AMERICAN HUMOR

HUMOR

Humor

Humor (Greek: Χιούμορ) is the way some experiences can make people laugh or feel happy. Most people are able to be amused (laugh or smile at some- thing funny) and have a sense of humor. You can use puns with

words that sound similar but have different meanings, or a word that has two meanings. Other examples of humor are satire, saying yes or no when it is not expected, and using

different kinds of logic. People with different

ages and cultures can find different things humorous. For example, adults may like satire, which children could find hard to understand. A comedian is someone who is paid to make people laugh. Famous ones include Alan Carr and Harry Hill.

.

Laughing or smiling often shows a sense of

humor and that the person is happy.

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Caricature

A caricature of film comedian Charlie Chaplin.

A caricature (from the Italian caricatura, which means “loaded portrait”) is a portrait or drawing of a person that exaggerates the way he or she

looks, usually to create a humorous effect, or a political statement.

In 19th century France, Charles Philipon, a French caricaturist who owned a magazine titled "La Caricature," frequently offended King Louis-Phillipe's court and wound up in jail several times. His magazine was the first to portray the king as a pear, which quickly became the commonly-recognized symbol of Louis-Phillipe and his entire regime.

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Exaggeration / Hyperbole Exaggeration is a term for a figure of speech. It means to describe something and make it more than it really is. The verb is to exaggerate.

An example of exaggeration would be “I was walking along when suddenly this enormous dog walked along. It was as big as an elephant.” The dog may have been big, but it was certainly not that big. Another example of exaggeration would be “I caught a fish as big as my house.”

Overstatement is another word that means almost the same thing. The opposite of overstatement is understatement. A hyperbole is a type of exaggeration that is used in literature. The opposite of hyperbole is hypobole, which is an understatement.

People exaggerate things because they have strong feelings about something. People may exaggerate to make people listen to what they say. They may do it to emphasize something. They may also exaggerate just to sound funny.

Examples of Hyperbole

Monty Python on Being Poor

Michael Palin: You were lucky. We lived for three months in a brown paper bag in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six o'clock in the morning, clean the bag, eat a crust of stale bread, go to work down mill for 14 hours a day week in, week out. When we got home, our Dad would thrash us to sleep with his belt!

Terry Gilliam: Well we had it tough. We used to have to get up out of the shoebox at twelve o'clock at night, and lick the road clean with our tongues. We had half a handful of freezing cold gravel, worked 24 hours a day at the mill for four pence every six years, and when we got home, our Dad would slice us in two with a bread knife.

Eric Idle: I had to get up in the morning at 10 o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work 29 hours a day down mill, and pay the mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our Dad would kill us, and dance about on our graves singing "Hallelujah."

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Play on Words PUNS A pun is a joke which is a “play on words” (a game using words). People make puns in order to make other people laugh. A pun usually uses a word which can have more than one meaning, even if the spelling is

different.

Sometimes a pun may use a whole phrase that can be heard in more than one way, as in the following knock- knock joke:

“Knock-knock!”

“Who’s there?”

“Dishwasher.”

“Dishwasher Who?”

“Dishwasher way I ushed to shpeak before I got my falsh teesh”.

(The last sentence is supposed to mean: “This was the way I used to speak before I got my false teeth”).

There is a joke about a man who sent ten

different puns to friends in the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. Unfortunately, “no pun in ten did.” (The joke here is on “no pun intended” which is something people say when two words sound the same, but they were not trying to make a joke).

Puns are easier to make in some languages than others. Languages with many homophones (words which sound the same

but have a different meaning) are most

suitable for puns.

Puns do not have to be about homonyms. They can sometimes be about a literal use of the word and a metaphor (figurative use). For example, if a young man joins the Navy and someone says that he “sailed through his exams", this is a joke because: 1) the expression “to sail through something” means “to do it easily”, but 2) the Navy is about sailing in ships. It is possible to say something like that without realizing that it is a pun.

Many British people love making puns, especially bad puns (where a word has to be mispronounced to make the joke work).

“How is your vineyard doing?" a neighbor asked. The woman replied, “It’s growing grape!" (play on words: “It’s going great!")

MALAPROPISM

A malapropism (also called a Dogberryism or Cramtonism) is the use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, often humorous utterance. An example is Yogi Berra's statement: "Texas has a lot of electrical votes," rather than "electoral votes".

The word malapropism comes ultimately from the French mal à propos meaning "inappropriate". Malapropisms occur as errors in natural speech. Malapropisms are often the subject of media attention,

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especially when made by politicians or other prominent individuals. The philosopher Donald Davidson has noted that malapropisms show the complex process through which the brain translates thoughts into language.

The word "malapropism" (and its earlier variant, "malaprop") comes from a character named "Mrs. Malaprop" in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 1775 play The Rivals. Mrs. Malaprop frequently misspeaks (to great comic effect) by using words which don't have the meaning she intends, but which sound similar to words that do.

SPOONERISM A spoonerism is an error in speech or deliberate play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched between two words in a phrase.

While spoonerisms are commonly heard as slips of the tongue resulting from unintentionally getting one's words in a tangle, they can also be used intentionally as a play on words.

It is named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930), Warden of New College, Oxford, who was notoriously

prone to this mistake. The term "Spoonerism" was well established by 1921.

Richard Lederer, gives nine examples "attributed to Spooner, most of them spuriously." They are as follows:

•"Three cheers for our queer old dean!" (rather than "dear old queen," which is a reference to Queen Victoria)

•"Is it kisstomary to cuss the bride?" (as opposed to "customary to kiss")

• "The Lord is a shoving leopard." (instead of "a loving shepherd")

• "A blushing crow." ("crushing blow")

• "A well-boiled icicle" ("well-oiled bicycle")

• "You were fighting a liar in the quadrangle." ("lighting a fire")

• "Is the bean dizzy?" ("Dean busy")

• "Someone is occupewing my pie. Please sew me to another sheet." ("Someone is occupying my pew. Please show me to another seat.")

• "You have hissed all my mystery lectures. You have tasted a whole worm. Please leave Oxford on the next town drain." ("You have missed all my history lectures. You have wasted a whole term. Please leave Oxford on the next down train.")

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Satire

Satire is a form in art or writing which ridicules either a person, government, or an institution, often through the use of humor. Satire can either be in paintings, plays, books, songs, TV or movies. It also is used to stereotype people.

Satire was used long ago, even as long ago as the Ancient Greeks. It was widely known in Elizabethan times. Jonathon Swift used satire in his book Gulliver’s Travels to make fun of people’s stupidity. Works like The Beggar’s Opera (1728) used satire to show how silly the politicians of the time were. More recently Jon Stewart and other comedians use it frequently.

Satire often points out ironic or bad things that powerful people are doing. Its adjective is satirical.

Parody

A parody is a special piece of art. Parodies make fun of another piece of art by mocking it. Parodies can be anything from songs to poems to books to movies. The parody is an imitation of the original, but exaggerating it, showing clichés which have been used, to make the

original look ridiculous or to make a comment about an issue affecting society.

For example, in a serious Western movie, the good guys always seem to shoot better and faster than the bad guys. In a Western parody, this might be exaggerated by showing a good guy firing a single shot, and a dozen of the bad guys falling from their horses as a result.

Mel Brooks is a director who has made many movies which are parodies:

• Blazing Saddles is a parody of Western movies in general • Spaceballs is a parody of the Star Wars movies, and science fiction in general • Men in Tights is a parody of Robin Hood movies Newspaper columnists are well known for their strip cartoons which can very often parody

public opinion on major issues affecting society.

Stewart interviewing Admiral Michael Mullen on The Daily Show

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Irony

Irony is a term for a figure of speech. Irony is when something happens that is opposite from what is expected. It can often be funny, but it is also used in tragedies. There are many types of irony, including those listed below.

• Dramatic irony, when the audience knows something is going to happen on stage that the characters on stage do not.

• Socratic irony, when someone (usually a teacher) pretends to be stupid in order to show how stupid his pupils are (while at the same time the reader or audience understands the situation).

• Cosmic irony, when something that everyone thinks will happen actually

happens very differently.

• Situational irony e.g. Mr. Smith gets a parking ticket. This is ironic because Mr. Smith is a traffic officer.

• Verbal irony is an absence of expression and intention. Sarcasm may sometimes involve verbal irony.

• Irony of fate is the misfortune in the result of fate or chance.

Examples of Irony

• In Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, Juliet takes a potion that will put her to sleep, making her look dead. She does this

in the hopes of being reunited with Romeo. He incorrectly learns of her death, and kills himself. This is an example of dramatic irony, as the reader/viewer knows she is not dead, but Romeo does not.

• A common example of cosmic irony could be that a child wants some kind of pudding, and misbehaves to try to get it. The parent withholds it because of the child’s behavior.

Sarcasm

Sarcasm is when someone says something, but means something else. They mean either the opposite of what they said, or that they disagree with what they just said.

Sarcasm is different from lying because when a person is being sarcastic, the person listening is supposed to understand that the person speaking does not mean what they just said. If someone says something sarcastic, it is usually said in a tone of voice that tells the person listening that they are being sarcastic. Perhaps the person listening knows the person talking well enough to understand that the person talking is being sarcastic.

Sarcasm can be used to criticize someone. It can be unkind.

Sarcasm can also be used to be funny. If the person’s tone of voice is normal when they say something sarcastic, this is called “deadpan” or “dry humor”.

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Resources

Text

• Caricature Source: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caricature?oldid=4963880 Contributors: Thijs!bot, VolkovBot, Idioma-bot, Melan- cholieBot, American Eagle, Zorrobot, Luckas-bot, Auntof6, Jotterbot, Nightscream, SteveBot, LaaknorBot, Xqbot, GoblinBot4, Wildcar- icature, EmausBot, ZéroBot, MerlIwBot, Addbot, Flipper.3d and Anonymous: 2

• Exaggeration Source: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exaggeration?oldid=4917048 Contributors: FlaBot, Thijs!bot, Hikitsurisan, JAnDbot, Majorly, DodekBot, TXiKiBoT, VolkovBot, Chenzw, OKBot, AlleborgoBot, SieBot, Jonas D. Rand, Razorflame, Idioma-bot, Alexbot, BodhisattvaBot, ChenzwBot, WikiDreamer Bot, J.delanoy, Synergy, Bluegoblin7, Luckas-bot, HerculeBot, Chris G Bot, Tempo- divalse, SassoBot, Xqbot, GoblinBot4, RibotBOT, Pmlineditor, BenzolBot, Tegel, Dinamik-bot, EmausBot, PiRSquared17Bot2, JenVan, MerlIwBot, Osiris, Intforce, MahdiBot, Ansei, Addbot and Anonymous: 17

• Pun Source: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pun?oldid=4954929 Contributors: Hikitsurisan, American Eagle, Mercy, GoblinBot4, Men- tifisto, Bsadowski1, Osiris, Middleton, Caliburn and Anonymous: 5

• Satire Source: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satire?oldid=5035391 Contributors: Robbot, Hikitsurisan, JAnDbot, VecBot, DodekBot, EchoBravo, TXiKiBoT, VolkovBot, Coffsneeze, BotMultichill, AlleborgoBot, SieBot, SilvonenBot, CarsracBot, Zorrobot, Luckas-bot, Chris G Bot, MifterBot, ArthurBot, Xqbot, Macdonald-ross, Reputable Python, EmausBot, Gratte-papier, MerlIwBot, Thehelpfulbot, Osiris, Dexbot, Addbot, 2005-Fan, 5Syllables and Anonymous: 6

• Parody Source: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parody?oldid=4608247 Contributors: MarkLucas, YurikBot, Chobot, Chlewbot, FlaBot, Syzygy, Thijs!bot, Hikitsurisan, Escarbot, JAnDbot, VecBot, DodekBot, AmaraBot, VolkovBot, Chenzw, Isis, YonaBot, BotMultichill, SieBot, Fairfield, TerryfaeScotland, Noelle1995, American Eagle, Juliancolton, Luckas-bot, Auntof6, LaaknorBot, SassoBot, Xqbot, To- beBot, Dinamik-bot, Cevissa, KamikazeBot, Reputable Python, ZéroBot, Mh7kJ, Enfcer, Werieth, Addbot and Anonymous: 10

• Irony Source: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony?oldid=4696140 Contributors: M7, FlaBot, Tree Biting Conspiracy, Tdxiang, Thijs!bot, Hikitsurisan, JAnDbot, VecBot, Creol, EchoBravo, TXiKiBoT, Coffsneeze, BotMultichill, Huji, Le Pied-bot, SieBot, Comet- styles, Razorflame, Alexbot, BOTarate, American Eagle, Peterdownunder, CarsracBot, LinkFA-Bot, -Midorihana-, Luckas-bot, Chris G Bot, SassoBot, GoblinBot4, Meganmccarty, Griffinofwales, KamikazeBot, Savh, PhnomPencil, Auntof6Bot, Osiris, Tumthe3, Ansei, Ad- dbot, Mr Wiki Pro and Anonymous: 28

• Sarcasm Source: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm?oldid=4599364 Contributors: Eptalon, FlaBot, Hikitsurisan, Sean William, Creol, TK925, Microchip08, SieBot, VanBot, Luckas-bot, Auntof6, JordanAshley, Xqbot, Lauryn Ashby, EmausBot, ZéroBot, Wiooiw, Mh7kJ, Ripchip Bot, MerlIwBot, Makecat-bot, Addbot and Anonymous: 10

Images

• File:Chaplin_caricature.JPG Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Chaplin_caricature.JPG License: CC BY- SA 2.5 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

• File:Laughter_2_by_David_Shankbone.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Laughter_2_by_David_ Shankbone.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: David Shankbone Original artist: David Shankbone

Buster Keaton: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tom-margie/1535277905/

Ellen DeGeneres: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_DeGeneres

Chris Rock: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Rock

Bill Maher: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_satire Aziz Ansari: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aziz_Ansari

Monty Python: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python

Jon Stewart: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Stewart

Blazing Saddles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blazing_Saddles#/media/File:Blazing_saddles_movie_poster.jpg

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