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Sophomoric humor refers to juvenile, puerile, and base comedy that would normally be expected from an adolescent. It is used to refer to a type of comedy that often includes bathroom 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 high school 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 (transliterated as sophos), meaning wise or clever, and μωρός (transliterated as moros) meaning foolish or stupid, related to the word moron. A sophomore is a second-year high school 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" Jonathan Swiftian humor of The Wayward Bus, and (instead) consisting of "a sophomoric humor of grotesque improbability and wordplay." In a review of the anime version of the Japanese light novel Shimoneta: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn't Exist the production company J.C.Staff said that they take, "this series' ludicrous premise and runs with it to the most sophomoric, immature, and profanity-laden extremes it can go".