the.com/funny bone
the one bone in your body that's actually a nerve telling a terrible joke
means The funny bone is the sensitive spot at the back of your elbow where the ulnar nerve runs close to the surface, so bumping it sends a sharp, tingling jolt down your arm.
from There are two stories braided together. The literal one: the ulnar nerve crosses the humerus, the long upper-arm bone — and 'humerus' sounds just like 'humorous,' so 'funny bone' is widely read as a 19th-century pun on that name. The other thread is plain English: 'funny' here leans on its older sense of 'odd, peculiar, queer-feeling,' because that buzzing, half-numb tingle is a genuinely strange sensation. Both ideas likely fed the phrase, and the humerus/humorous wordplay made it stick.
- not a bone
- It's the ulnar nerve, fully exposed
- named for
- Pun on the humerus bone above it
- the zing
- Nerve compressed against bone fires randomly
- location
- Runs along the inside of your elbow
- vulnerable
- Lacks the usual protective muscle padding
ulnar nerve — the nerve running through your elbow that causes tingling when struck, named 'funny bone' despite being the ulna bone, not actually humorous
medial epicondyle — the bony bump on your inner elbow where the ulnar nerve passes, the actual anatomical location people hit