Ever wondered why some words can make you snort milk through your nose or why little kids love to run around yelling certain others?

A pair of University of Alberta researchers say theysa国际传媒檝e analyzed what it is that make some words intrinsically funny.

sa国际传媒淣obody has really done a good job at predicting humour in advance,sa国际传媒� said University of Alberta psychologist Chris Westbury. sa国际传媒淥ne of the reasons is they havensa国际传媒檛 been willing to go low enough.sa国际传媒�

Westbury is co-author of a recently published paper entitled sa国际传媒淲riggly, Squiffy, Lummox, and Boobs: What Makes Some Words Funnysa国际传媒� in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. His research may be the first to break down what makes us break down.

Like all great science, it builds on previous research.

Under the previous federal government, Westbury said a drought in science funding left him free to do something wacky.

sa国际传媒淚 thought people would think I was wasting their money if I did this on their dime.sa国际传媒�

Hesa国际传媒檇 noticed that people often laugh at silly-sounding non-words, so he went looking for patterns. Garble like sa国际传媒渟nunkoople,sa国际传媒� for example, was more apt to draw a smile than something like sa国际传媒渪-attack.sa国际传媒�

On the strength of that research, he was sent a British paper to review that used statistical analysis to rank the funniness of nearly 5,000 words. Cutting-edge stuff, thought Westbury, but why were those words funny?

Westerburysa国际传媒檚 27-page paper presents a 2,500-year literature review of philosophical attempts to get the joke. It may be the only academic paper that cites both Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, author of the book sa国际传媒淔ear and Trembling,sa国际传媒� and Broadway playwright Neil Simon, who gave us sa国际传媒淭he Odd Couple.sa国际传媒�

But nobody has really succeeded, Westbury holds. sa国际传媒淣one of those theories are really theories. Theysa国际传媒檙e explanations.sa国际传媒�

He wanted to be able to predict what people would find funny. To do that, he and colleague Geoff Hollis decided to focus on the most basic kind of humour.

sa国际传媒淪ingle words? Itsa国际传媒檚 not really that funny, but even though itsa国际传媒檚 not that funny, itsa国际传媒檚 really complex.sa国际传媒�

What makes a word funny, he found, is a combination of two factors sa国际传媒� sound and meaning.

Using sophisticated statistical analysis of three billion words worth of prose on Google, they found words likely to get a laugh tend to be associated with sex, bodily functions, good times, animals and insults.

But thatsa国际传媒檚 not enough. They have to sound funny, too.

The 10 funniest words in English from a sample of nearly 45,000?

Upchuck, bubby, boff, wriggly, yaps, giggle, cooch, guffaw, puffball and jiggly.

The Canadian Press

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