mysteries of rhetorical nuance

Dan Goncharoff thegonch at GMAIL.COM
Mon Jul 2 22:27:11 UTC 2012


How do you ever know whether something you see as funny was meant to be
funny?
How does somebody writing something funny know for sure it is understood as
a joke? Sometimes people don't get the joke.

I think it helps, in this case, that we have a recent public figure who
speaks just like this. (Female. Failed VP candidate. You know who I mean.)

That last bit was mean to be humorous. Maybe it wasn't.

DanG


On Mon, Jul 2, 2012 at 6:12 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: mysteries of rhetorical nuance
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> But how do I know that? And did the writer?
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, Jul 2, 2012 at 2:58 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: mysteries of rhetorical nuance
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Didn't you answer you own question?
> >
> > "carefully chosen to be wry
> > and suggestive rather than solemn and direct"
> >
> > DanG
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Jul 2, 2012 at 2:49 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> > >wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject:      mysteries of rhetorical nuance
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > As I drove down a shady lane the other day, I noticed a small church by
> > the
> > > roadside, which exhibited rhetorically remarkable marquee.
> > >
> > > It said,
> > >
> > > LIFE WITHOUT JESUS
> > > HOW'S THAT WORKING OUT FOR YOU?
> > >
> > > I laughed. The idiom framing the question seemed carefully chosen to be
> > wry
> > > and suggestive rather than solemn and direct, like those I've seen on
> > many
> > > similar marquees.
> > >
> > > Essay 1: Precisely what is the incongruity that makes the question seem
> > > intentionally humorous? How might one explain the nuance to a
> non-native
> > > speaker?
> > >
> > > Essay 2: What are the chances that the letterer didn't see anything
> funny
> > > or unusual about it?
> > >
> > > JL
> > > --
> > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > truth."
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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