Two things immediately come to mind... 1. A few weeks ago I approach my philosophy professor with an unrelated question, and out of the blue it becomes relevant. And somewhere through the debate I ask "What do words mean?" We both laughed. Why? Open a dictionary and and look for the pattern; in other words (heh), see what happens when you try and define them all. 2. The old statement "Think outside the box." Where did the box come from?
The incongruity theory of humor posits that you both laughed because the meaning of the word "meaning" in that question was a level removed (meta-meaning) from how people ordinarily use it. Also, the superiority theory says that you both laughed because (as philosophers often do) you recognized that you are both "smarter" than others because you can engage in this kind of mete-level discourse, in a meaningful way-- think how a passerby, without any philosophical training, would think you two were weirdos! The last theory of humor, relief theory would state that since you and you prof. are in a working relationship, there is a certain amount of tension between you in such a situation (with you both trying to impress each other to some extent , perhaps?) And thus absurd sound question was an opportunity for you both to release the nervous energy. I think all three theories account for why stoners laugh so hard, so often! The box? Its language. We invented it to make life easier (or perhaps as McKenna says, because we were fucked on shrooms)-- but now that box confines us to modes of thought that are restricted by its structure-- as your question "what do words mean" indicated-- we jump back and fourth from different levels of meaning, when trying to do philosophy, but use the same words, and it confuses people! Gottlob Frege tried to remedy this by positing meta-language.... OK, nevermind... thanks for the evocative post!
Of course there is humor. Through all the paradigms and different aspects that compose physical and social sciences is a thin slate of question, one in which makes one ask his/herself what the hell is actually going on. What I mean to say is that science is composed of distinct laws and questions need to have answers, but where such answers are comprised from is still a debate sequence. Sometimes only one law can sustain the meaning of advanced theories, rendering science almost useless because how can only one law verify an entire theory? It is almost inane to a degree. Hell, I think I just confused myself.
Which I think is in line with relief theory, since there a tension in finding the subtle understanding between connotation and denotation. Insightful, bkadoctaj!
I love the philosophy of humor. What is humor itself. An event that causes stomach spasms and uncontrollable vocal noises? What makes something funny? Irony is why the question "what do words mean" is funny because the original conversation was already philosophy. Not all humor is philosophy. Why is it funny when a guy gets kicked in the balls? We all, even the girls, know it hurts. Why is pain funny? Poor guy is in an extreme amount of pain. I wonder that one a lot, why is pain funny. If you think about that a while, you realize a good amount of today's humor is at someone's expense whereas the joke about words is not. I REALLY wonder why that is. The box is a construct that symbolizes our reach. Something beyond our grasp is outside the box. When we reach and get to something outside the box the box expands to that new reach. It's a construct of the human mind and what it's capable of. We're expanding our ability to get outside of the box then we build the next one to overcome. It's basically goal setting.
Of course, those who partake in philosophy interpret that which is presented in the approiate manner. I was asking for relative instances others may have had that they found "funny," but I do appreciate the insight! My scenario and statement wern't much more than finding humor in the obvious, simple, complexity this "existence." Personally? I think our "knowledge" is equivelant to that of the tip of an iceburg... I also thought of another funny think regarding the universe... Look at a diagram of the universe, almost any diagram or picture may suffice - it depends, and tell me if I'm alone when I find the humor. For example... http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/Images/StarChild/questions/universe_expansion.gif ... Notice how the diagrams are surrounded by "nothing")? ;P