100 Mistakes #8 - 'fun' or 'funny'?

I went climbing at the weekend and it was funny!

It wasn't 'funny' because funny things make you laugh, and climbing doesn't usually make you laugh.

Yes, but I laughed with my friends.

No, sorry, it still wasn't funny.

Funny = comical or humorous.

Jokes are sometimes funny. People falling over can be funny. Dramatic chipmunk is funny. But going climbing with your friends is not funny.

What was it then?

It was 'fun', or 'a lot of fun'.

Now I'm confused. Is 'fun' a noun or an adjective?

Well, 'fun' started out as a noun, and it's slowly becoming an adjective as well. So that means it can sometimes feel or sound strange when it's used as an adjective.

'It was fun' and 'it was a lot of fun' both sound fine.

But 'It was really fun' doesn't sound right, especially if you compare it to a 'proper' adjective: 'it was really enjoyable'.

And 'This year was funner than last year' doesn't work at all.
The comparative form of one-syllable adjectives is formed by adding 'er' but with 'fun' we have to use 'more' to make it sound ok: 'This year was more fun than last year.'

So it's on its way to becoming an adjective but it hasn't made it all of the way yet.

Note also that 'funny' things are usually 'fun' too, so going to see your favourite comedian will be both funny and fun. On the other hand, 'fun' things are not necessarily 'funny': doing a bungee jump might be your idea of fun but no one thinks it's funny. 

Now, let's go back to 'funny' because I haven't told you the whole story. In addition to 'funny - ha ha', we also have 'funny - strange'.

So when you say "Gary's a funny guy" there are two possible meanings.

1. Gary makes me laugh.
2. Gary is strange.

It's usually obvious which one people mean, because their intonation will sound cheerful for the first and more subdued for the second. But sometimes we need to check which one they meant:

Gary's a funny guy.

Do you mean 'funny - ha ha' or 'funny - strange'?

I mean 'funny - ha ha'.

Note that we always use the same expression  'funny - ha ha'. We never say  'funny - ha ha ha'. That would sound funny (funny - strange.)

Also note that things that are very strange sometimes make us laugh:

Look at that man climbing out of the window! Where's he going? He's... he's not wearing anything... ha ha ha ha ha...