For British/Australian/Irish Bassbuzzers only: funny english words!?

Lounge
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Hello my friends,

my girlfriend and me are collecting funny english words that we hear in movies and series, to be used in something creative later on (band name, song title, lyrics, Haikus, etc).

We found, that the British/Irish have many funny words, not so much the ex-colonies (ie USA … Australia being an exception).

Could you help us find new words?

Our list up to now:

  • poppycock
  • shenanigans
  • fiddlesticks
  • hullabaloo
  • bamboozle
  • discombobulated
  • skedaddle
  • kerfuffle
  • hoodwinked
  • scuttlebutt
  • bumfluffery (one of my absolute favourites - and I also like the meaning of it, as this describes my life philosophy in one word!)
  • golliwogs
  • gobshite
  • bellend
  • mophead
  • knobhead

(The last few words in that list are from the very cool series “Brassic” - a vast source of funny british words!)

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these are all common in the US

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Yeah - but nobody in the US seems to use those words, “shenanigans” being the notable exception.
Also, those words sound much more funny with any of the thousands of dialects in UK/Ireland/Australia! (Watch Brassic … you know what I mean!)

EDIT Our theory is that Americans don’t like words that remind them of old British origins, so they invented their own: MoFo etc…
As Miles Davis is mentioned, I take the liberty to post a Wikipedia link:

Motherfucker - Wikipedia.

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incorrect :rofl:

The US is not a monoculture and varies widely by region. I have friends from different regions in the US who use various combos of those words often.

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I like those friends!

But I challenge you to defend US American honour and add at least three funny ( and funny sounding) words to the list that are used in the US. Bonus points if they originate from the US.

Make America bussin’ again :slight_smile:

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ooh, good challenge. US English trends towards “fast and effective” more than “funny-sounding”. It’s how words like “mofo”, “sketch”, and “sus” happen.

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MoFo (and the original word that I might not be allowed to quote here) is a good example. It might be fast and effective, but it’s like comparing fast food with the haute cuisine of british profanity!

What is/sounds more funny: Mofo or Knobhead? I always have to laugh when I hear “knobhead”!

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I suspect that depends on which generation you ask :slight_smile:

It’s really funny. Japanese is a beautiful and rich language, and yet the Tokyo “sophisticated” dialect strives to omit much of it and leave only the essential bits. US english is kind of the same over time :rofl:

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Yeah, I remember those days when I was discussing poetry with good ol’ Shakespeare himself in a pub in downtown London :slight_smile:
Nowadays things are only cool when they can be unboxed on YouTube…

PS Being a Haiku fan (I write neo-Haikus for fun!), I wish I could speak Japanese too!

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The English language is uniquely “open” to render almost any word into a verb, adjective or noun as you like - makes for some wonderful constructions.

Also lots of onomatopoeic words in English, which are almost always fun. Comics can be a good source for those. E.g., “kerpow” and so on.

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fo shizzle :slight_smile:

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Chuckleheads
Fustercluck
Boondoggle

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Even my gf had to google that, though she studied psycholinguistics!
That would like “lautmalerisch” in German, right?
Its not in the same league “bumfluffery” - you know what I mean? But that might be cause I have a very conservative education and am not a comic guy at all…

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“boondoggle” is approved for the list. Finally, an American contribution to classic/classy world of profanity ^^

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Haha, “onomatopoeic” wasn’t meant as an addition to your list - but that there might be onomatopoeic words that could make it onto your list :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:
(Yep, lautmalerisch fits!)

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Ah, I get it. Now :slight_smile:

So, I guess the list should contain words that:

  • sound funny
  • are funny
  • mean something amiable and/or offensive, depending on context.
  • can be used in a pub and/or when generally being drunk and/or otherwise wasted
  • could appear in a Shakespeare play too
  • generally seem to have two or more syllables (though the exception that proves the rule)

In other words, words that this guy would use:

image

(Joseph Gilgun from Brassic or Preacher fame)

I can’t imagine neither Gilgun nor Shakespeare using “onomatopoeic”, sorry!

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Well, “cock-a-diddle-dow” as the Bard says :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Cock indeed, cock indeed :slight_smile:

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image1200×867 307 KB

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More likely from the US it would be words you thought were innocuous were actually some kind of slang :slight_smile:

For example, if you are British and want an eraser, never ask an American for a rubber :rofl:

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teens everywhere are laughing at you right now

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