Sophomoric humor


Sophomoric humor is that which is juvenile and puerile. It is a type of comedy that often includes toilet humor and gags that are based on and appeal to a silly sense of immaturity. The word sophomoric, an adjective dating from 1813, is used to refer to and describe something or someone that is conceited, overconfident, poorly informed and immature, as characterized by a stereotypical sophomore. The phrase can be derisive, but is also used to refer to a style or vein of comedic act.
A sophomoric view is one held confidently because of lack of awareness of one's own ignorance. From the Greek words σοφός, meaning wise or clever, and μωρός meaning foolish or stupid, related to the word moron. A sophomore is a second-year student in a four-year course of study. The term originated in England, but is now used principally in the United States.

Examples

American film director Judd Apatow's work, including The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Funny People, has been described as using sophomoric humor, drawing laughs for jokes about sex, penises, and bodily functions. A critique of John Steinbeck's The Short Reign of Pippin IV by Peter Lisca describes the story as lacking the burlesque humor of Tortilla Flat, the Rabelaisian humor of "St. Katy the Virgin," the folk humor of The Grapes of Wrath, the tender humor of Cannery Row, the "terrible" Swiftian humor of The Wayward Bus, and consisting of "a sophomoric humor of grotesque improbability and wordplay."
Geographical locations, such as Lake Titicaca, Fucking, and Shitterton, due to the meaning of those names in the English world, can be used as sophomoric humor.