How do you say "funny"?

Question

The English word "funny" means "something that makes one laugh". What is/are the closest Japanese word/words that match the meaning and the nuance of the word "funny"?

Two possible matches are 楽しい【たのしい】 and 面白い【おもしろい】. However, 楽しい is more like "fun" and 面白い is more like "interesting". There is also 可笑しい【おかしい】, which in my experience is often used with negative connotations. The word "funny" can also have negative connotations, but is usually positive. Another possible match is 滑稽 but this seems to have the sense of "extremely funny".

Don't translate words; translate thoughts. That said, strictly translated, I'd think that "something that makes you laugh" is "笑わせるもの". Of course, neither could be substituted for "funny". Translating words does not work. — davewp, Apr 08 '14 at 21:09
As you probably know, you can use the more colloquial オモロイ in place of 面白い. — istrasci, Apr 08 '14 at 23:08
It seems to me OP is asking how to translate the thought. Of course the only way Stack Exchange permits exchange of thoughts is by typing them out in words. — hippietrail, Apr 09 '14 at 00:48
I've noticed people of many backgrounds who speak nonnative English have a kind of reverse of this problem where they say "funny" for something enjoyable that doesn't invoke laughter, when native speakers would say "fun". — hippietrail, Apr 09 '14 at 00:50
although dictionary wise 滑稽 is fine, at least among the young generations 滑稽 would have a slight derogatorish sense to it, it is often used to say you are acting foolish by saying "滑稽だな" to a person. — Saifis, Apr 09 '14 at 08:48
@hippietrail To translate thoughts, continue to re-state in English the meaning you want to communicate. Each time, use different vocab and grammar. Eventually something will match your Japanese ability. For abstract issues, deciding on just one sentence you want to say in English, and then trying to translate each word while retaining sentence meaning, is impossible. English native speakers can take an English thought and say it several different ways. — davewp, Apr 09 '14 at 14:20
In British English, 'funny' also means "strange", and '面白い' also means "興味深" (きょうみぶかい). Curious! — Pablo H, Apr 10 '19 at 11:48

Earthliŋ · Answer 1 · 2014-04-08T23:39:09.667

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I think that 面白い is actually much closer to "funny" than most learners realise, because they think of 面白い as "interesting". It often means "funny", e.g.

アキちゃんはちょうおもしろいよね
Aki is really funny.

Another way of saying "that's really funny", which hasn't been mentioned, is

(ちょう)うける

edited Apr 08 '14 at 23:39

answered Apr 08 '14 at 23:28

Earthliŋ

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In fact after years of saying 面白い for "hmm interesting" I recently got some puzzled reactions that lead to learning 興味深{きょうみぶ}い is a more serious word for "interesting". Though the way I habitually say something when learning a new fact seems to often fall into the crack between the two Japanese words ... – hippietrail Apr 09 '14 at 00:46
Here is another example from a recent question where 面白い (面白がる） was used to describe a comedian as funny: http://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/14999/ellipsis-does-this-と＝として-what-is-the-relevant-verb-in-this-extract – Tim Apr 09 '14 at 01:14
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In certain parts of Kansai you might also encounter わらける expressing the concept of "funny". – JLRishe Apr 09 '14 at 03:58

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 08 '14 at 22:51

You've basically answered your question - the words you've listed are your options. There's pretty much nothing closer to the English word 'funny' than those words; and if there was a more direct translation, it would be unusual enough of a word that it would sound too strange to use in everyday conversation. I'd say to default to 面白い - it would mean something like 'something that I enjoy(ed) experiencing', in this case, because it was humorous.

How do you say "funny"?

2 Answers2