Why do we call it a funny bone?

Question

it hurts its not funny!!

Answer 1

Here is what I found while searching the net for FUNNY BONE, Its a pretty good description and it explained why it is called The Funny Bone,Please Read on :-

Have you ever hit the inside of your elbow in just the right spot and felt a tingling or prickly kind of dull pain? That's your funny bone! It doesn't really hurt as much as it feels weird. The "funny bone" got its nickname because of that funny feeling you get after you hit it.

But your funny bone isn't actually a bone at all. Running down the inside part of your elbow is a nerve called the ulnar nerve. The ulnar nerve controls feeling in your fourth and fifth fingers. It's also one of the nerves that controls the movement of your wrist.

You get that funny feeling when the ulnar nerve is bumped against the humerus (say: hyoo-muh-rus), the long bone that starts at your elbow and goes up to your shoulder. Tapping your funny bone doesn't do any damage to your elbow, arm, or ulnar nerve. But it sure feels strange!

People sometimes mention the funny bone when they talk about their sense of humor. Maybe you've heard someone say "that really tickled my funny bone." We'll leave you with a joke and hope that it tickles yours:-

What's a bone in your body that you can never break? Your funny bone! ;-)

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I hope this answers you question :-)
Take Care and God Bless you !

Answer 2

I asked my mom this same question when I was young. Her explaination was because it makes you laugh and not cry when you injure it.

in a way, it is true. There are nerves there in the "crook" of your elbow that react slightly slower and slightly faster than other parts of the body, leaving you with an odd "weird" feeling that can't always be classified as immediate pain. Some people when describing it can not actively give the description accuracy and just say it feels funny. (not funny ha ha, but funny strange)

Through layman terms it became known as the "funny" bone, alternatively it should have been called the strange bone, but somehow that just doesn't sound comfortable enough to say aloud.

Oh and also because the Latin medical word is not humorous, it's humerous, kinda' like a medical pun play on words. Leave it to us English speakers to make something up that makes no sense.

Answer 3

Funny bone
A point on the elbow where the ulnar nerve runs close to the surface and produces a sharp tingling sensation when knocked against the bone. For example, Ouch! I just banged my funny bone. The expression is a pun on humerus (pronounced the same as humorous), the Latin name for the long bone of the arm. [Early 1800s]

Answer 4

When you hit your funny bone you catch the nerve that lies across the bone of your elbow called the humerus - hence the term 'funny bone'.

Answer 5

The real name for this bone is the humerus, sounds like humerous, meaning funny.

Answer 6

watch someone when thwy hear something really funny... they will hold their ribs or their arm and their face expression wrinkles up... almost identical reaction when you hit your funny bobe... except the person experiences pain instead of laughter. joy and pain are very similar in the way they relate to brain functio n i reckon

Answer 7

Because the spot that zings on the elbow is the connection of the lower arm to the humerus (upper arm bone). humerus/humorous Get it?

Answer 8

because when you hit it, you make a funny high pitched little scream , and it hurt like hell , so every one laughs at you . Therefore it's funny.

Answer 9

there is a nerve that crosses over your elbow and is exposed, this is what causes the tingling when you bump it. the bone it crosses is the humerous bone.

Answer 10

Because it brings all your feelings at once and you want to cry but its a funny hurt.