Verbal wit

The nature of wit has been already discussed. Still, it's rather interesting to find out the core of the reference whose collision gives rise to the witty effect. In other words, that would be very useful to investigate the "rules of the game" that make everyone laugh over one's head. The wit being a more sophisticated type of humour implies and hides the logic when the movement is stated in explicit form.

Max Eastman in his "Enjoyment of Laughter" remarks a prominent role of "pun" in humorous works. Most puns act surprisingly as they must represent the most trivial form of wit. Nonetheless, pun is one of the most widely-used devices in wit.

Another interesting form of the verbal wit is the domain of the frames of reference whose collision strikes an extreme humorous effect. Normally, they are metaphorical versus literal meaning, traveling together in opposite directions. The list could be extended indefinitely especially under the current circumstances when the humour is transformed into mass media and put on the serial production.

Furthermore, there exists such literary form as sustained wit, such as the "picturesque novel". It is not based on a single effect but on several minor climaxes. The plot develops along contrasted planes, such as the magic world of Don Quixote and the horse sense of Sancho Panza.

One more form of wit we'd like to emphasize is the satire and political satire in particular. The political satire applies the most exquisite forms of wit creating juxtaposition in the reader's mind of his habitual image of the world. The satire makes us to recognize familiar features in the absurd and absurdity in the familiar. Without it, the satire would be useless and wit in the same way.