Page 79 - The Language of Humour

66 ‘CRIKEY, THAT’S A HARD ONE!’
hundred million sperm? And you mean to tell me you think your child
is special?? Do you know what that means? I have wiped entire
civilisations off my chest—with a grey gym sock! That is special.
(Bill Hicks)

Princess Diana is always complaining. ‘I’m not happy. I’m not
happy.’ She married one of the richest men in the world. His mother
owns England, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia. By
sleeping with Prince Charles, one day she will own—listen to the verb,
own—England, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, New Zealand and
Australia… Then I say, ‘I would screw a duck for Rhode Island. What
does she want?’
(Joan Rivers)
*The context for this piece has changed. The target of the humour
was Princess Diana and the comments were made while she was alive.
Since her death, the comments cross over the line between what is felt
to be acceptable and what is not.

TABOOS: DEATH
Death is another taboo. This does not mean that it can not be mentioned
at all but that there are restrictions—one is the use of respectful or
euphemistic terms. Humour on the topic of death also ranges from the
generally acceptable to the shocking and offensive. The following
witticisms are based on the ability to find humour in references to our
own mortality and involve an allusion to a well-known saying, which is
turned around in some way.

Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may diet.
The trouble with life in the fast lane is that you get to the other
end in an awful hurry.

Although joking about death in general can occur on television—‘Since
I have been manager of this leisure centre, there have only been
twentythree deaths and not one of them a member of staff (Brittas
Empire)—once the reference is to a specific death it is classed as a
‘sick’ joke and occurs only in the private domain. As soon as a terrible
disaster happens, it is only a matter of days before jokes spread around
the country by word of mouth, in the way that urban myths do. After the
Challenger space shuttle disaster the following riddle appeared: