Funnybone - origins??

[brightspark]

where does the word funnybone originate from? Why is the funnybone called a funnybone?

Thanks

[beetucks]

The technical term for the upper arm bone is the humerus (sp) and this sounds like humorous The strange painful sensation experienced when the elbow is banged is due to the bundle of nerves which pass through the elbow

[Quizmonster]

It's an attractive explanation that there is a play on the words 'humerus' and 'humorous'. However, the true etymology as provided by The Oxford English Dictionary - the 'bible' in such matters - is that the 'funny' in 'funnybone' refers to the strange sensation experienced when that area is struck. In other words, it is all about 'funny-peculiar' and not 'funny-haha'.

[Argee]

I agree with you Quizmonster, but it is not just an attractive explanation, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable says:

"A pun on the word humerus, the Latin name for the armbone. It is the inner condyle or knob where the ulnar nerve is close to the surface of the skin at the elbow. A knock on this part is naturally painful and produces a tingling sensation." So I think it is a combination.

[Quizmonster]

As I said, Argee, TOED makes no reference at all to the humerus/humorous pun in outlining the etymology of 'funnybone'. Fowler's, on the other hand, frequently - as here - delights in perpetuating what can only be described as what Quinion et al call 'etymythology'. I love Fowler's but treat its claims with a healthy scepticism!
'Humerus' has been around in English since the 1500s and 'humorous', in the modern sense, since about 1700. No-one used 'funnybone' in the way we do now before the late 19th century. I think that's rather a long time for the pun to go unnoticed.
I am convinced that the pun explanation is just a relatively modern add-on which just happened to fit.

[Argee]

Hi, Quizmonster, I accept your explanation.

I was just pointing out that Brewer's (Fowler's?) mentioned the pun on humerus, as, in fact does Chamber's. Let's agree that it is just funny that the Latin word for shoulder is (h)umerous!! Happenstance?? I hope I don't bang my elbow now!