gallows humour



gallows humour

  (British & Australian) also gallows humor (American & Australian)
humour that makes unpleasant things, such as death, seem funny
Usage notes: The gallows are a wooden frame used in the past for killing criminals by hanging them from a rope tied around their neck.
Many of the patients I worked with knew they were dying. There was a lot of gallows humour.
See also: humour

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Patrycjapaht-RITS-yahPolish
JimJIMEnglish
Lucy['lu:si]
Aggis['ægis]
Mstislavmstee-SLAHF (Russian)Czech, Russian, Medieval Slavic
Jasmine['dʒæsmin]