In the game of comedy, everyone wants to draw the last and uproar worthy card, every comedian by the way. And while laughter triggers and comedy structures need to be learned and understood to the letter to have an idea on how to curate better jokes, some words just sound funny. With hundreds of thousands if not millions of words in the English dictionary, at least seven of these words should be funny right? Sure it should and this piece aims at highlighting a handful of these words that trigger laughter by their pronunciations and of course, meanings.

1. Booty: As much as we wouldn’t want to science our way into this and ruin the joke for everyone, this word was selected by a cross-section of individuals as the funniest word in a particular study. Booty had the highest humor ratings and it’s an obvious laughing trigger word especially when used in repetition.
    

2. Tit: Even though this may seem sexist to certain groups, Tit is one of the funniest words in English. It sounds a lot like ‘teeth’ and it’s often misunderstood for the other which is what heightens its humor ratings.
    

3. Scrotum: This body part has received many laughs throughout the years. One simply cannot explain why it’s a funny word, it just is. Maybe it’s a laughter triggering because it is a part of the male genitalia, after all, reproductive organs always seem to get a laugh or two.
    

4. Booby: Speaking of reproductive organs, booby is colloquial for breasts but saying ‘breasts’ out loud doesn’t seem so funny. Booby, on the other hand, could receive as low a reaction as a chuckle or even a giggle when said out loud.
    

5. Snunkoople: This isn’t a real word but it’s still getting laughs all over the place. Curated by Prof. Chris Westbury of the University of Alberta, Snunkoople, according to the prof. is a funny non-word.
    

6. Hooter: This word has been linked to the restaurant chain for their female staff uniforms and to this day, Hooter is still a laughing trigger word.
    

7. Tinkle: Tinkle is the word for urinating and there’s something about its meaning and stress pattern that seems to incite laughs.
    

These laughing trigger words could come in handy in standup comedy or even in scripts. However, funny words can only get you a limited amount of laughter and once the dust settles, the audience will need something more entertaining than ‘Booby’.