These are the funniest words in the English language

The first in-depth study on funny English words is out and you can probably guess the top one. Photo / Getty

A group of scientists has conducted research to figure out which are the funniest words in the English language.

The University of Warwick researchers recruited a group of more than 800 volunteers and asked them to rate words on a scale of one (not even a little bit funny) to five (funny).

They asked that respondents use their first instinct and not take any time to think about their answer.

In total, in a multi-stage process, the volunteer participants rated 4997 English words.

The funniest word in the English language, the study concluded, is booty.

Here is what the top 10 looks like:

1. Booty
2. Tit
3. Booby
4. Hooter
5. Nitwit
6. Twit
7. Waddle
8. Tinkle
9. Bebop
10. Egghead

The least funny words were: rape, torture, torment, gunshot, death, nightmare, war, trauma, rapist and distrust.

The researchers concluded that "unfamiliarity" is one of the keys to finding something funny. The words rated the highest are words that are not frequently used and took people longer to recognise.

"The database we present here offers a basis for studying humour in perhaps a highly rudimentary 'fruit fly' version, at the level of a single word," the study authors said, quoted by The British Psychological Society's Research Digest.

This was the first in-depth study on the humour behind English words and should make everyone feel a little bit better about all the times they secretly had a giggle at each of those ("giggle", by the way, ranked fairly highly too).