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
Somhairle-Scottish, Irish
KazimÍR-Czech, Slovak, Hungarian
Koray-Turkish
İBrahİMeeb-rah-HEEMTurkish
Algernon
YasminYAZ-min (English)Persian, Arabic, English (Modern)