funny ha-ha

alternative funny ha ha · alternative funny-ha ha · alternative funny-haha · alternative funny/ha ha · alternative funny/haha · alternative ha-ha funny

1. informalnot comparableHumorous, as opposed to strange (the other meaning of funny).

   1936, Ian Hay, The Housemaster What do you mean, funny? Funny peculiar or funny ha-ha?

   5 more examples

   1938, Stevie Smith, Over The Frontier Is it in essence so extremely funny-ha-ha that it will bear this so frequent repetition?

   Funny is now occasionally ambiguous, as a slang expression fashionable a decade ago shows: “Do you mean funny ‘ha-ha’ or funny ‘peculiar’?”

   1945, Robert J. Menner, Multiple Meaning and Change of Meaning in English, in Language, Vol. 21, No. 2

   They might be men: they certainly were funny (funny-peculiar not funny-ha ha).

   1952, Madison Bently, review of Statement on Race, in The American Journal of Psychology, Vol. 65, No. 1

   2003, Lesley Chamberlain, The Secret Artist: A Close Reading of Sigmund Freud Freud loves mistakes because they open up so much scope for humor, and he watches how what first strikes us as “funny ha ha” shades into “funny peculiar.”

   2004, W. R. Adams, Rairarubia In the morning, she couldn’t remember much, only that the dream left her feeling kind of funny inside. Not funny ha-ha, but funny weird-like.

   Synonyms: ha-ha funny

2. informalnot comparableHumorous, as opposed to serious or nonfunny.

   1971, Harold Robbins, The Betsy But it wasn’t a funny ha-ha smile. It was the kind of smile you have when you find a friend.

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   1999, Anna Fienberg, Borrowed Light Mostly he makes jokes about Mum’s cooking. Not the funny ha-ha jokes, more the sneery, condescending snipes that leave an uncomfortable silence, while you decide whose side you should be on.

   2003, Steven Cooper, With You in Spirit She laughs, not a funny ha-ha laugh but rather a tiny self-inflicted chuckle of disgust.

   2005, Jan Carole, Anatomy of Pain I laugh when talking about this; it is not the funny ha-ha kind of laugh, but the uncomfortable kind.