Author Topic: Here are Arguably the 100 Funniest English Words  (Read 4920 times)

Joe Carillo

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Here are Arguably the 100 Funniest English Words
« on: June 27, 2015, 03:40:59 PM »
Here are Arguably the 100 Funniest English Words

From Robert Beard’s book The 100 Funniest Words in English, we are presenting all 100 in alphabetical order together with their basic definitions. In the book, alphaDictionary’s Dr. Goodword—that’s Beard’s pen name—engagingly describes their respective usage problems and history along with hilarious usage examples from English literature.


Here now are the 100 funny words for you to enjoy:[/i]

Abibliophobia          The fear of running out of reading material.

Absquatulate           To leave or abscond with something.

Allegator                 Some who alleges.

Anencephalous         Lacking a brain.

Argle-bargle             A loud row or quarrel.

Batrachomyomachy  Making a mountain out of a molehill.

Billingsgate            Loud, raucous profanity.

Bloviate                    To speak pompously or brag.

Blunderbuss            A gun with a flared muzzle or disorganized activity.

Borborygm            A rumbling of the stomach.

Boustrophedon            A back and forth pattern.

Bowyang                    A strap that holds the pants legs in place.

Brouhaha                    An uproar.

Bumbershoot            An umbrella.

Callipygian            Having an attractive rear end or nice buns.

Canoodle                    To hug and kiss.

Cantankerous            Testy, grumpy.

Catercornered            Diagonal(ly).

Cockalorum            A small, haughty man.

Cockamamie            Absurd, outlandish.

Codswallop            Nonsense, balderdash.

Collop                    A slice of meat or fold of flab.

Collywobbles            Butterflies in the stomach.

Comeuppance            Just reward, just deserts.

Crapulence            Discomfort from eating or drinking too much.

Crudivore                    An eater of raw food.

Discombobulate    To confuse.

Donnybrook            An melee, a riot.

Doozy                    Something really great.

Dudgeon                    A bad mood, a huff.

Ecdysiast                    An exotic dancer, a stripper.

Eructation            A burp, belch.

Fard                    Face-paint, makeup.

Fartlek                    An athletic training regime.

Fatuous                    Unconsciously foolish.

Filibuster                    Refusal to give up the floor in a debate to prevent a vote.

Firkin                        A quarter barrel or small cask.

Flibbertigibbet            Nonsense, balderdash.

Flummox                    To exasperate.

Folderol                    Nonsense.

Formication            The sense of ants crawling on your skin.

Fuddy-duddy            An old-fashioned, mild-mannered person.

Furbelow                    A fringe or ruffle.

Furphy                    A portable water-container.

Gaberlunzie            A wandering beggar.

Gardyloo!                    A warning shouted before throwing water from above.

Gastromancy            Telling fortune from the rumblings of the stomach.

Gazump                    To buy something already promised to someone else.

Gobbledygook            Nonsense, balderdash.

Gobemouche            A highly gullible person.

Godwottery            Nonsense, balderdash.

Gongoozle            To stare at, kibitz.

Gonzo                    Far-out journalism.

Goombah                    An older friend who protects you.

HemidemisemiquaverA musical timing of 1/64.

Hobbledehoy            An awkward or ill-mannered young boy.

Hocus-pocus            Deceitful sleight of hand.

Hoosegow            A jail or prison.

Hootenanny            A country or folk music get-together.

Jackanapes            A rapscallion, hooligan.

Kerfuffle                    Nonsense, balderdash.

Klutz                    An awkward, stupid person.

La-di-da                    An interjection indicating that something is pretentious.

Lagopodous            Like a rabbit's foot.

Lickety-split            As fast as possible.

Lickspittle            A servile person, a toady.

Logorrhea            Loquaciousness, talkativeness.

Lollygag                    To move slowly, fall behind.

Malarkey                    Nonsense, balderdash.

Maverick                    A loner, someone outside the box.

Mollycoddle            To treat too leniently.

Mugwump            An independent politician who does not follow any party.

Mumpsimus            An outdated and unreasonable position on an issue.

Namby-pamby            Weak, with no backbone.

Nincompoop            A foolish person.

Oocephalus            An egghead.

Ornery                    Mean, nasty, grumpy.

Pandiculation            A full body stretch.

Panjandrum            Someone who thinks himself high and mighty.

Pettifogger            A person who tries to befuddle others with his speech.

Pratfall                    A fall on one's rear.

Quean                    A disreputable woman.

Rambunctious            Aggressive, hard to control.

Ranivorous            Frog-eating

Rigmarole            Nonsense, unnecessary complexity.

Shenanigan            A prank, mischief.

Sialoquent            Spitting while speaking.

Skedaddle            To hurry somewhere.

Skullduggery            No good, underhanded dealing.

Slangwhanger            A loud abusive speaker or obnoxious writer.

Smellfungus            A perpetual pessimist.

Snickersnee            A long knife.

Snollygoster            A person who can't be trusted.

Snool                    A servile person.

Tatterdemalion    A child in rags.

Troglodyte            Someone or something that lives in a cave.

Turdiform                    Having the form of a lark.

Unremacadamized    Having not been repaved with macadam.
Vomitory                    An exit or outlet.
Wabbit                    Exhausted, tired, worn out.

—From Dr. Goodword’s alphaDictionary website  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Robert E. Beard, PhD in Slavic Linguistics, is a linguist whose specialty is morphology. He served as head of the Russian and Linguistics Programs at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania where he taught for 35 years until his retirement in 2000. He is the author of three scientific monographs, The Indo-European Lexicon (1981), A Bibliography of Morphology (1988), Lexeme-Morpheme Base Morphology (1995), and two privately published trade books, The 100 Funniest Words in English, and The 100 Most Beautiful Words in English. After retiring from Bucknell, Dr. Beard became one of the founders of the popular linguistic website, yourDictionary.com, writing under the pseudonym “Dr. Language.” He now owns and writes at alphaDictionary.com under the pseudonym “Dr. Goodword.”
« Last Edit: July 25, 2018, 08:16:09 PM by Joe Carillo »