Page 55 - The Language of Humour

42 THE SHOCK OF THE NEW
punchline comes with a twist on the third. In a more general way, there
is an expectation that three parallel pieces of language build up to a
climax; in humour there is often an anti-climax. In the US sitcom
Cheers the bartender, Woody, asks whether he should ask for a rise in
pay. His colleague says ‘You’re a good bartender, you’re never off sick,
you don’t have holidays. I wouldn’t bother.’ Humorists often create
bitingly witty comments by using the technique of this three-part
structure (see next section on register) yet insert surprisingly
incongruous terms:

I require only three things of a man—he should be handsome,
ruthless and stupid. (Dorothy Parker)
Children begin by loving their parents. After a time they judge
them. Rarely, if ever, do they forgive them. (Oscar Wilde)
We met Dr Hall in such very deep mourning that either his
mother, his wife, or himself must be dead. (Jane Austen)

Activity with text

Comment on the way this breaks the usual expectations of stories—that
the questions raised will be answered. (No commentary follows this
activity.)

A rabbit goes into a butcher’s shop and asks, ‘Have you got any
lettuce?’ The butcher says, ‘We don’t sell lettuce here. You need the
greengrocer’s across the road.’ The next day the rabbit comes into the
shop and asks for some lettuce again. The butcher tells him, ‘Look, I told
you yesterday, we don’t sell lettuce. You need the greengrocer.’ The
rabbit comes in the next day and asks the butcher again, ‘Have you got
any lettuce?’ The butcher goes mad. He says, ‘Look, I’m sick of this.
How many times do I have to tell you I don’t sell lettuce. If you come
in here again asking for lettuce, I’m going to nail your ears to the
floor.’ The next day the rabbit comes in and asks the butcher, ‘Have
you got any nails?’ ‘Nails? No.’ ‘Right,’ the rabbit says, ‘Have you got
any lettuce?’

REGISTER

In linguistics the term register is used in a way analogous to a musical
register, which can range from high to low tones. There is the notion of
a ‘high’ or formal register in language and a range including more