A collection of humor terms with definitions used by Clash Theory. Some of the definitions already enjoy widespread acceptance; others are brand-new recommendations. Some terms have links to where the topic is covered within the structure of Clash Theory on this website.

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Ad-lib – Unscripted, spontaneous lines in theater and movies Spontaneous / Prepared
Anecdote – A humorous story that actually happened Real / Fictional
Anthropomorphism – Assigning human characteristics to nonhuman things like animals or machines
Anti-humor – A form of meta-humor in which the expectation of a humorous punchline is the sense element of a humor kernel Meta-humor
Apophasis – A figure of speech that brings up a topic while claiming not to Figures of Speech
Breaking the Fourth Wall – Stage or movie performers speaking to or interacting with an audience
Catchphrase – A short, distinct, standalone word or phrase that over time gets repeated in many similar circumstances Catchphrases
Caveat Paragraph – Many instances of humor are not easily classified, and many fit comfortably in multiple categories. The purpose of segregating humor examples by root-level differences is to clarify thinking. It’s to create a vocabulary and a taxonomy to help us humans sort out, make sense of, and more easily contribute to the truly humongous number of examples. The purpose is not to claim that all humor examples must conform to one of these categories or that further subtleties need not be explored. The description words used are intended to reflect many related concepts with similar meanings Introduction
Clarity – A measure of how easy it is for observers to recognize humor context and humor kernels Distraction
Clash Theory – A brand-new, comprehensive theory of what all humor has in common and how it varies across its considerable number of forms Clash Theory
Comedy – Humor as entertainment
Comic Timing – The ability to manipulate humor context elements to maximize perceived humor quality, including the ability to create a strong dynamic clash
Context – Everything in a humor event that’s not a kernel; a combination of humor context and full context Context
Contradiction – 100% total agreement Contrary Family
CONTRARY – The family of humor kernels in which the nonsense element directly opposes the sense element Contrary Family
Contronym – A word with multiple meanings that contradict, like ‘overlook’
Copypasta – Largish text blocks copied and pasted online as a form of trolling
Corny – A pun or joke with relatively simple elements that are seen as having some kind of unnatural stretch Pun
Cringe – Humor built around AWKWARD vs. COMFORTABLE humor kernels Improper Family
Culture – A set of preferences among choices, as adopted by a group of people in their daily lives Culture
Culture Comparison Humor – Humor in which cultural preferences (often exaggerated) are the nonsense element Cultural Comparison Humor
Deadpan – Ironic lack of expression Disposition
Density – Quantity of humor kernels over time Density
Disposition – Signs and signals that help bring about a humorous mood and increase awareness of humorous potential Disposition
Distraction – Within Clash Theory, anything that distracts attention away from perception of humor; major subcategories are emotion, fatigue, clarity and production values Distraction
Dry – Humor with a relative absence of disposition cues Disposition
Dynamic Clash Strength – A measure of how closely in time the two humor kernel elements are observed Clash Strength
Eggcorn – A similar-sounding word substitute with a meaning connection, like eggcorn instead of acorn Wordplay
Embarrassment – Being uncertain about what to do Improper Family
Exposition – Background information needed to detect and understand both sides of a humor kernel Exposition
Fatigue – Reduced sensitivity to perceiving humor kernels due to repeated exposure Distraction
Figures of Speech – In linguistics, rhetoric and literature, figures of speech are figurative words or phrases, some of which are used to create humor (e.g., hyperbole, idiom, oxymoron, apophasis, litotes, paraprosdokian, portmanteau) Figures of Speech
Flash Mob – A group of apparent strangers suddenly united in common purpose
Full Context – All parts of a humor event that aren’t humor kernel or humor context Context
Gag – A humor event made with kernel(s) from the SILLY family Silly Family
Hazing – Ritualized abuse of new members of an organization
Hoax – A fake object or story treated as the real thing to trick others into believing it, for purposes of sentiment, fame, attention, money or humor
Humor – The clash (cognitive superposition) between sense and
nonsense
Humor Context – Every part of a humor event that helps make humor kernels perceivable; consists of disposition, exposition, setup, subject matter, distraction, and bridge factors Context
Humor Culture – A set of preferences for humorous expression Culture
Humor Event – Any occurrence of an observer detecting humor
Humor Gauges – A set of subconscious measurements that strongly regulate how humor is perceived Humor Gauges
Humor Harmony – The level of mutual support in the relationship between humor and full context Humor Harmony
Humor Note – A single humor kernel when others are also present Humor Notes
Humor Percentage – Observer assessment of how large a part humor plays within the full context of a humor event Humor Percentage
Humor Quality – The degree to which an observer senses humor as funny Kernel Quality
Humor Technical Analysis – A detailed technical assessment of the components of a humor event; the foundation of humor as a technical discipline
Humor-With-Words – Any kind of humor featuring words; one main subcategory is wordplay Wordplay
Hyperbole – Exaggeration for comic or literary effect Figures of Speech
Impression – A parody of a person Parody
IMPROPER – The family of humor kernels in which the sense elements are customs, rules and social norms, and the nonsense elements are things that violate these norms to any degree Improper Family
Inappropriate – Normally a synonym for improper, within Clash Theory it describes only mild or gentle violations of cultural norms Improper Family
Innuendo – Something superficially mild that indirectly references something else, often something vulgar
Inside Joke – Jokes in which only a portion of the audience has the knowledge needed to understand either or both of the kernel elements Exposition
Irony – Contradictory self-reference Contrary Family
Joke – Constructed verbal humor
Kernel – The part of a humor event that makes it humor; a sense element and a nonsense element that clash in the mind of an observer Kernel
Kernel Spectrum – Observer placement of humor kernels along a range categorized by adjectives describing the nonsense element, and grouped into three major families, SILLY, CONTRARY, and IMPROPER Kernel Spectrum
Kernel Form – The substance of a humor kernel: words, images, movement, sound, etc. Kernel Form
Kernel Quality – A measure of humor response intensity; combines how strongly the elements resonate in an observer’s mind and how strongly they clash Kernel Quality
Larger Than Humor – Describes a topic with both humor and non-humor examples, e.g. personification, irony, catchphrases, wordplay, ridicule
Laughter – A physiologic action associated with humor
Litotes – A figure of speech that makes a point by denying its opposite, e.g. ‘not small’ to mean large Figures of Speech
Malapropism – A similar-sounding word substitute with no meaning connection, like auspicious instead of suspicious Wordplay
Mashup – A parody combination of two sources Parody
Meme – Short written text superimposed over a commonly reproduced picture
Meta-humor – Humor about humor Meta-humor
Mockery – Normally a synonym for ridicule, within Clash Theory it’s only ridicule that’s meant Meant / Not Meant and Ridicule
Mockumentary – A parody of a documentary Parody
Mondegreen – Humorously misheard words Wordplay
Neologism – An invented new word Wordplay
Nonsense – One half of a humor kernel
Objective – Referring to the world external to mind. Does not mean one-size-fits-all
Observational Humor – Humor with common daily experience as the subject matter
Observer – The owner of any mind in which humor is experienced, and the supplier of many causes for humor response variability
One-Liner – A joke whose only line contains both setup and punchline
Oxymoron – A figure of speech that combines two opposites Figures of Speech
Paraprosdokian – A figure of speech in which subsequent words cause earlier words to be re-interpreted Figures of Speech
Parody – Comic duplication of a cultural entity whose characteristics are exaggerated and altered in humorous ways Parody
Personification – Assigning human characteristics to abstract ideas like emotions or seasons
Pithy – Humor with high kernel density Density
Political Humor – Humor whose sense and nonsense kernels are assessed in opposing ways by different groups of observers Ridicule
Portmanteau – A figure of speech in which two or more words are abbreviated and merged to make a new one, like ‘ginormous’, ‘Spanglish’, or ‘Vitameatavegamin’ Figures of Speech
Positive Sarcasm – A negative statement with a positive intended meaning Contrary Family
Prank – A kind of trick in which one or more perpetrators provoke a nonsensical/humorous appearance or action in other person(s) or objects Pranks
Production Values – Background elements (lighting, sound, décor, camera angles, editing, etc.) that support or hinder perception of humor kernels Distraction
Pun – A form of wordplay humor built around identical or similar words or phrases with multiple supported meanings Pun
Punchline – The humorous reveal in jokes with a setup. Alters an assumption and/or expectation Setup
Resonance – A measure of attachment to a mental idea, word or picture that combines the strengths of intellectual and emotional response. These include how easy it is to think about and how important, interesting and fundamental to your way of thinking you find it Resonance Strength
Ridicule – An overlapping mix of humor and insult, in which humor’s nonsense element is a personal target. Within Clash Theory, ridicule is mockery when meant and teasing when not meant Meant / Not Meant and Ridicule
Sarcasm – Visibly stating the opposite of what you mean Contrary Family
Sardonic – Within Clash Theory, a gentle statement with a malicious actual meaning
Satire – Parody meant as criticism Satire
Self-reference – See self-reference Contrary Family
Sense – The other half of a humor kernel
Sense of Humor – A composite of four humor skills: recognizing, re-telling, crafting and ad-libbing
Setup – The creation of a scenario that induces assumptions and guides the listener’s attention towards an expectation Setup
Shock Humor – Humor constructed with VULGAR nonsense elements (revolting, profane, and risqué) Improper Family
Sight Gag – Humor with kernels from the silly family and whose kernel form is visual Kernel Form
SILLY – The family of humor kernels in which the nonsense elements are straightforward deviations from something sensible Silly Family
Slapstick – Comedy based on physical movement Silly Family
Slow Burn – Humor stemming from observing built up anger
Snark – An overlapping mix of ridicule, sarcasm, and satire Ridicule
Sophomoric Humor – Humor with VULGAR kernels (revolting, profane, risqué) Improper Family
Spoonerism – The mixing of word pieces. ‘Mardon me, padam.’ Wordplay
Spoof – A parody of a movie or movie genre Parody
Static Clash Strength – A measure of how close to identical the paired humor kernel elements are Clash Strength
Stereotype – An exaggerated characteristic of a group of people used as a shortcut to describe everyone in that group Ridicule
Subject Matter – All topics, subjects and ideas that tie kernel and context together Subject Matter
Subjective – Referring to the world internal to mind. Does not mean anything-goes
Surreal – Nonsense that deviates strongly from sense Silly Family
Teasing – Within Clash Theory, ridicule that is not meant Meant / Not Meant and Ridicule
Trying Too Hard – Overemphasis of disposition and exposition to the detriment of perceived humor quality Disposition
Verbal Irony – Within Clash Theory, self-referential contradiction between the meaning of words and how they are being used Wordplay
Visual Pun – A special type of pun in which at least one supported meaning is a purely visual image
Whimsy – A combination of fantasy and SILLY humor Silly Family
Wit – Humor that is intelligent, educated, non-obvious and
novel Wit
Wordplay – The subcategory of humor-with-words in which the sense and nonsense kernel elements are words themselves Wordplay
Zinger – Pithy ridicule

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