These two words are not the same!
“Fun” and “Funny” may look the same but are very different.
“Fun” means a good time, a pleasant time – generally enjoyable.
“Funny” means extremely humorous or very strange.
“Funny” is a powerful word that will make us very curious. “Fun” is a standard word used to describe normal situations. Many students think that the two words are “close enough” – this leads to confusion.
Here is a real-life example:
I spoke to Nano on Friday he said he was going to go to dinner with his friends. On Monday we spoke again:
Me: So how was dinner on Friday?
Nano: It was so funny!
(Now I am thinking something really crazy happened. Was there a live comedian at the restaurant? Did the waiter accidentally spill a big glass of red wine on someone’s white blouse? Did someone get drunk and dance on the table?)
Me: What happened! (I obviously want some details on this crazy night)
Nano: We ate.
Me: And… (I am dying for more information!)
Nano: And it was so funny.
Me: Ya, but what was so funny? (Enough with the suspense!)
Nano: The dinner.
Me: OK, so what else happened?
Nano: Oh, you mean after dinner?
Me: Ya! (Finally, I’m going to hear the wild stories!)
Nano: After dinner we had dessert.
Nano: It was so funny.
Me: Ahhhhhhhhh!!! Stop torturing me!
In the above dialogue, if Nano had just said, “It was fun”, I would have simply replied, “great” and there would have been no confusion. As I said before, “Funny” is a powerful word that sets up (establishes) strong expectations.
Trust me, this type of confusion is “funny” the first time – after than it is not so funny.