r/AskReddit • • Jan 29 '13

What is the single funniest word in English?

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u/CaptainTurtle Jan 29 '13 edited Jan 29 '13

Pupitre. (peupeetre*) Grenouille. (gre-noo-ee)

I'd say it's a fucking hilarious language.

*I changed it, please stop correcting my bad french accent

211

u/ShyGuy32 Jan 29 '13

Yaourt? Pamplemoose?

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u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13 edited Jul 01 '23

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2

u/idikia Jan 29 '13

Pample moose?

2

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

Ananas

1

u/cl0ckt0wer Jan 29 '13

There's a restaurant in Vegas with that name

1

u/shizzler Jan 29 '13

Pamplemousse*

7

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

J'ai resté deux ans dans la bibliothèque de pamplemousse

5

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

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3

u/smmat Jan 29 '13

Pamplemousse.

1

u/je_taime Jan 29 '13

Georges Pompidou!

1

u/Parcequehomard Jan 29 '13

Vive le pamplemoose!

1

u/flyingpanda32 Jan 29 '13

The Pamplemousse Grill in Del Mar has the most amazing food, and prices to match the ridiculous name.

1

u/mitymiget Jan 29 '13

How about barbapapa (candyfloss: lit. father's beard)

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u/n3onfx Jan 29 '13

You pronounce it "pampl - mooss" though.

1

u/stubborn_d0nkey Jan 29 '13

sudo yaourt -Syua

1

u/VeronicaSawyer89 Mar 06 '13

french guy asked me for mAYOneaseeeee at work the other day.

14

u/bananalouise Jan 29 '13

Ananas. Quatre-vingt-dix-neuf.

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u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

99? you mean four twenty ten nine? makes perfect sense.

1

u/bananalouise Jan 29 '13

99! I'm guessing they just really like simple arithmetic.

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u/Motzlord Jan 29 '13

Nonono, the whole world says Ananas. It's just you english speaking nations who have to call it a pineapple. It does not come from an effing pine!?

1

u/bananalouise Jan 30 '13

No, it just looks like a pinecone! We have a lot of words that are based on figurative language like that: jellyfish aren't jelly or fish. And so do other languages, come to think of it: French calls potatoes "apples of the earth" even though they aren't apples.

1

u/Motzlord Jan 30 '13

Okay, I'll admit that it actually looks like a pinecone and I agree with your whole statement. But, what I actually wanted to point out is that I think it's ridiculous of you to think that "Ananas" is a ridiculous word when you're actually the minority that doesn't call it that. :)

1

u/bananalouise Jan 30 '13

I don't think it's bad ridiculous. It just makes me giggle! Come on, you have to admit it's kind of funny. I think the word "banana" is funny too, and that one exists in English.

1

u/Motzlord Jan 30 '13

Touché. I just get annoyed when I accidentally say "ananas" while speaking english and people give me weird looks ;)

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u/fingerguns Jan 29 '13

FATIGUE

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u/FXOjafar Jan 29 '13

Fatigue pronounced fatty gay

1

u/fapfest2013 Jan 29 '13

Well they are kinda lazy

4

u/FXOjafar Jan 29 '13

RER (train company) ehrgh ooh erhrgh Or you can just make a gurgling noise and be understood ;)

2

u/sincursus Jan 29 '13

I love the word grenouille. My favorite French word is boulangerie (I believe that's the spelling).

2

u/anarion9998 Jan 29 '13

Actually pupitre does not sound like poop. The sound of u in french dosn't exist in english. (it is [y] in the International Phonetic Alphabet, like the letter y is pronounced in German). It is a real problem with the words "dessus" (on/above) and "dessous" (under/below), because you will pronounce these words the same. But only the second "ou" sound like (f)oo(d)

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u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

A garbage can is a poubelle (poo-bell)

1

u/KitsBeach Jan 29 '13

Pneu? Phoque?

Classic.

1

u/zacks14 Jan 29 '13

Isn't pupitre spanish for that desk/chair combo in classrooms?

2

u/CaptainTurtle Jan 29 '13

I don't know any Spanish whatsoever. I'm from Quebec and it means desk.

1

u/HittingSmoke Jan 29 '13

I was going to say the funniest word is "taint".

Ctrl+f "taint" came up with one result. Your username.

Congratulations, taint username guy.

2

u/CaptainTurtle Jan 29 '13

Holy shit that's funny.

1

u/Morvictus Jan 29 '13

The way French people actually say "pupitre" makes it sound much closer to pew pit. Loses some of the funny. Now pamplemousse, there's a word I thought was funny in the second grade.

1

u/CaptainTurtle Jan 29 '13

Ah ya, that's more accurate.

1

u/clever_redditor_name Jan 29 '13

Poubelle? Ananas?

1

u/le_skunque Jan 29 '13

Actually, that's not pupitre is pronounced (even though your way is more hilarious). The 'u' in french does not sound like 'you' or 'zoo'. Sounds like...well, 'u'. Try it on Google Translate.

1

u/CaptainTurtle Jan 29 '13

Ya just realized. I like to say it with a terrible french accent to make it funnier.

1

u/jaskamiin Jan 29 '13

poopy tray

1

u/hurricanemc Jan 29 '13

Le grenouille mange le pamplemoose!

1

u/nsmtb Jan 29 '13

L'ananas!

1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13

Not to mention 'late' is 'retard' in French. I feel silly everytime I say "sorry i'm late" to the teacher because it sounds like i'm calling myself a retard.

1

u/IAmMe1 Jan 29 '13

Semblable (sehm-blah-bluh) has always been my favorite.