Idioms

funny bone

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funny bone

1. A point on the elbow that causes a peculiar and painful tingling sensation when struck. This meaning of "funny bone" is thought to be a play on the homophones "humorous" and "humerus" (the arm bone between the elbow and shoulder). A: "What's wrong?" B: "Ugh, I just hit my funny bone against the wall." Ah! I always manage to smack my funny bone when I'm trying to do repairs under the sink. I definitely hit my funny bone that time because my whole arm started tingling.
2. A sense of humor. I'm starting to suspect that that dour fellow was born without a funny bone. This show always manages to tickle my funny bone. Good luck dealing with the principal's secretary—she isn't easily charmed and doesn't have much of a funny bone.
See also: bone, funny
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

funny bone

 and crazy bone
a spot near the elbow bone that is very sensitive to the touch. Ouch, I hit my funny bone. Effie bumped her crazy bone and made a horrendous face.
See also: bone, funny
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

funny bone

1. A point on the elbow where the ulnar nerve runs close to the surface and produces a sharp tingling sensation when knocked against the bone. For example, Ouch! I just banged my funny bone. The expression is a pun on humerus (pronounced the same as humorous), the Latin name for the long bone of the arm. [Early 1800s]
2. A sense of humor, as in That comedian really tickles my funny bone. This expression is derived from def. 1.
See also: bone, funny
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
See also:
References in periodicals archive
When you bump your funny bone, it's often these areas that get the tingling sensation.
YOU ASK & WE ANSWER; Your say
Host of the Funny Bone, Steven Davidson is a stand-up comedian, published writer, voiceover artist, radio host and sketch comedy creator.
Top UK comedians to tickle funny bones
From her run-in with the Kardashians to her not-so-subtle smackdown of noted homophobe Michele Bachmann, Griffin has our back and tickles our funny bone in equal measure.
Red White + Raw: The Kathy Griffin Collection
WHAT is the funny bone and how does it get its name?
YOU ASK & WE ANSWER; Your say
BOMAN Irani and Riteish Deshmukh have been hosting the International Indian Film Academy ( IIFA) Awards successfully for more than four years now with their trademark gags tickling everyone's funny bone.
BOMAN QUIP IRKS RITEISH?
TOP TV comedians have hit the Teesside funny bone - and will have to return to the area by popular demand.
Laughing all the way back
Ladbrokes Casino.com, in the huff about a banned ad after one complaint, have launched a new ad campaign searching for Anyone Missing A Funny Bone. Why don't they try BBC's Hogmanay host Hardeep Singh Kohli?
BURNiNG QUESTIONS
With about a dozen funny bone poking short stories and commentaries, Levin looks at the world from the way it should be looked at--with an eye that cannot take anything too seriously.
When Pacino's Hot, I'm Hot
But a quote related to Lake Ouachita touched our funny bone.
Dam U
The smaller-market Funny Bone chain, majority-owned by managing partner Mitch Kutash, is quickly expanding, using the same movie theater-lifestyle center strategy: With former Improv prexy Tony Baldino, Kutash last December opened a Funny Bone club in Cincinnati, anchored by an AMC theater.
'Lifestyle centers' on a laff track
ONE youngster who has been tickling the funny bone of hundreds of people in Liverpool is now to make his mark on radio.
Gerard has the last laugh
This is not for the faint-hearted or the easily offended, but I defy anyone with a funny bone, however small, not to be tickled by this delightful comedy couple.
Review: Bottom
In a talk titled "Americana and Martha's Funny Bone," at the Library of the Performing Arts, several Graham company elders skipped those topics and dwelled on Martha's famous ferocity.
Facing Martha's wrath
The former tickled Radford's funny bone. The latter offered adventure and was simply written.
Why I love Harry Potter
The pain you feel when you bump your funny bone (its real name is humerus) isn't caused by a bone.
Why does it hurt so much when you bump your funny bone?
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