corny

[ostap77]

Can "corny" refer to a person? Or it's a thing-relaited adjectives?

He's a corny person meaning he sticks to old ideas or cracks up old jokes?

[BobK]

I don't think it's nearly as common to apply it to a person rather than to a joke. But it has been done. I remember in the '50s, when I first heard the sound-track of Oklahoma, being struck by the oddness of the line 'I am as corny as Kansas in August' - I didn't know at the time about the prevalence of that cereal crop in Kansas, which helps explain the choice of simile.

b

[ostap77]

I don't think it's nearly as common to apply it to a person rather than to a joke. But it has been done. I remember in the '50s, when I first heard the sound-track of Oklahoma, being struck by the oddness of the line 'I am as corny as Kansas in August' - I didn't know at the time about the prevalence of that cereal crop in Kansas, which helps explain the choice of simile.

b

What would corny mean in that line?

[Coolfootluke]

I am not a teacher.

It can apply to people. The dictionaries are inconsistent on this one. I like the definition at the Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary: "informal + usually disapproving : old-fashioned and silly or sentimental". The line from Oklahoma is remarkable because she takes on corniness as a good thing. She is a country girl.

[ostap77]

I am not a teacher.

It can apply to people. The dictionaries are inconsistent on this one. I like the definition at the Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary: "informal + usually disapproving : old-fashioned and silly or sentimental". The line from Oklahoma is remarkable because she takes on corniness as a good thing. She is a country girl.

We can refer to people as corny not only jokes or things?

[Coolfootluke]

We can refer to people as corny not only jokes or things?

I am not a teacher.

Yes, but your first instinct was right, sort of---it normally means that they crack corny jokes. Here's one: Q: How do you get a cow out of your way? A: You moove it.

[ostap77]

I am not a teacher.

Yes, but your first instinct was right, sort of---it normally means that they crack corny jokes. Here's one: Q: How do you get a cow out of your way? A: You moove it.

A joke can crack me up or I crack a joke. Can I say crack up a joke?

[Coolfootluke]

A joke can crack me up or I crack a joke. Can I say crack up a joke?

I am not a teacher.

The appearance of the word "crack" in those two expressions is an unfortunate coincidence. You crack a joke the way you crack a whip, I think. A joke cracks you up the way a blow cracks an egg. You cannot crack up a joke.