If you're going to tell a joke involving an animal, make it a duck." * A 2008 ''Grammar Girl'' podcast was all about words that sound funny, like "bamboozled" and "kidneys". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「inherently funny word」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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