Funny Bone

Did we name that bone in our arms the humerus because it's the funny bone, or was it the other way around? That's the joke, because the bone is not spelled humorous; it's just a homophone. Or a homobone, if you're being silly. We call that horrible feeling if striking our elbow "hitting our funny bone" because it feels funny, but it's funny/weird, not funny/haha. What we are hitting isn't even a bone, anyway, it's the ulnar nerve, which is very important because it connects our brains to our hands. But the strange placement of that nerve that makes it vulnerable to strikes is necessary for the way we move. Our dexterity comes with a cost. This TED-Ed lesson from Cella Wright explains what's going on in our elbows when we hit our funny bone.