mysteries of rhetorical nuance

[Dan Goncharoff]

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."
> > >
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> > 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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