100 Funniest Words in English

Published on Feb 19, 2009 - 3:21:23 PM

By: The Lexiteria

LEWISBURG, Pa., Feb. 19 2009 - The Lexiteria has announced the publication of The 100 Funniest Words in English by Dr. Robert Beard, AKA Dr. Goodword on the alphaDictionary.com website. This book examines what Dr. Beard considers the funniest of the 2500 words he has described and e-mailed daily to 200,000 people over the past 8 years.

After a short essay on what makes words funny, Dr. Beard examines the pronunciation, meaning, usage, and history of each funny word, giving several creative examples of its use. Dr. Beard's selection of the funniest words includes the likes of "absquatulate," "bowyangs," "collywobbles," "gongoozle," "hemidemisemiquaver," and "snollygoster."

"This was what I was born to do," Dr. Beard said in connection with the publication of his first trade book. "After 40 years of scientific research in the workings of words, I finally felt that I was ready to take my thoughts and ideas to a world-wide general audience."

Dr. Beard taught Russian language and Linguistics at Bucknell University for 35 years after completing his PhD in linguistics at the University of Michigan in 1966. "I feel that teaching linguistics at an introductory level for all those years put me in a position to talk about the intricacies of words on an authoritative but jovial level anyone can understand and enjoy," he added.

The book not only discusses funny words, it does so in a funny style. The examples given for each word rely on a cast of characters developed by Dr. Beard in the alphaDictionary "So, What's the Good Word?" series. They include the lady's man Phil Anders, Robin Banks (who works for the accounting firm of Cooke, Books & Hyde), a clothes horse, Maude Lynn Dresser, her friend, Lucinda Head, not to mention their overly expensive lawyer, Susan Liddy-Gates.

The book is available now in paperback and in electronic form on line at Amazon.com in the US and UK, as well as at the websites of Alibris and AbeBooks. Lexiteria promises a sequel to The 100 Funniest Words in English titled The 100 Most Beautiful Words in English later this year.

Here are the words, described as only 'Dr. Goodword' can describe them, that you will find in the book.


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.
Hemidemisemiquaver - A 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.
Widdershins - In a contrary or counterclockwise direction.
Yahoo - A rube, a country bumpkin.
@ - The "at" sign.

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