hilarious vs. hysterical

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I posted this over there, on ILx, and was soundly put in my place (slightly) with many on-line dictionaries supporting "hysterical" as funny.
It's not funny. it can be hysterically funny. But IT can't be hysterical. IT can be Hilarious. Am I right? Please weigh in.

― aimurchie, Sunday, 28 November 2004 14:05 (twenty years ago)

It can mean funny. Saying "That businessman was hysterical" suggests he was frenzied; saying "That comedian was hysterical" implies that he was funny. It's all about context.

― Kevan (Kevan), Sunday, 28 November 2004 15:34 (twenty years ago)

I would hear "That comedian was hysterical" and understand what was meant but visualize an extremely upset Jerry Seinfeld and giggle.

― W i l l (common_person), Sunday, 28 November 2004 18:06 (twenty years ago)

There is something I am not getting at. Hysterical is a human thing while hilarious is applied to various nouns.A hilarious box is not the same as an hysterical box. My ceiling is dripping water: this is leading to some hysteria on my part. Also. my ceiling is really dripping water. Must Move Books!I'm serious. it's a slow drip, but the non-fiction is in peril.

― aimurchie, Sunday, 28 November 2004 19:29 (twenty years ago)

Not that I didn't weigh in on the ILE thread, but: Are you in favor of returning all words back to their "original" meanings? This kind of extension of meaning happens all the time -- a word like "silly" goes from meaning "blessed" to "acting like someone who is blessed" to "acting alien" to "acting goofy".

Or, as I asked in the other thread, why do you favor the meaning of this Greekish version of "uteral" that some therapist with a dubious theory came up with in the 19th Century over the extended meaning that the public came up with over the course of the 20th?

Or, to put it another way, if you're going to be upset about a word meaning "acting deliriously" being used to mean "humorous", you should also be upset about a word meaning "pertaining to the womb" being used to mean "acting deliriously".

― Casuistry (Chris P), Sunday, 28 November 2004 21:04 (twenty years ago)

They're both adjectives; one means funny, one can mean funny. As long as meaning is clear in context, I'm okay with it. I understand your objection, but this isn't a hill I'm prepared to die on, as they say.

― I Am Curious (George) (Rock Hardy), Sunday, 28 November 2004 23:57 (twenty years ago)

I think this thread is hysterical.

― Aimless (Aimless), Monday, 29 November 2004 06:33 (twenty years ago)

Well played.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Monday, 29 November 2004 08:42 (twenty years ago)

You are right. The original odious definition of hysterical as it applied to females who couldn't control their emotions (of any sort) has been watered down. Now males too can find IT hysterically funny.

― sandy mc (sandy mc), Monday, 29 November 2004 17:12 (twenty years ago)

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