Science has determined through rigorous statistical analysis of 45,000 total words what the funniest words in the English language are, and some insights into why they make us giggle.

In fact, the word giggle, along with wriggly, squiffy and boobs are among the funniest words we know according to a new study by Chris Westbury, a psychologist at the University of Alberta. And there's a big goofy list below of the funniest 200 words in English. Some will make you slaphappy, others will make you upchuck, and one we can't mention because you may get your knickers in a knot.

Slobbering, puking, blockhead

No, not you. We just wanted to get your attention so we could talk about the purpose of this study.

Westbury, who has an interest in the psychology of humour, wants to understand what it is about certain words that makes us laugh. The capacity to laugh is unique to us and higher primates, but only we have words.

The study is based on three theories of humour. One, called superiority humour, suggests we find humour from making fun of people. "You blockhead Charlie Brown" is an example.

A second theory of humour is incongruity theory, which suggests that less likely things are funnier than likely things. You are not expected to slobber, but when you do, people laugh.

The third theory is juxtaposition theory, and it suggests that people's actions sometimes make us laugh. Who doesn't find puking funny?

All three of these theories are reflected in a master list of 200 individual words that make us laugh the most. Don't worry, we're getting to them.

Of all the words in the English language, upchuck and slobbering are among the funniest. (David Singleton, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)

Semantic predictors of funny words

One of the conclusions of the study is that there are two ways to predict whether a word will be funny or not: its meaning and its form.

Semantic predictors depend on the meaning of a word and the emotions evoked by that word. This measures how closely a word is — either in meaning or emotion — to the particular category is represents. The study found there were six categories of words that typically make us laugh: sex, bodily functions, insults, swear words, partying and animals.

From the sex category, boob and penis are classics. Bodily functions includes burp and snot; insults are words like ninny and buffoon; swear words are bullocks and jackass (among those we care to list); funny partying related words are booze and shindig; and humour in the animal list comes from pooch and critter.

Did we mention there are more in the list of the 200 funniest words at the end of this article? Keep scrolling ...

Many of comedian George Carlin's seven words you can't say on TV have characteristics similar to those on the funniest words list. But we can't tell you what they are. (Gary C. Caskey/Reuters)

Information predictors of funny words

Dr. Westbury's second predictor of funny words he calls "information predictors." These have do do with the structure of a word or its form.

Words with fewer letters that occur less frequently in English were found to be funnier than words with more common letters. Similarly, less common words are funnier than common ones.

Also a few specific letters or sounds sometimes occur more frequently in funny words. For example the letter 'k' appears quite often in funny words: puke, fink, oink; as does the 'oo' sound, as in boob and poop. The letters 'le' at the end of a word is also often worth a giggle — or a wriggle or even a nibble.

The top 200 funny words (yes, finally!)

(Warning: some of these words could be considered mildly offensive)

slobbering

upchuck

puking

humping

fuzz

bawl

giggle

cooch

bunghole

floozy

boff

cackling

chucky

guffaw

slobber

pukes

giggling

bubby

titty

titties

poop

pooping

wank

mangy

fellate

puss

puke

burp

boobs

pubes

simp

boob

prancing

licker

poops

hussies

booby

jiggling

meany

bucko

hussy

flappy

schmuck

giggly

humph

booger

foxy

fellating

farted

blowjob

waddle

chubby

buxom

goddamn

ninny

buzz

strumpet

fanny

yaps

huffy

cluck

pudgy

barfed

weiner

nymphomaniacs

cootie

wiggling

groupies

wiggly

farting

twerp

yack

poppa

fellated

dumpy

foolery

chortle

pecker

heinie

snogging

wriggly

goofy

whoop

cackle

belcher

crapping

boobies

jiggle

yuks

whoopee

prance

frisky

lummox

gulp

squawk

squawking

weeny

clinger

squiffy

jiggly

snots

muzzy

nincompoop

drool

cooky

wiggle

nilly

blurt

mumbo

lubber

yobbo

farts

squealing

guff

bogart

minx

bozo

groupie

chomp

quip

ponces

giggles

honkey

boner

diddle

willy

f--ker

hijinks

snickering

waggling

ponce

guppy

chortles

momma

biff

conniption

kiddies

wags

twirly

widdle

tipsy

guffaws

puffball

dippy

cuddle

honky

effing

goos

cavort

squirming

dingle

frigging

porky

oink

shagging

tubby

wham

mamma

smarty

cheerios

boozy

catcall

huffs

fornicated

blurts

douches

biddies

tiddly

rotter

crumby

punkin

scamp

hubby

prats

shimmy

scarry

chick

huck

floozie

gabbing

dicks

chump

cavorting

hirsute

titter

hoot

wienie

grump

coxcomb

gabby

jock

bray

snicker

letch

braw

holler

skulk

how'd

yelp