Monty Python knew it. The Marx Brothers knew it. And it's that right when life gets as serious as it can be, it usually gets a bit silly. A lot of the things we do in life that on the surface seem a bit silly are actually incredibly important. And a lot of the things we take very seriously are, when examined closely, really very silly indeed.

Lest you forget this excellent word, here is Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley, responding earlier this year to claims that Chicago Skyway tollbooths were fully staffed to help ensure an unimpeded ride to his Michigan summer home:

"Silly. Silliest thing I ever heard in my life. It really is silly.... It's silly, silly, silly, silly. It is silly, it is just silly. Silliness. That is all it is. Completely silly, completely silly. It's silly, Baldheaded. He's baldheaded. Is that silly? No. Come on. It's the silliest thing I ever heard."

(The school of thought there clearly being 'Say silly enough and they'll know I'm serious.')

Sixth, seventh, or wherever it fits, thank God for silliness - the sense that Man would be doomed without.