Short Stuff: The Science of Funny Words

In this episode, Josh and Chuck dive into the science of why certain words are just inherently funnier than others, exploring the research of psychologist Chris Westbury who literally created a mathematical formula to predict which words make people laugh. They unpack how words related to expletives, body parts, sex, partying, animals, and insults tend to be the funniest, and discover that the phonetic rarity of certain sounds—like the K sound—combined with how these words blur multiple funny categories makes them comedy gold. It's a fascinating look at how our brains process language and incongruity, proving that comedians have been intuitively doing exactly what Westbury's research explains all along.