whether or not people are making fun of it is not necessarily a good signal as to whether or not it’s actually good
Correct.
Optimally, only bad things would get made fun of
Incorrect. Being too serious is a deadly disease. Everything should be made fun of—it’s fun!
Second, if you want to make something sound bad, it’s really easy.
“making something sound bad” is not at all the same thing as “making fun of”
This sort of premature cynicism tends to be a failure mode I’ve noticed in many otherwise very intelligent people.
As usual, balance is important. Rainbows, kittens, and unicorns also tend to be a failure mode in many people, especially young. Tales of disillusionment are… common.
“making something sound bad” is not at all the same thing as “making fun of”
Generally speaking, “making fun of” implies a pejorative connotation. But don’t you worry, the op didn’t make sense to me either until I checked the dictionary!
For example, people in a secure, stable relationship tend to make fun of each other a lot.
Yeah. I think major part of the fun is knowing it would be insulting in most other contexts. I’m finnish, so I don’t really know how english speaking people use the expression irl.
“Funny” is only a minor and not actually necessary part of “make fun of”. To “make fun of” is to make jokes about someone or something in an unkind way, to mock, tease, ridicule, laugh at, taunt, mimic, parody, deride, send up (British, informal), scoff at, sneer at, lampoon, make a fool of, pour scorn on, take the mickey out of (British, informal), take the piss out of (taboo & slang), satirize, pull someone’s leg, hold up to ridicule, make a monkey of, make sport of, make the butt of, …
All of which are ways of “making something sound bad”. That’s from a dictionary and thesaurus, but actual use, according to the Google hits that aren’t dictionaries or thesauruses, agrees with them. Making something sound bad is the whole purpose of making fun of it. The “fun” part is the method of accomplishing that.
Correct.
Incorrect. Being too serious is a deadly disease. Everything should be made fun of—it’s fun!
“making something sound bad” is not at all the same thing as “making fun of”
As usual, balance is important. Rainbows, kittens, and unicorns also tend to be a failure mode in many people, especially young. Tales of disillusionment are… common.
Generally speaking, “making fun of” implies a pejorative connotation. But don’t you worry, the op didn’t make sense to me either until I checked the dictionary!
Not necessarily, it depends on the context. For example, people in a secure, stable relationship tend to make fun of each other a lot.
I associate “making fun of” with things like “irreverent” and “not taking too seriously”.
Yeah. I think major part of the fun is knowing it would be insulting in most other contexts. I’m finnish, so I don’t really know how english speaking people use the expression irl.
It’s a superset of it.
Not in the way I use the English language. “Funny” != “bad”.
“Funny” is only a minor and not actually necessary part of “make fun of”. To “make fun of” is to make jokes about someone or something in an unkind way, to mock, tease, ridicule, laugh at, taunt, mimic, parody, deride, send up (British, informal), scoff at, sneer at, lampoon, make a fool of, pour scorn on, take the mickey out of (British, informal), take the piss out of (taboo & slang), satirize, pull someone’s leg, hold up to ridicule, make a monkey of, make sport of, make the butt of, …
All of which are ways of “making something sound bad”. That’s from a dictionary and thesaurus, but actual use, according to the Google hits that aren’t dictionaries or thesauruses, agrees with them. Making something sound bad is the whole purpose of making fun of it. The “fun” part is the method of accomplishing that.