Fun vs. Folly

Main Difference

The main difference between Fun and Folly is that the Fun is a enjoyment of pleasure and Folly is a architectural structure characterized by a certain excess in terms of eccentricity, cost, or conspicuous inutility; often found in gardens or parks

• Fun

  Fun is the enjoyment of pleasure, particularly in leisure activities. Fun is an experience often unexpected, informal or purposeless. It is an enjoyable distraction, diverting the mind and body from any serious task or contributing an extra dimension to it. Although particularly associated with recreation and play, fun may be encountered during work, social functions, and even seemingly mundane activities of daily living. It may often have little to no logical basis, and opinions on whether an activity is fun may differ from person to person. A distinction between enjoyment and fun is difficult but possible to articulate, fun being a more spontaneous, playful, or active event. There are psychological and physiological implications to the experience of fun.

  Modern Westernized civilizations prioritize fun as an external and sexual aspect.

• Folly

  In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of garden ornaments usually associated with the class of buildings to which it belongs.

  Eighteenth-century English landscape gardening and French landscape gardening often featured mock Roman temples, symbolising classical virtues. Other 18th-century garden follies represented Chinese temples, Egyptian pyramids, ruined abbeys, or Tatar tents, to represent different continents or historical eras. Sometimes they represented rustic villages, mills, and cottages to symbolise rural virtues. Many follies, particularly during times of famine, such as the Irish potato famine, were built as a form of poor relief, to provide employment for peasants and unemployed artisans.

  In English, the term began as “a popular name for any costly structure considered to have shown folly in the builder”, the OED’s definition, and were often named after the individual who commissioned or designed the project. The connotations of silliness or madness in this definition is in accord with the general meaning of the French word “folie”; however, another older meaning of this word is “delight” or “favourite abode”. This sense included conventional, practical, buildings that were thought unduly large or expensive, such as Beckford’s Folly, an extremely expensive early Gothic Revival country house that collapsed under the weight of its tower in 1825, 12 years after completion. As a general term, “folly” is usually applied to a small building that appears to have no practical purpose or the purpose of which appears less important than its striking and unusual design, but the term is ultimately subjective, so a precise definition is not possible.

• Fun (noun)

  enjoyment, amusement, or light-hearted pleasure

  “the children were having fun in the play area”

• Fun (noun)

  a source of fun

  “people-watching is great fun”

• Fun (noun)

  playfulness or good humour

  “she’s full of fun”

• Fun (noun)

  behaviour or an activity that is intended purely for amusement and should not be interpreted as having any serious or malicious purpose

  “the column’s just a bit of fun”

• Fun (adjective)

  amusing, entertaining, or enjoyable

  “it was a fun evening”

  “being on set with the cast and crew was really fun”

• Fun (adjective)

  (of a place or event) providing entertainment or leisure activities for children

  “a school fun day”

• Fun (verb)

  joke or tease

  “they are just funning you”

  “no need to get sore—I was only funning”