"So what do you think about getting a condo?" my Mom asked.
"A salad!" I replied. I thought she said "What are you eating?"

Of course, seconds later, we quickly cleared the misunderstanding - and we both thought it was hilarious. That's when I realized something: two things that I often find absolutely hilarious ultimately frustrate me to no end in real life. These things are:

• Misunderstandings - They're ripe for comic potential, but when it comes to reality, I'd go out on a limb and venture that 85% of the problems on this planet are in some way rooted in a number of misunderstandings. I've found myself in quite a few arguments where either myself or the other party suddenly realizes that they failed to connect this end to that - but egos often come into play and then any chance of civility goes bye-bye.
• Recontextualization - The best comic example of recontextualization, I think, is this English "interpretation" of the Finnish DuckTales theme song. The best aggravating examples of recontextualization, I think, can be found in any political campaign - where one guy tries to intetionally misunderstand the other guy's rhetoric, and then spread that around.

I don't feel the need to justify why these two things piss me off, but for some reason I feel like I need to justify just why exactly I find these things funny. And that's where I run into difficulties - I can't. Come to think of it, I can't explain why I find anything that I laugh at is funny. I suppose I could go further and try to figure it out, but a quote by EB White comes to mind again: "Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it."