APS

2026 APS Annual Convention · 2026

Funny but Forgettable? Predicting the Plausibility, Humor, and Memorability of Taboo Compounds

Barcelona, Spain · May 2026

Posters · Language in Mind: Speech, Reading & Communication

Session: Poster Session VIII

Authors

Abstract

The plausibility and humor of novel taboo compounds (e.g., horny-banana) is predicted by the semantic, emotional, phonological, and orthographic properties of the compound’s constituent words, which in turn predict the memorability of these novel, taboo compounds but not their naming times.