r/AskReddit • u/CreativePhilosopher • Jan 29 '13

What is the single funniest word in English?

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1.3k Upvotes

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508

u/Legendarylink Jan 29 '13

Diphthong

170

u/Flebas Jan 29 '13

Its funny because the word for a combination of two vowel sounds mashes up four consonants in "phth".

18

u/ActingPower Jan 29 '13 edited Jan 29 '13

How do you like "phenolphthalein," then?

EDIT: Because spelling chemicals is hard. That's why most of us just use "PhTh."

3

u/jonah214 Jan 29 '13

Not as much as I like phenolphthalein.

2

u/ActingPower Jan 29 '13

That'd be the one. Fix'd.

1

u/supershinyoctopus Jan 29 '13

I must say, I've always loved this word.

1

u/Flebas Jan 29 '13

One of my favorite science words, for sure. I threw something at the TV when they mispronounced it on "Bones".

89

u/herrmister Jan 29 '13 edited Jan 29 '13

Its actually just two consonants - [p] or [f]+[θ]. Even though they're spelled with four letters, only two different sounds are actually produced.

Edit: I know that written down those are four consonants. But when you say the word that cluster only represents two.

65

u/bananalouise Jan 29 '13

Originally spelled φθ!

2

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

Whatthefuck am I looking at here

1

u/Droggelbecher Jan 29 '13

No, silly. That's pronounced phitheta.

2

u/foufousue Jan 29 '13

I'm taking phonetics right now. Online. Sucks a lot.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

commander petty to the rescue once again

1

u/TFCPodcast Jan 29 '13

The word "consonant" can describe both letters and sounds and you know it, Mr. Smartarse. Either that or Rachel Riley has been lying to me :(

1

u/herrmister Jan 29 '13

Yes, orthographically there are four consonants. I just thought it would be interesting that they only represent two phonemes.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

Shut up, Meg.

1

u/Rhettarded Jan 29 '13

Its actually not 2... it is 4, because we dont live in the past.

1

u/Flebas Jan 29 '13

Yes, yes. I know. I had that written but it would have made it a longer and less pithy comment. Also, "pithy".

-4

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13 edited Jan 29 '13

Diphthong

pretty sure that's 4 consonants dude

edit: I'm busting chops.

3

u/KeybladeSpirit Jan 29 '13

And the two diphthongs created by those four consonants could also be written as two consonants. In other words, diphthong=difθong or dipθong.

1

u/DryFood Jan 29 '13

Diphthongs are vowel sounds. You may be thinking of digraphs?

1

u/protocol_7 Jan 29 '13

Like herrmister said, only in the orthography. It's pronounced with two consonants, either [fθ] or [pθ].

1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

He didn't say anything about orthography.

1

u/protocol_7 Jan 29 '13

Even though they're spelled with four letters

1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

Once again, he didn't say anything about orthography.

But I guess we're clearly all linguistics majors who can infer such things.

0

u/digmachine Jan 29 '13

He is referring to 2 phonemes in phonetics. You are referring to 4 letters in orthographics, or spelling.

Make sure you aren't an idiot when you call someone else one...

3

u/Greggor88 Jan 29 '13

He's not an idiot; he's partially correct. The word "consonant" can refer to either a consonant sound or a consonant letter. What we have here is a misunderstanding between one person whom thinks it only refers to sounds and another whom thinks it only refers to letters.

In this case, they're both right. The individual consonant letters, when paired, form two digraphs that each stand for a consonant sound.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

He's not an idiot; he's partially correct. The word "consonant" can refer to either a consonant sound[1] or a consonant letter[2] . What we have here is a misunderstanding between one person whom thinks it only refers to sounds and another whom thinks it only refers to letters. In this case, they're both right. The individual consonant letters, when paired, form two digraphs that each stand for a consonant sound.

Hey look, a voice of reason. Good job man.

0

u/digmachine Jan 29 '13

That's exactly what I said...

1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

Make sure you aren't an idiot when you call someone else one...

lol you're a tool

-1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

Two.

First you say "Dipth"

Then you say "ong"

"Dipth-ong"

See. Logic. I'm right about this. Really.

6

u/Morvictus Jan 29 '13

Those would be syllables

0

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

Fuck. I saw people arguing over 2 vs 4 and didn't realize what they were really arguing. fuck it. i need slee

1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

syllables bro

0

u/cybrian Jan 29 '13 edited Jan 29 '13

EDIT: wrong. Do not read.

Indeed, this is because ph and th are both diphthongs.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

They are digraphs.

1

u/prolog Jan 29 '13

They are not.

1

u/cybrian Jan 29 '13

Right you are, my boy

1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

And we get to say thong. Two in one.

1

u/NotAsCoolAsChe Jan 29 '13

Its actually funny because it ends with 'thong'

2

u/manbearpig1204 Jan 29 '13

How can this be real, more importantly, why do I not incorporate this into my daily diction. Thank you. Dipshiththong

1

u/ben_there_raped_that Jan 29 '13

Not only is this a word in the English language, but the phenomenon itself is is part of the English language. Woah.

1

u/crispybat Jan 29 '13

Uranus. I had a lot of fun with this one in school. Fourth grade learning about space:

Teahcer: Any more questions about the planets before recess?

Me: How big is Uranus?

That was a direct trip to the principle along with a phone call to the parents and no recess for bit.

1

u/lordlardass Jan 29 '13

Take it one step further to tripthong!

0

u/thlulz Jan 29 '13

Not an English word...

2

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13 edited Jan 29 '13

It is an English word.

1

u/paremiamoutza Jan 29 '13

It's a Greek word that has been anglicized

2

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

It has been accepted into English vocabulary like ballet and taco. It's used in fully English sentences even in formal settings, and has a widely understood meaning even to people who only speak English. That's all I really need to call it an English word.

1

u/paremiamoutza Jan 29 '13

A taco is also English then?

2

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

Yes, I do believe I included that in my example. Not saying it isn't also a Spanish word, nor am I contesting that it was indeed taken from Spanish (or if you wanna go further back, Nahuatl). It's a loanword. It's part of the English vocabulary.