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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Do you find it funny when people trip over?

477 replies

Dresssos · 14/06/2021 17:46

I have friends that are, on the whole, generally polite. We are in our 30s. When it comes to a member of our group tripping over though, that all goes to shit and everyone thinks it's bloody hilarious! I remember being at school and if anyone tripped over, they would always be greeted by a "wheeyyyy" and a clap. I genuinely have never found it funny, but wondered what other people think?

OP posts:
SchrodingersImmigrant · 14/06/2021 22:29

Glad to see i crossposted with deletes

XenoBitch · 14/06/2021 22:30

[quote Scautish]@XenoBitch

I posted earlier that I sometimes laugh involuntarily when someone falls. I can’t control it. I don’t know why you are being picked on so much for saying the same thing.

It’s a depressing world when so many people try to turn a nuanced debate into something binary when it’s far more complex. As I said before, context is everything; old lady falls down and hits the pavement hard - no laughing - I call Ambulance and keep her warm until it arrives - not funny at all. I fall over in my way to school, rip my trousers completely but not hurt at all. My friend can’t speak for laughing so much - that’s absolutely fine as it was very, very funny.[/quote]
Thanks. It is exactly that! Is involuntary! It tickles my funny bone. If it is a kid, or an old lady... your brain works it out.

Nbnbnb · 14/06/2021 22:33

when a pompous, crashing bore who’d drunk too many glasses fell into a pond at a garden party and tried to pretend it hadn’t happened.

Whoever wrote that..I'm in hysterics 😂

ChangePart1 · 14/06/2021 22:37

@KeepingTrack

I’ve fallen over and hurt myself quite a few times and still can’t help that I find it hilarious.

I think what you do or don’t find funny is largely deeply ingrained in you. People aren’t at fault for finding people falling over funny. They’re at fault if they openly show it and don’t help the person. But you can’t actually help what you find funny, you just can’t. I don’t find toilet humour remotely funny, I do find surreal comedy hysterically funny and slapstick. I still smile to myself when I remember seeing a person dressed as a shark slip over on stage at a royal variety show programme as a small child! I think most of us if we’re really honest would admit to finding at least some things funny that others don’t. We’re all different.

There’s also nuance which a staggering number of PP seem unable to grasp. Watching your young fit friend stumble over while you’re both pissed and they’re in stitches over it is a different scenario to seeing an older person have a fall in the supermarket and I think the majority are able to grasp that.

MrsBobDylan · 14/06/2021 22:38

I am clumsy and would expect to be laughed at as long as I was unhurt.

Yesterday I went to lunch with dh and leant my hand on the bench seat next to me, except there was a gap which I then fell in to. DH says I am the first person ever to fall over while sat down!

I have really hurt myself falling over and on one occasion my sister came to meet me in A&E and made me laugh so much it really hurt. We still laugh at the ridiculousness of it years later.

Isitsixoclockalready · 14/06/2021 22:46

I don't think that you can help your reaction but it's not something that would make me laugh so much as feel a bit awkward. I think that you're doing well to have a whole group of friends that all find the same thing amusing. I've never been with a group that all share the same kind of humour.

Pottedpalm · 14/06/2021 22:57

@Nbnbnb

when a pompous, crashing bore who’d drunk too many glasses fell into a pond at a garden party and tried to pretend it hadn’t happened.

Whoever wrote that..I'm in hysterics 😂

Really? Easily amused..
AlecTrevelyan006 · 14/06/2021 23:26

There’s few things funnier than someone falling over or tripping up.

I like seeing animals fall over too - especially cats

RampantIvy · 14/06/2021 23:29

@AlecTrevelyan006

There’s few things funnier than someone falling over or tripping up.

I like seeing animals fall over too - especially cats

What do you find funny about seeing people hurt or humiliate themselves? Confused
AlecTrevelyan006 · 14/06/2021 23:34

I never said I find it funny when people hurt or humiliate themselves. I said I find it funny when they fall over.

OhGiveUp · 14/06/2021 23:44

At the time of the fall, generally no. Unless it's me whose fallen, then I laugh myself stupid.
After the event though, when replaying it in my mind I have.
Like the time when my husband went head first from top to bottom of the stairs with the dirty laundry basket, just as I came into the hallway to witness this airborne special.
At the time I was like bloody hell, are you hurt? ( Once I'd cleared a pair of knickers off his face )
Once it was clear he fortunately wasn't hurt then I laughed so hard that I could scarcely breath. I was actually rolling round the floor crying laughing.
Every time he comes down the stairs with the dirty laundry now, he gets greeted with ' careful Biggles'

CaptainThe95thRifles · 14/06/2021 23:53

It's interesting that some posters equate falling over with being hurt or humiliated - there's nothing humiliating in falling over, nor do most falls result in injury, for the young / moderately young and the fit at least. Most trips and falls don't actually result in either pain or humiliation.

JassyRadlett · 15/06/2021 00:03

It's interesting that some posters equate falling over with being hurt or humiliated - there's nothing humiliating in falling over, nor do most falls result in injury, for the young / moderately young and the fit at least. Most trips and falls don't actually result in either pain or humiliation.

Well nothing automatically causes humiliation - but I would expect there is a correlation for some people between falls and feeling humiliated because people laugh at them when they trip or stumble.

While there isn’t anything inherently humiliating in falling or tripping there is something humiliating for many people in being laughed at - and the strong association between tripping and people laughing at it then creates a link between humiliation and falling.

That must particularly be the case for those who don’t find other people tripping or stumbling remotely amusing - so being laughed at when it happens carries different weight and meaning.

For example, I was a very clumsy kid, due to some motor delays. I was very aware of and embarrassed by my shortcomings. People did laugh when I fell, often. And I did feel humiliated - it was a reminder of how embarrassed and frustrated and ashamed I felt about my shortcomings, and other people’s mirth at something I already felt shame over added to the humiliation.

Now these days I’ve learned resilience, I’ve learned to laugh at myself first even if I don’t find it funny to deflect the laughter of others, and I’m not as clumsy as I once was. But I take as my maxim that if the subject of the joke isn’t laughing, it’s probably not particularly funny.

Bookworm65 · 15/06/2021 00:06

@Jahebejrjr

I find it hysterically funny. I genuinely don’t know why but I do. Not if they hurt themselves though. I once saw someone die from tripping up. It was hideous.
And you still find it hysterically funny???
CaptainThe95thRifles · 15/06/2021 00:19

As I said upthread, @JassyRadlett, people respond differently to different things. People laughing at me when I fall over is not - to me - humiliating. It makes me laugh, because I like being funny, even when it's not intentional. I accept others might find it humiliating, which is why I wouldn't laugh openly at someone I didn't know well.

My point was more that some posters on this thread seem to think there is an automatic equivalence between a fall and pain / humiliation. I don't think that's true, but I do think that perspective might underlie the difference in opinions about the topic.

Vivi0 · 15/06/2021 00:27

Of course.

Someone tripping or falling can be funny.

When I fall, I always laugh it off and would prefer people to laugh. I have no problem laughing at myself and encourage my children to do the same. I think it is incredibly important to be able to laugh at oneself.

As most posters understand, it really depends on the situation.

A young child/elderly person falling. Not funny.

Friend/family member. Hilarious.

@SappysCurry’s most recent posts. Fucking disgusting.

Jahebejrjr · 15/06/2021 00:43

@Bookworm65 Yes. I have already explained why.

Dresssos · 15/06/2021 06:01

"SappysCurry

I mean morally of course, as you know - the fact you want to laugh but manage to heroically suppress it doesn’t make any difference"

Yep, that's what I was getting at in my original post.

OP posts:
Dresssos · 15/06/2021 06:17

As in (to clarify), I was curious as to whether people found it funny inwardly as a gut reaction - regardless of whether they decide to laugh out loud or not!

OP posts:
Bythemillpond · 15/06/2021 06:29

It depends on the fall. I have seen some which are really Ouch and I hope they are ok. But some are so stupid that you just have to giggle. Like the time I was in a queue of traffic to collect Dh from a day out at Royal Ascot and was witness to several people who really were having difficulty staying upright walking along the pavement and in the road. One larger older guy fell into the road and what looked like his equally worse for wear family trying unsuccessfully to get him to his feet but were falling over too.
Now that was hilarious

DriveMeCrazy1974 · 15/06/2021 06:34

I've never found it funny when people fall over. In fact, I can't even watch shows like You've Been Framed because those sort of things just seem so cruel.
It's all very well some people justifying it by saying they'd never laugh at an old person tripping, but, anybody could trip and seriously hurt themselves. Or, even if they don't hurt themselves, they could be massively embarrassed by it - what's so funny in that?!

Crazysheep · 15/06/2021 06:49

The only thing funnier than seeing people fall over is some of the comments on here. Some people really need to lighten up. A fall is funny, nervous laughing is a thing. I'm educated and can also tell the difference between a funny fall and a serious one. I'd obviously help someone if they were hurt (and have, I deal with injuries in my job) but a spectacular comedy fall is funny. I'm not sorry for laughing.

elastamum · 15/06/2021 07:03

I am fifty with a balence problem. I look pretty fit so not frail. I have to concentrate to do things most people don't even think about. Occasionally I lose my balence l. Falling over is mortifying. If you laughed at me I would think you were an arsehole.

LynetteScavo · 15/06/2021 07:13

No, I don't find it funny. Just not the kind of thing I find amusing.

If I fell over DH would laugh hysterically, and actually, I wouldn't mind. He wouldn't laugh at a stranger though, he'd rush to help Hmm

SchrodingersImmigrant · 15/06/2021 08:51

@Dresssos

As in (to clarify), I was curious as to whether people found it funny inwardly as a gut reaction - regardless of whether they decide to laugh out loud or not!
As most said. It absolutely depends on the tripping. 99% would not laugh at someone falling and being distressed. Some may involuntarily. A mate/spouse/etc who trips because they are not looking where they are talking and ends up falling comically is a different level.

It's like asking whether it's ok to fart.
In a lift? No.
At home, yes.
All is situational🤷🏻

The fact that you picked to quote a bully who was going on aboit morality is quite funny.

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