This story appears in the July 2019 issue of National Geographic magazine.
It can be hard to guess what might make a stranger laugh. Now researchers at the University of Alberta, in Canada, have developed a formula. After reading a study in which participants rated the humorousness of some 5,000 English words, psychologists Chris Westbury and Geoff Hollis wanted to break down what makes a word intrinsically comical. They expanded the list to almost 45,000 words, then generated a complex statistical model to score the funny factors and analyze the humor of each one.
ANATOMY OF A SIDESPLITTER
Westbury and Hollis discovered there are two main predictors of what makes a word funny: how it looks and sounds, and the meaning behind it. “Pizzazz” is comical for its unusual combination of letters, but typically it’s the definition of a word that tickles us the most. Try not to smirk when you say “booger.”
Contains
the letters
or sound oo
Words associated with a
consonant plus le*
waddle
wiggle
wiggly
schmooze
jiggle
jiggling
whoop
puking
droopy
drool
booby
boozy
juju
frolic
hubbub
puffy
yummy
buzz
poop
cuddle
fluffy
slobbering
fanny
schmuck
Contains
letters used
less frequently
Strong
emotional
association
booger
bozo
twerp
jackass
dude
Larger type reflects
a higher composite
humor score
Humorous
meaning
RECIPE FOR LAUGHTER
A closer look at the 500 words that Westbury and Hollis ranked as funniest reveals common ingredients. “Puking,” for example, has a funny-word form—the oo sound and the letter k—as well as associations with profanity, bodily function, and partying, three of the six funny-word categories in the study.
NUMBER OF
WORDS WITH
ATTRIBUTE
Low-
probability
letters
55
Contains
oo
61
Contains
consonant
plus le
WORD-FORM
CATEGORIES
95*
Contains
k
97
Contains
y
129
Sexuality
210
202
Profanity
Bodily
functions
185
SUBJECT
CATEGORIES
162
Insults
97
Partying
41
Animals
Words labeled as containing a consonant plus le
include variations such as -ling, -ly, and other
words with similar meanings.
sOURCE: Chris Westbury and Geoff Hollis,
University of Alberta
*
waddle
wiggle
wiggly
schmooze
Words associated with a
consonant plus le*
jiggle
Contains
the letters
or sound oo
gobble
jiggling
amble
whoop
puking
droopy
toddle
gurgle
tootle
tinkle
schmoozing
drool
woozy
booby
boozy
Humorous
meaning
juicy
juju
puny
frolic
hubbub
puffy
yummy
buzz
poop
pizzazz
flapjacks
cuddle
bubbly
fizzy
fluffy
jazzy
slobbering
fuzzy
frumpy
Contains
letters used
less frequently
fanny
playful
howdy
Larger type reflects a higher composite humor score
schmuck
cutest
booger
marshmallows
bozo
Strong emotional
association
ANATOMY OF A SIDESPLITTER
Westbury and Hollis discovered there are two main predictors of what makes a word funny: how it looks and sounds, and the meaning behind it. “Pizzazz” is comical for its unusual combination of letters, but typically it’s the definition of a word that tickles us the most. Try not to smirk when you say “booger.”
twerp
turd
jackass
dude
RECIPE FOR LAUGHTER
A closer look at the 500 words that Westbury and Hollis ranked as funniest reveals common ingredients. “Puking,” for example, has a funny-word form—the oo sound and the letter k—as well as associations with profanity, bodily function, and partying, three of the six funny-word categories in the study.
210
202
NUMBER OF WORDS WITH
ATTRIBUTE
185
162
129
97
95*
97
61
55
41
Low-
probability
letters
Contains
oo
Contains
consonant
plus le
Contains
k
Contains
y
Sexuality
Profanity
Bodily
functions
Insults
Partying
Animals
WORD-FORM CATEGORIES
SUBJECT CATEGORIES
*
Words labeled as containing a consonant plus le include variations such as -ling, -ly, and other words with similar meanings.
sOURCE: Chris Westbury and Geoff Hollis, University of Alberta