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funny paper

funny paper

2 5.1
A section of a newspaper with comic strips and cartoons
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : sección de cómics
  • See you in the funny papers.
  • read the funny paper

Examples

Synonyms

funnies
vsfunny paper
  • Informal
10 5.8

A part of a newspaper with short comic drawings that tell jokes

is the newspaper section that contains those strips rather than the strips themselves
comics
vsfunny paper
2 1.0

The part of a newspaper with funny drawings and short stories

is the newspaper-only section rather than including magazines

How Humorous

funny paper
  • Archaic
2 5.1
satire
  • Literature
161 5.4

Surface Forms

funny paper singular
funny papers plural

Morphology

funny + paper

The meaning 'a section of a newspaper that contains comic strips or humorous cartoons' is directly and predictably derived from combining 'funny' (humorous) with 'paper' (newspaper). This modifier+noun composition follows standard English patterns (cf. 'funny pages') and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer the meaning.

Etymology

The noun funny paper comes from newspapers that printed a whole page of funny pictures and jokes on the paper. That page had 'comic strips' and 'cartoons', so people called it the 'funny paper' and today the term means the 'comics section'.