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Definitions Perhaps it is more accurate to say that the usage of the word humor has expanded to several distinct meanings that are all still in active use. Humor as mood, as shown in good humor...
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#5: Post edited
by
Eric Isaac
·
2023-12-21T12:58:15Z (11 months ago)
network hiccup on my end - correct draft of last edit
- ## Definitions
- Perhaps it is more accurate to say that the usage of the word humor has expanded to several distinct meanings that are all still in active use.
- 1. Humor as mood, as shown in _good humor_. _Bad humor_ is also still in use, as demonstrated in the question, suggesting that this usage isn’t strictly required to be positive.
- 2. Humor as an observable quality, as shown in a _sense of humor_, the quality of being amusing.
- 3. Humor as an activity, _the act or practice of being, or attempting to be, humorous_. Note, this is a skillful activity that someone can be bad at.
- 4. Humor as something done by an agreeable person, as shown in _humoring someone_.
- The dictionaries I’ve checked so far suggest that the word entered English via Old French (humour), following an expansion in meaning like so:
- fluid -> mood -> whim -> funny
- The connection likely being made due to the fact that the same bodily fluids believed to control health, at the time, were also believed to control a person’s state of mind, which in turn influenced wit, mood, and disposition.
- ## Ambiguity & Misc.
- Based on continuing and varied usage of the word over the past five centuries, we don’t have strong reason to believe that _a good sense of humor_ wasn’t used to describe curmudgeons with a strong wit previously! The only requirement for this particular usage of the word is that _someone_ finds it amusing, which is highly subjective.
- I’d wager that some of the confusions presented in the question actually reflect some degree of ambiguity in determining the definition of _humor_ being used. For instance, saying someone disagreeable is _bad humored_ is less ambiguous because it can’t be interpreted as saying they have a _bad sense of humor_, vs. saying they have _bad humor_.
Similarly, someone who continually tells bad or offensive jokes may be said to be _bad at humor_ or _attempting unsuccessfully to be humorous_, which makes it clearer that they may not necessarily be _in bad humor (mood)_ while doing so, but that the people they are with do not find it amusing and that they are performing the activity of humor unskillfully.- That said, there were obviously many changes to how people related to each other in the twentieth century, but this answer is already fairly long and this topic could fill several books!
- ## Definitions
- Perhaps it is more accurate to say that the usage of the word humor has expanded to several distinct meanings that are all still in active use.
- 1. Humor as mood, as shown in _good humor_. _Bad humor_ is also still in use, as demonstrated in the question, suggesting that this usage isn’t strictly required to be positive.
- 2. Humor as an observable quality, as shown in a _sense of humor_, the quality of being amusing.
- 3. Humor as an activity, _the act or practice of being, or attempting to be, humorous_. Note, this is a skillful activity that someone can be bad at.
- 4. Humor as something done by an agreeable person, as shown in _humoring someone_.
- The dictionaries I’ve checked so far suggest that the word entered English via Old French (humour), following an expansion in meaning like so:
- fluid -> mood -> whim -> funny
- The connection likely being made due to the fact that the same bodily fluids believed to control health, at the time, were also believed to control a person’s state of mind, which in turn influenced wit, mood, and disposition.
- ## Ambiguity & Misc.
- Based on continuing and varied usage of the word over the past five centuries, we don’t have strong reason to believe that _a good sense of humor_ wasn’t used to describe curmudgeons with a strong wit previously! The only requirement for this particular usage of the word is that _someone_ finds it amusing, which is highly subjective.
- I’d wager that some of the confusions presented in the question actually reflect some degree of ambiguity in determining the definition of _humor_ being used. For instance, saying someone disagreeable is _bad humored_ is less ambiguous because it can’t be interpreted as saying they have a _bad sense of humor_, vs. saying they have _bad humor_.
- Similarly, someone who continually tells bad or offensive jokes may be said to be _bad at humor_ or _attempting unsuccessfully to be humorous_, which makes it clearer that they may not necessarily be _in bad humor (mood)_ while doing so, but that the people they are with do not find it amusing or that they are performing the activity of humor unskillfully.
- That said, there were obviously many changes to how people related to each other in the twentieth century, but this answer is already fairly long and this topic could fill several books!
#4: Post edited
by
Eric Isaac
·
2023-12-21T12:54:54Z (11 months ago)
grammar nit
#3: Post edited
by
Eric Isaac
·
2023-12-21T12:54:44Z (11 months ago)
grammar nit
- ## Definitions
- Perhaps it is more accurate to say that the usage of the word humor has expanded to several distinct meanings that are all still in active use.
- 1. Humor as mood, as shown in _good humor_. _Bad humor_ is also still in use, as demonstrated in the question, suggesting that this usage isn’t strictly required to be positive.
- 2. Humor as an observable quality, as shown in a _sense of humor_, the quality of being amusing.
- 3. Humor as an activity, _the act or practice of being, or attempting to be, humorous_. Note, this is a skillful activity that someone can be bad at.
- 4. Humor as something done by an agreeable person, as shown in _humoring someone_.
- The dictionaries I’ve checked so far suggest that the word entered English via Old French (humour), following an expansion in meaning like so:
- fluid -> mood -> whim -> funny
- The connection likely being made due to the fact that the same bodily fluids believed to control health, at the time, were also believed to control a person’s state of mind, which in turn influenced wit, mood, and disposition.
- ## Ambiguity & Misc.
- Based on continuing and varied usage of the word over the past five centuries, we don’t have strong reason to believe that _a good sense of humor_ wasn’t used to describe curmudgeons with a strong wit previously! The only requirement for this particular usage of the word is that _someone_ finds it amusing, which is highly subjective.
- I’d wager that some of the confusions presented in the question actually reflect some degree of ambiguity in determining the definition of _humor_ being used. For instance, saying someone disagreeable is _bad humored_ is less ambiguous because it can’t be interpreted as saying they have a _bad sense of humor_, vs. saying they have _bad humor_.
Similarly, someone who continually tells bad or offensive jokes may be said to be _bad at humor_ or _attempting unsuccessfully to be humorous_, which makes it clearer that they may not necessarily be _in bad humor (mood)_ while doing so, but that the people they are with do not find it amusing or they are performing the activity of humor unskillfully.- That said, there were obviously many changes to how people related to each other in the twentieth century, but this answer is already fairly long and this topic could fill several books!
- ## Definitions
- Perhaps it is more accurate to say that the usage of the word humor has expanded to several distinct meanings that are all still in active use.
- 1. Humor as mood, as shown in _good humor_. _Bad humor_ is also still in use, as demonstrated in the question, suggesting that this usage isn’t strictly required to be positive.
- 2. Humor as an observable quality, as shown in a _sense of humor_, the quality of being amusing.
- 3. Humor as an activity, _the act or practice of being, or attempting to be, humorous_. Note, this is a skillful activity that someone can be bad at.
- 4. Humor as something done by an agreeable person, as shown in _humoring someone_.
- The dictionaries I’ve checked so far suggest that the word entered English via Old French (humour), following an expansion in meaning like so:
- fluid -> mood -> whim -> funny
- The connection likely being made due to the fact that the same bodily fluids believed to control health, at the time, were also believed to control a person’s state of mind, which in turn influenced wit, mood, and disposition.
- ## Ambiguity & Misc.
- Based on continuing and varied usage of the word over the past five centuries, we don’t have strong reason to believe that _a good sense of humor_ wasn’t used to describe curmudgeons with a strong wit previously! The only requirement for this particular usage of the word is that _someone_ finds it amusing, which is highly subjective.
- I’d wager that some of the confusions presented in the question actually reflect some degree of ambiguity in determining the definition of _humor_ being used. For instance, saying someone disagreeable is _bad humored_ is less ambiguous because it can’t be interpreted as saying they have a _bad sense of humor_, vs. saying they have _bad humor_.
- Similarly, someone who continually tells bad or offensive jokes may be said to be _bad at humor_ or _attempting unsuccessfully to be humorous_, which makes it clearer that they may not necessarily be _in bad humor (mood)_ while doing so, but that the people they are with do not find it amusing and that they are performing the activity of humor unskillfully.
- That said, there were obviously many changes to how people related to each other in the twentieth century, but this answer is already fairly long and this topic could fill several books!
#2: Post edited
by
Eric Isaac
·
2023-12-21T12:50:57Z (11 months ago)
Address humor as activity more directly
- ## Definitions
- Perhaps it is more accurate to say that the usage of the word humor has expanded to several distinct meanings that are all still in active use.
- 1. Humor as mood, as shown in _good humor_. _Bad humor_ is also still in use, as demonstrated in the question, suggesting that this usage isn’t strictly required to be positive.
- 2. Humor as an observable quality, as shown in a _sense of humor_, the quality of being amusing.
3. Humor as an activity, _the act or practice of being humorous_.- 4. Humor as something done by an agreeable person, as shown in _humoring someone_.
- The dictionaries I’ve checked so far suggest that the word entered English via Old French (humour), following an expansion in meaning like so:
- fluid -> mood -> whim -> funny
- The connection likely being made due to the fact that the same bodily fluids believed to control health, at the time, were also believed to control a person’s state of mind, which in turn influenced wit, mood, and disposition.
- ## Ambiguity & Misc.
- Based on continuing and varied usage of the word over the past five centuries, we don’t have strong reason to believe that _a good sense of humor_ wasn’t used to describe curmudgeons with a strong wit previously! The only requirement for this particular usage of the word is that _someone_ finds it amusing, which is highly subjective.
I’d wager that some of the confusions presented in the question actually reflect some degree of ambiguity in determining the definition of _humor_ being used. For instance, saying someone disagreeable is _bad humored_ is less ambiguous because it can’t be interpreted as saying they have a _bad sense of humor_, vs. saying they have _bad humor_.- That said, there were obviously many changes to how people related to each other in the twentieth century, but this answer is already fairly long and this topic could fill several books!
- ## Definitions
- Perhaps it is more accurate to say that the usage of the word humor has expanded to several distinct meanings that are all still in active use.
- 1. Humor as mood, as shown in _good humor_. _Bad humor_ is also still in use, as demonstrated in the question, suggesting that this usage isn’t strictly required to be positive.
- 2. Humor as an observable quality, as shown in a _sense of humor_, the quality of being amusing.
- 3. Humor as an activity, _the act or practice of being, or attempting to be, humorous_. Note, this is a skillful activity that someone can be bad at.
- 4. Humor as something done by an agreeable person, as shown in _humoring someone_.
- The dictionaries I’ve checked so far suggest that the word entered English via Old French (humour), following an expansion in meaning like so:
- fluid -> mood -> whim -> funny
- The connection likely being made due to the fact that the same bodily fluids believed to control health, at the time, were also believed to control a person’s state of mind, which in turn influenced wit, mood, and disposition.
- ## Ambiguity & Misc.
- Based on continuing and varied usage of the word over the past five centuries, we don’t have strong reason to believe that _a good sense of humor_ wasn’t used to describe curmudgeons with a strong wit previously! The only requirement for this particular usage of the word is that _someone_ finds it amusing, which is highly subjective.
- I’d wager that some of the confusions presented in the question actually reflect some degree of ambiguity in determining the definition of _humor_ being used. For instance, saying someone disagreeable is _bad humored_ is less ambiguous because it can’t be interpreted as saying they have a _bad sense of humor_, vs. saying they have _bad humor_.
- Similarly, someone who continually tells bad or offensive jokes may be said to be _bad at humor_ or _attempting unsuccessfully to be humorous_, which makes it clearer that they may not necessarily be _in bad humor (mood)_ while doing so, but that the people they are with do not find it amusing or they are performing the activity of humor unskillfully.
- That said, there were obviously many changes to how people related to each other in the twentieth century, but this answer is already fairly long and this topic could fill several books!
#1: Initial revision
by
Eric Isaac
·
2023-12-19T23:30:31Z (11 months ago)
## Definitions Perhaps it is more accurate to say that the usage of the word humor has expanded to several distinct meanings that are all still in active use. 1. Humor as mood, as shown in _good humor_. _Bad humor_ is also still in use, as demonstrated in the question, suggesting that this usage isn’t strictly required to be positive. 2. Humor as an observable quality, as shown in a _sense of humor_, the quality of being amusing. 3. Humor as an activity, _the act or practice of being humorous_. 4. Humor as something done by an agreeable person, as shown in _humoring someone_. The dictionaries I’ve checked so far suggest that the word entered English via Old French (humour), following an expansion in meaning like so: fluid -> mood -> whim -> funny The connection likely being made due to the fact that the same bodily fluids believed to control health, at the time, were also believed to control a person’s state of mind, which in turn influenced wit, mood, and disposition. ## Ambiguity & Misc. Based on continuing and varied usage of the word over the past five centuries, we don’t have strong reason to believe that _a good sense of humor_ wasn’t used to describe curmudgeons with a strong wit previously! The only requirement for this particular usage of the word is that _someone_ finds it amusing, which is highly subjective. I’d wager that some of the confusions presented in the question actually reflect some degree of ambiguity in determining the definition of _humor_ being used. For instance, saying someone disagreeable is _bad humored_ is less ambiguous because it can’t be interpreted as saying they have a _bad sense of humor_, vs. saying they have _bad humor_. That said, there were obviously many changes to how people related to each other in the twentieth century, but this answer is already fairly long and this topic could fill several books!