Unintentional humor

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Unintentional humor is the act of making other people laugh without actually meaning to. There are several different kinds of unintentional humor that arise out of various situations.

A no smoking sign at Baker Street tube station, surrounded by icons of Sherlock Holmes smoking a pipe, which adorn the station.

Unintentionally funny combination of "Way In" and "No Entry"

[edit] Unintended contradiction

It is possible for unintentional humor to arise when two different well-meaning people contribute independent pieces of information, but in combination, they contradict each other. The image on the right is an example of this.

[edit] Missteps

A misstep in the (in)appropriate environment is often considered humorous, that is the tension or embarrassment it creates is released by laughter. Examples are misspeaks or falls by a famous individual, catching somebody at an official event with inappropriate manners or embarrassing body noises.