knee slapper
1
6.8
- noun
- /niː ˈslæpər/
- Informal
:
broma muy graciosa
- Last night, the comedian told a knee slapper that had everyone in the audience roaring with laughter.
- a real knee-slapper
The deadpan humor, you know, knee slapper after knee slapper.
- The deadpan humor, you know, knee slapper after knee slapper.
- It is just this surface level raising of of of things where something's a knee slapper or over here were outraged and they voted for a convicted felon.
Examples
-
Jay Kay, that's a knee slapper; you could be a comedian!
Blog text (16) -
Laugh out loud, roll in the aisles, big knee-slapper!
Fiction book (1993) -
Yeah, when I was in high school, we thought that was a real knee slapper.
Blog text (28) -
Here is a sample knee-slapper: "It costs more to keep a woman than three dogs and a shotgun."
Blog text (2) -
First, this knee-slapper in the game between the New York Giants and the Chicago Bears:
Blog text (15) -
Mom's idea of a knee-slapper.
Fiction book (2001) -
Ain't that a knee slapper?
Blog text (23) -
Maybe he'd enjoy the knee-slapper you told me about the great Buddha.
-
What a knee slapper!
Blog text (28) -
Although it's not a laugh-til-you-cry knee-slapper, the film definitely will keep people laughing, as well as make people just want to go out and live their lives to the fullest.
Blog text (9)
Synonyms
33
4.9
A very funny person, story, or situation that makes people laugh
26
6.3
A very funny person or thing that makes people laugh
1
6.6
A very funny joke that makes people laugh loudly
1
8.1
A very funny story or joke that makes people laugh a lot
A very funny joke that makes many people laugh
A joke or mistake that makes people laugh a lot
How Funny
- Informal
1
6.8
14
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
knee + slapper
The compound literally links 'knee' with 'slapper' (one who/that slaps), so a learner who knows 'knee' and 'slap' can plausibly infer it refers to something that makes people slap their knees. However, understanding that knee-slapping is a culturally recognised laughter gesture (and that '-er' here denotes the cause rather than a literal person) requires pragmatic/cultural knowledge, so the relation is only partly predictable.
Etymology
The phrase knee slapper may come from the picture of someone laughing so hard that they slap their knee. That's why a 'knee slapper' means a joke that makes people laugh loudly.