II
THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT

We follow the beckoning of chance and take
up as our first example of wit one which has al-
ready come to our notice in the previous chapter.

In that part of the Reisebilder entitled “ Die
Bäder von Lucca,” Heine introduces the precious
character, Hirsch-Hyacinth, the Hamburg lot-
tery agent and curer of corns, who, boasting to
the poet of his relationship with the rich Baron
Rothschild, ends thus: “ And as true as I pray
that the Lord may grant me all good things I
sat next to Solomon Rothschild, who treated me
Just as if I were his equal, quite famillionaire.”

It is by means of this excellent and very funny
example that Heymans and Lipps have illustrated
the origin of the comic effect of wit from the suc-
cession of “ confusion and clearness.” However,
we shall pass over this question and put to our-
selves the following inquiry: What is it that
causes the speech of Hirsch-Hyacinth to be-
come witty? It can be only one of two things;
either it is the thought expressed in the sentence
which carries in itself the character of the witti-
cism; or the witticism adheres to the mode of ex-

5

〆

16 „ANALYSIS

pression which clothes the thought. On which-
ever side the nature of the wit may lie, there we
shall follow it farther and endeavor to eluci-
date it.

In general a thought may be expressed in dif-
ferent forms of speech—that is, in different
words—which may repeat it in its original ac-
curacy. In the speech of Hirsch-Hyacinth we
have before us a definite form of thought ex-
pressed which seems to us especially peculiar and
not very readily comprehensible. Let us attempt
to express as exactly as is possible the same
thought in other words. Lipps, indeed, has al-
ready done this and has thus, to some degree,
elucidated the meaning of the poet. He says (p.
87), " We understand that Heine wishes to say
that the reception was on a familiar basis, that
is, that it was of the friendly sort.” We change
nothing in the sense when we assume a different
interpretation which perhaps fits better into
the speech of Hirsch-Hyacinth: “ Rothschild
treated me quite as his equal, in a very familiar
way; that is, as far as this can be done by a
millionaire.” We would only add, “The con-
descension of a rich man always carries some-
thing embarrassing for the one experiencing it.” *

> Since this joke will occupy us again and we do not wish to
disturb the discussion following here, we shall find occasion later
to point out a correction in Lipps's given interpretation which
follows our own.

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 17

Whether we shall remain content with this or
with another equivalent formulation of the
thought, we can see that the question which we
have put to ourselves is already answered. The
character of the wit in this example does not”
adhere to the thought. It is a correct and in-
genious remark that Heine puts into the mouth
of Hirsch-Hyacinth—a remark of indubitable
bitterness, as is easily understood in the case of
the poor man confronted with so much wealth;
-but we should not care to call it witty. Now if
any one who cannot forget the poet’s meaning
. in the interpretation should insist that the
thought in itself is also witty, we can refer him
to the definite fact that the witty character is
lost in the interpretation. It is true that Hirsch-
Hyacinth's speech made us laugh loudly, but
though Lipps's or our own accurate rendering
may please us and cause us to reflect, yet it can-
not make us laugh.

But if the witty character of our example does
not belong to the thought, then it must be sought
for in the form of expression in the wording.
We have only to study the peculiarity of this
mode of expression to realize what one may term
word- or form-technique. Also we may discover
the things that are intimately related to the very
nature of wit, since the character as well as the
effect of wit disappears when one set of expres-

18 ANALYSIS

sions is changed for others. At all events we
are in full accord with our authors when we put
so much value upon the verbal form of the wit.
Thus К. Fischer (p. 72) says: “ It is, in the first
place, the naked form which is responsible for
the perception of wit, and one is reminded of a
saying of Jean Paul’s which affirms and proves
this nature of wit in the same expression. " Thus
the mere position conquers, be it that of warriors
or of sentences.” ”

Formation of Mixed Words

Now wherein lies the “technique” of this |
wit? What has occurred to the thought, in our |
own conception, that it became changed into wit -
and caused us to laugh heartily? The compari- |
son of our conception with the text of the poet _
teaches us that two processes took place. In the
first place there occurred an important abbrevia-
tion. In order to express fully the thought con-
tained in the witticism we had to append to the |
words “ Rothschild treated me just as an equal,
on a familiar basis,” an additional sentence
which in its briefest form reads: i.e., so far as
a millionaire can do this. Even then we feel the
necessity of an additional explanatory sentence."
The poet expresses it in terser terms as follows: |
“ Rothschild treated me just like an equal |
* The same holds true for Lipps's interpretation. i

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 19

quite famillionaire.” The entire restriction,
which the second sentence imposes on the first
thus verifying the familiar treatment, has been
lost in the jest. But it has not been so entirely
lost as not to leave a substitute from which it
can be reconstructed. A second change has also
taken place. The word “ familiar ” in the wit-
less expression of the thought has been trans-
formed into “ famillionaire ” in the text of the
wit, and there is no doubt that the witty char-
acter and ludicrous effect of the joke depends
directly upon this word-formation. The newly
formed word is identical in its first part with
the word “ familiar “ of the first sentence, and
its terminal syllables correspond to the word
“ millionaire “ of the second sentence. In this
manner it puts us in a position to conjecture the
second sentence which was omitted in the text
of the wit. It may be described as a composite
of two constituents “ familiar “ and “ million-
aire,” and one is tempted to depict its origin from
the two words graphically.

FAMIL I AR
MILLIONAIRE
FAMILLIONAIRE

The process, then, which has carried the
thought into the witticism can be represented in

20 ANALYSIS

the following manner, which, although at first |

rather fantastic, nevertheless furnishes exactly
the actual existing result: “ Rothschild treated
me quite familiarly, 1.6., as well as a millionaire
can do that sort of thing.” >

Now imagine that a compressing force is act-
ing upon these sentences and assume that for
some reason or other the second sentence is of
lesser resistance. It is accordingly forced to-
ward the vanishing point, but its important com-
ponent, the word “ millionaire,” which strives
against the compressing power, is pushed, as it
were, into the first sentence and becomes fused
with the very similar element, the word “ famil-
ar ” of this sentence. It is just this possibility,
provided by chance to save the essential part of
the second sentence, which favors the dis-
appearance of the other less important com-
ponents. The jest then takes shape in this
manner: “Rothschild treated me in a very
famillionaire way.”

(mili) (aire)

Apart from such a compressing force, which is
really unknown to us, we may describe the origin
of the wit-formation, that is, the technique of the
wit in this case, as a condensation with substitu-
tive formation. In our example the substitutive
formation consists in the formation of a mixed

word. This fused word “ famillionaire,” in-

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 21

comprehensible in itself but instantly under-
stood in its context and recognized as senseful,
is now the carrier of the mirth-provoking
stimulus of the jest, whose mechanism, to be
sure, is in no way clearer to us through the
discovery of the technique. To what extent
can a linguistic process of condensation with
substitutive formation produce pleasure through
a fused word and force us to laugh? We"
make note of the fact that this is a different
problem, the treatment of which we can post-
„pone until we shall find access to it later. For
the present we shall continue to busy ourselves
with the technique of wit.

Our expectation that the technique of wit can-
not be considered an indifferent factor in the ex-
amination of the nature of wit prompts us to in-
quire next whether there are other examples of
wit formed like Heine's “ famillionaire.” Not
many of these exist, but enough to constitute a
small group which may be characterized as the
blend-word formations or fusions. Heine him-
self has produced a second witticism from the
word “millionaire “ by copying himself, as it
were, when he speaks of a “ millionarr “ (Ideen,
Chap. XIV). This is a visible condensation
of “millionaire” and “ narr” (fool) and, like
the first example, expresses a suppressed by-

22 ANALYSIS

thought. Other examples of a similar nature
are as follows.

During the war between Turkey and the Bal-
kan States, in 1912, Punch depicted the part
played by Rumania by representing the latter
as a highwayman holding up the members of
the Balkan alliance. The picture was entitled:
Kleptorumania. Here the word is a fusion of
Kleptomania and Rumania and may be rep-
resented as follows:

KLEPTOMANIA
RUMANIA

KLEPTORUMANIA

A naughty jest of Europe has rebaptized a
former potentate, Leopold, into Cleopold be-
cause of his relation to a lady surnamed Cleo.
This is a clear form of condensation which by
the addition of a single letter forever vividly
preserves a scandalous allusion.

In an excellent chapter on this same theme
Brill gives the following example. .

“ De Quincey once remarked that old persons
are apt to fall into * anecdotage. " The word
Anecdotage, though in itself incomprehensible,
can be readily analyzed to show its original full
sense; and on analysis we find that it is made up
of two words, anecdote and dotage. That is, in-

+ Psychanalysis: Its Theories and Application, nd Ed, p. 331.

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 28

stead of saying that old persons are apt to fall
into dotage and that old persons are fond of tell-
ing anecdotes, De Quincey fuses the two words
into a neologism, anecdotage, and thus simulta-
neously expresses both ideas. The technique,
therefore, lies in the fusion of the two words.
Such a fusion of words is called condensation.
Condensation is a substitutive formation, i.e., in- —
stead of anecdote and dotage we have anecdotage.

“ In a short story which I have recently read,
one of the characters, a ‘sport,’ speaks of the
Christmas season as the alcoholidays. By reduc-
tion it can be easily seen that we have here a com-
pound word, a combination of alcohol and holi-
days which can be graphically represented as
follows:

alcoHOL
HOLidays

ALCOHOLIDAYS

“Here the condensation expresses the idea
that holidays are conducive to alcoholic indul-
gence. In other words, we have here a fused
word, which, though strange in appearance, can
be easily understood in its proper context. The
witticism may be described as a condensation
with substitution.

“ The same mechanism is found in the follow-
ing: A dramatic critic, summarizing three para-

24 ANALYSIS

graphs to the effect that most plays now pro-
duced in New York City are violently emotional
and hysterical, remarks: * Thespis has taken up
his home in Dramatteawau.' The last word is
a condensation of drama and Matteawan. The
substitution not only expressed the critic`s idea
that most of the plays at present produced in
New York are violent, emotional and hysterical,
that is insane, but it also contains a clever allu-
sion to the nature of the problem presented by
most of these plays. Matteawan is a state hospi-
tal for criminal insane. Most of the plays are
not only insane, but also criminal since they treat
of murders, divorces, robberies, scandals, ete.”

When Flaubert published his famous romance
Salammbo, which treats of life in ancient Car-
thage, it was scoffingly referred to by Sainte-
Beuve as Carthaginoiserie on account of its
tedious detailed descriptions.

Carthaginoiserie
chinoiserie

During a conversation with a lady I uninten-
tionally furnished the material for a jest. I
spoke to her about the great merits of an investi-
gator whom I considered unjustly ignored. She
remarked, “ But the man really deserves a monu-
ment.” “ Perhaps he will get one some day,” I
answered, “ but at the moment his success is

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 25

very limited.” “Monument” and “ moment
are contrasts. The lady then united these con-
trasts and said: “ Well, let us wish him a monu-
mentary success.”

If at this stage the reader should become
displeased with a viewpoint which threatens to
destroy his pleasure in wit without explaining
the source of this pleasure I must beg him to
be patient for a while, because we are now con-
fronted with the technique of wit, the examina-
tion of which promises many revelations if
only we enter into it far enough. Besides the
analysis of the examples thus far cited, which
show simply a process of condensation, there
are others in which the changed expressions
manifest themselves in other ways.

Condensation with Modification and Substitution

The following witticisms of Mr. N. will serve
as illustrations.

“I was driving with him téte-à-béte." Noth-
ing is simpler than the reduction of this jest.
Evidently it can only mean: I was driving
téte-a-téte with Mr. X. and X. is a stupid ass
(beast).

Neither of these two sentences is witty nor
is there any wit if one combines them into this
one: “I was out driving téte-å-téte with that
stupid ass (beast).” The wit appears when

26 ANALYSIS

the words “ stupid ass” are omitted and when,
as a substitute for them, the first "t” of the
second “ tête “ is changed to “b.” This slight
modification brings back to expression the sup-
pressed “ bête.” The technique of this group
of witticisms may be described as “ condensa-
tion with a slight modification.” And it would
seem that the more insignificant the substitu-
tive modification, the better is the wit.

Quite similar, although not without its com-
plications, is the technique of another form of
witticism. During a discussion about a person
in whom there was something to praise and
much to criticise, N. remarked: “ Yes, vanity
is one of his four heels of Achilles.” + This
modification consists in the fact that instead of
the one vulnerable heel which was attributed to ”
Achilles we have here four heels. Four heels
means four feet and that number is only found
on animals. The two thoughts condensed in
the witticism are as follows: Except for his
vanity he is an admirable fellow; still I do not
care for him, for he is more of an animal than
a human being.

2 This same witticism was supposed to have been coined be-
fore by Heine concerning Alfred de Musset,

*One of the complications involved in the technique of this
example lies in the fact that the modification through which the

omitted abuse is substituted is to be taken as an allusion to the
latter, for it leads to it only through a process of deduction.

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 27

A similar but simpler joke I heard statu
nascendi in a family circle, One of two brothers
who were attending college was an excellent
scholar while the other was only an average
student. It so happened that the model boy
had a setback in school. The mother discussed
this matter and expressed her fear lest this event
be the beginning of a lasting deterioration.
The boy who until then had been overshadowed
by his brother willingly grasped this oppor-
tunity to remark: “ Yes, Carl is going back-
ward on all-fours.”

Here the modification consists in a sinal
addition as an assurance that in his judgment
his brother is going backward. This modifica-
tion represents and takes the place of a pas-
sionate plea for his own cause which may be
expressed as follows: After all, you must not
think that he is so much cleverer than I am
simply because he has more success in school.
He is really a stupid ass, i.e., much more stupid
than I am.

A good illustration of condensation with
slight modification is furnished by a well-known
witty jest of Mr. N., who remarked about a
character in public life that he had a “great
future behind him.” The butt of this joke
was a young man whose ancestry, rearing, and
personal qualities seemed to destine him for the

28 ANALYSIS

leadership of a great party and the attainment
of political power at its head. But times
changed, the party became politically incom-
petent, and it could readily be foreseen that the
man who was predestined to become its leader
would come to nothing. The briefest reduction
of the meaning by which one could replace this
joke would be: The man has had a great future
before him, but that is now past. Instead of has
had ” and the appended afterthought there is a
small change in the main sentence in which “ be-
fore" is replaced by its opposite “ behind.” *

Mr. N. made use of almost the same modi-
fication in the case of the nobleman who was
appointed minister of agriculture for no other
reason than that he was interested in agricul-
ture. Public opinion had an opportunity to
find out that he was the most incompetent man
who had ever been intrusted with this office.
‘When, however, he had relinquished his port-
folio and had withdrawn to his agricultural
pursuits Mr. N. said of him: “ Like Cincinnatus
of Old he has returned to his place in front of
the plough.”

* Another factor which I shall mention later on is also effective
in the technique of this witticism. It has to do with the inner
character of the modification (representation through the op-
posite—contradiction). The technique of wit does not hesitate to

make use simultaneously of several means, with which, however,
we can only become acquainted in their sequential order.

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 29

That Roman, who was likewise called to his
office from his farm, returned to his place
behind the plough. In those days, just as in
the present time, in front of the plough walked—
the ox.

We could easily increase these examples by
many others, but I am of the opinion that we
are in need of no more cases in order to grasp
thoroughly the character of the technique of
this second group—condensation with modifica-
tion. If we now compare the second group

"with the first, the technique of which consisted
in condensation with a mixed word-formation,
we readily see that the differences are not vital
and that the lines of demarcation are indistinct.
The mixed word-formation, like the modifica-
tion, became subordinated to the idea of sub-
stitutive formation, and if we desire we can
also describe the mixed word-formation as a
modification of the parent word through the
second elements.

We may make our first pause here and ask
ourselves with what known factor in the litera-
ture of wit our first result, either in whole or
in part, coincides. It obviously agrees with the
factor of brevity which Jean Paul calls the soul
of wit (supra, p. 11). But brevity alone is not
wit or every laconism would be witty. The
brevity of wit must be of a special kind. We

80 ANALYSIS

recall that Lipps has attempted to describe
more fully the peculiarity of the brevity of
wit (v. 5., p. 11). Here our investigation started
and demonstrated that the brevity of wit is
often the result of a special process which has
left a second trace—the substitutive formation—
in the wording of the wit. By applying the
process of reduction, which aims to cause a
retrogression in the peculiar process of con-
densation, we find also that wit depends only
upon the verbal expression which was produced
by the process of condensation. Naturally our
entire interest now centers upon this peculiar
and hitherto almost neglected mechanism.
Furthermore, we cannot yet comprehend how
it can give origin to all that is valuable in wit;
namely, the resultant pleasure.

Condensation in Dreams

Have processes similar to those here de-
scribed as the technique of wit already been
noted in another sphere of our psychic life?
To be sure, in one apparently remote sphere.
In 1900 I published a book which, as indicated
by its title (The Interpretation of Dreams"),
makes the attempt to explain the riddle of the
dream and to trace the dream to normal psychic

* Translation of 4th Ed. by A. A. Brill, the Macmillan Co,
New York, and Allen & Unwin, London.

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 81

operations. I had occasion to contrast there the
manifest and often peculiar dream-content with
the latent but altogether real thoughts of the
dream from which it originated, and I took up
the investigation of the processes which make
the dream from the latent dream-thought. I
also investigated the psychological forces which
participated in this transposition. The sum
of the transforming processes I designated as
the dream-work and, as a part of this dream-
work, I described the process of condensation.
This process has a striking similarity to the
technique of wit and, like the latter, it leads to
abbreviations and brings about substitutive
formations of like character.

From recollections of his own dreams the
reader will be familiar with the compositions
of persons and objects that appear in them;
indeed, the dream makes similar compositions
of words which can then be reduced by analysis
(e.g., Autodidasker—Autodidakt and Lasker ').
On other occasions and even much more fre-
quently, the condensation work of the dream
produces no compositions, but pictures which
closely resemble an object or person up to a
certain addition or variation which comes from
another source, like the modifications in the
witticisms of Mr. N. We cannot doubt that

* The Interpretation of Dreams, p. 280.

32 ANALYSIS

in this case, as in the other, we deal with a
similar psychic process which is recognizable by
identical results. Such a far-reaching analogy |
between wit-technique and dream-work will
surely arouse our interest in the former and
stimulate our expectation of finding some ex-
planation of wit from a comparison with the
dream. We forbear, however, to enter upon
this work by bearing in mind that we have in-
vestigated the technique of wit in only a very
small number of witty jests, so that we cannot
be certain that the analogy, the workings of
which we wish to explore, will hold good.
Hence we turn away from the comparison with
the dream and again take up the technique of
wit, leaving, however, at this place of our in-
vestigation a visible thread, as it were, which
later we shall take up again.

Wit Formed by Word-division

The next point we shall discuss is whether the
process of condensation with substitutive for-
mation is demonstrable in all witticisms so that
it may be designated as a universal character of
the technique of wit. I recall a joke which has
clung to my mind through certain peculiar cir-
cumstances. One of the great teachers of my
youth, whom we considered unable to appreciate

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 88

a joke—he had never told us a single joke of
his own—came into the Institute laughing.
With an unwonted readiness he explained the
cause of his good humor. “I have read an
excellent joke,” he said. “ A young man who
claimed to be a relative of the great J. J.
Rousseau, and who bore his name, was iniro-
duced into a Parisian drawing-room. It should
be added that he was decidedly red-headed. He
behaved in such an awkward manner that the
hostess ventured this criticism to the gentleman
who had introduced him— Vous m'avez fait con-
naître un jeune homme roux et sot, mais non pas
un Rousseau.”

At this point'our teacher started to laugh
again. According to the nomenclature of our
authors. this is sound-wit and a poor kind at
that, since it plays with a proper name.

But what is the technique of this wit? It is
quite clear that the character which we had per-
haps hoped to demonstrate universally leaves us
in the lurch in the first new example. Here
there is no omission and scarcely an abbreviation.
In the witticism the lady expresses almost
everything that we can ascribe to the thoughts.
“You have made me look forward to meeting a
relative of J. J. Rousseau. I expected that he

. was perhaps even mentally related to him.
Imagine my surprise to find this red-haired

34 ANALYSIS

foolish boy, a roux et sot.” To be sure, I was
able to add and insert something, but this
attempt at reduction does not annul the wit.
It remains fixed and attached to the sound
similarity of Rousseau. This proves that con-
roux sot

densation with substitution plays no part in
the production of this witticism.

With what else do we have to deal? New
attempts at reduction taught me that the joke
will persistently continue until the name Rous-
seau is replaced by another. If, e.g., I sub-
stitute the name Racine for it I find that al-
though the lady's criticism is just as feasible
as before it immediately loses every trace of wit.
Now I know where I can look for the technique
of this joke although I still hesitate to formu-
late it. I shall make the following attempt:
(The technique of the witticism lies in the fact
that one and the same word—the name—is
used in a twofold application, once as a whole
and once divided into its syllables like a charade.

I can mention a few examples of identical
technique. A witticism of this sort was utilized
by an Italian lady to avenge a tactless remark
made to her by the first Napoleon. Pointing
to her compatriots at a court ball he said:
“Tutti gli Italian danzano si male” (all
Italians dance so badly). To which she quickly

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 35

replied: " Non tutti, ma buona parte” (Not

all, but a great many)—Buona parte. Brill
Buonaparte.

reports still another example in which the wit

depends on the twofold application of a name:

“ Hood once remarked that he had to be a lively

Hood for a livelihood.” *

At one time when Antigone was produced
in Berlin a critie found that the presentation
entirely lacked the character of antiquity. The
wits of Berlin incorporated this criticism in
the following manner: “ Antique? Oh, nay"
(Th. Vischer and K. Fischer).

Manifold Application of the Same Material

In these examples, which will suffice for this
species of wit, the technique is the same. A |
name is made use of twice; first, as a whole, and p
then divided into its syllables—and in their
divided state the syllables yield a different
meaning. The manifold application of the
same word, once as a whole and then as the
component syllables into which it divides itself,
was the first case that came to our attention
in which technique deviated from that of con-

> Cited by Brill: Psychanalysis, p. 335.

‎p. 384‏ ,6 .ו"

‎3 The excellence of these jokes depends upon the fact that they,
at the same time, present another technical means of a much
higher order.

6 ANALYSIS

densation. Upon brief reflection, however, we
must divine from the abundance of examples
that come to us that the newly discovered
technique can hardly be limited to this single
means. Obviously there are any number of
hitherto unobserved possibilities for one to
utilize the same word or the same material of.
words in manifold application in one sentence.
May not all these possibilities furnish technical
means for wit? It would seem so, judging
by the following examples.

“Two witty statesmen, X and Y, met at a
dinner. X, acting as toastmaster, introduced Y
as follows: ` My friend, Y, is a very wonderful
man. All you have to do is to open his mouth,
put in a dinner, and a speech appears, etc?
Responding to the speaker, Y said: "My
friend, the toastmaster, told you what a won-
derful man I am, that all you have to do is to
open my mouth, put in a dinner, and a speech
appears. Now let me tell you what a wonder-
ful man he is. All you have to do is open
anybody's mouth, put in his speech, and the din-
ner appears” *

In examples of this sort, one can use the
same material of words and simply change
slightly their order. 'The slighter the change,
the more one gets the impression that differ-

* Given by Translator.

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 87

ent sense was expressed with the same words,
the better is the technical means of wit. And
how simple are the means of its production!
“Put in a dinner and a speech appears—put
in a speech and a dinner appears.” This is
really nothing but an exchange of places of
these two phrases whereby what was said of Y
becomes differentiated from what is said of
X. To be sure, this is not the whole technique
of the joke."

Great latitude is afforded the technique of
wit if one so extends the " manifold application
of the same material” that the word—or the
words—upon which the wit depends may be
used first unchanged and then with a slight
modification. An example is another joke of
Mr. N. He heard a gentleman, who himself
was born a Jew, utter a malicious statement
about Jewish character. “Mr. Councilor,”
said he, “ I am familiar with your antesemitism,
but your antisemitism is new to me.”

Here only one single letter is changed, the
modification of which could hardly be noticed
in careless pronunciation. This example re-
minds one of the other modification jokes of

* This resembles an excellent joke of Oliver Wendell Holmes
cited by Brill: “ Put not your trust in money, but put your money
in trust” A contradiction is here announced which does not

appear. At all events it is a good example of the untranslatable-
ness of the witticisms of such technique.

38 ANALYSIS

Mr. N., but it differs from them in lacking the
condensation. Everything that was to be said
has been told in the joke. “I know that you
yourself were formerly a Jew, therefore I am
surprised that you should rail against the
Jew.”

An excellent example of such wit modification
is also the familiar exclamation: “ Traduttore—
T'raditore.” *

The similarity between the two words, al-
most approaching identity, results in a very im-
pressive representation of the inevitability by
which a translator becomes a transgressor—in
the eyes of the author.

The manifoldness of slight modifications pos-
sible in these jokes is so great that none is
quite similar to the other. Here is a joke which
is supposed to have arisen at an examination for
the degree of law. The candidate was translat-
ing a passage from the Corpus juris, “ Labeo
ait.” ““T fall (fail), says he," volunteered
the candidate. “ ‘You fall (fail), says I,” re-
plied the examiner and the examination ended.
Whoever mistakes the name of the celebrated
Jurist for a word to which he attaches a false
meaning certainly deserves nothing better. But
the technique of the witticism lies in the fact

*Brill cites a very analogous modification wit: Amantes—
Amentes (lovers—lunatics),

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 39

that the examiner used almost the same words
in punishing the applicant which the latter used
to prove his ignorance. Besides, the joke is an
example of repartee whose technique, as we
shall see, is closely allied to the one just
mentioned.

Words are plastic and may be moulded into
almost any shape. There are some words which
have lost their true original meaning in cer-
tain usages which they still enjoy in other
applications. In one of Lichtenberg’s jokes
just those conditions have been sought for in
which the nuances of the wordings have re-
moved their basic meaning.

“ How goes it?” asked the blind of the lame
one. “ As you see,” replied the lame one to the
blind.

Language is replete with words which taken
in one sense are full of meaning and in another
are colorless. There may be two different
derivatives from the same root, one of which
may develop into a word with a full meaning
while the other may become a colorless suffix or
prefix, and yet both may have the same sound.
The similarity of sound between a word having
full meaning and one whose meaning is color-
less may also be accidental. In both cases
the technique of wit can make use of such
relationship of the speech material. The

40 ANALYSIS

following examples illustrate some of these
points.

“Do you call a man kind who remits noth-
ing to his family while away?” asked an actor.
“Call that kindness?” “Yes, unremitting
kindness,” was the reply of Douglas Jerrold.
The wit here depends on the first syllable un
of the word unremitting. Un is usually a pre-
fix denoting “not,” but by adding it to “ re-
mitting ” a new relationship is unexpectedly
established which changes the meaning of the
context. “An undertaker is one who always
carries out what he undertakes.” "The strik-
ing character upon which the wit here depends
is the manifold application of the words under-
taker and carry out. Undertaker commonly
denotes one who manages funerals. Only when
taken in this sense and using the words carry
out literally is the sentence witty. The wit
lies in the manifold application of the same
words.

Double Meaning and Play on Words

If we delve more deeply into the variety of
“manifold application” of the same word we
suddenly notice that we are confronted with
forms of “double meaning” or “plays on
words ” which have been known a long time and

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 41

which are universally acknowledged as belong-
ing to the technique of wit. Then why have we
bothered our brains about discovering something
new when we could just as well have gleaned it
from the most superficial treatise on wit? We
can say in self-defense only that we are pre-
senting another side of the same phenomena
of verbal expressions. What the authors
call the “ playful” character of wit we treat
from the point of view of “manifold applica-
tion.”

Further examples of manifold application
which may also be designated under a new and
third group, the class of double meaning, may
be divided into subdivisions. These, to be sure,
are not essentially differentiated from one an-
other any more than the whole third group from
the second. In the first place we have:

(a) Cases of double meaning of a name and
its verbal significance: e.g., “Discharge thy-
self of our company, Pistol” (Henry IV, Act
II). “For Suffolk's duke may he suffocate”
(Henry IV, Act I). Heine says, “ Here in
Hamburg rules not the rascally Macbeth, but
Banko (Banquo).”

In those cases where the unchanged name
cannot be used,—one might say “ misused,"—
one can get a double meaning by means of
familiar slight modifications: “ Whu have the

/77

42 ANALYSIS

French rejected Lohengrin?” was a question
asked some time ago. The answer was, “ On
Elsa’s (Alsace) account.”

(b) Cases where a double meaning is obtained
by using a word which has both a verbal and
metaphoric sense furnish an abundant source
for the technique of wit. A medical colleague,
who was well known for his wit, once said to
Arthur Schnitzler, the writer: “ I am not at all
surprised that you became a great poet. Your
father had already held up the mirror to his
contemporaries.” The mirror used- by the
father of the writer, the famous Dr. Schnitzler,
was the laryngoscope. According to the well-
known quotation from Hamlet (Act III,
Scene 2), the object of the play ‘as well as
the writer who creates it is to “ hold, as "t were,
the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her
own feature, scorn her own image, and the very
age and body of the time his form and pres-
sure.”

(c) Cases of actual double meaning or play
on words—the ideal case, as it were, of manifold
application. Here no violence is done to the
word. It is not torn into syllables. It need
not undergo any ‘modifications. It need not
exchange its own particular sphere, say as a
proper name, for another. Thanks to certain
circumstances it can express two meanings just

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 43

as it stands in the structure of the sentence.
Many examples are at our disposal.

One of the first royal acts of the last Na-
poleon was, as is well known, the confiscation
of the estates belonging to the House of Or-
leans. “C’est le premier vol de Vaigle” was
an excellent play on words current at that time.
“Vol “ means both flight and theft. Louis XV
wished to test the wit of one of his courtiers
whose talent in thåt direction he had heard
about. He seized his first opportunity to com-
mand the cavalier to concoct a joke at his
(the king's) expense. He wanted to be the
“subject” of the witticism. The courtier an-
swered him with the clever. bonmot, “ Le roi
n'est pas sujet.” “ Subject” also means “ vas-
sal" (Taken from К. Fischer.)

A physician, leaving the sick-bed of a wife,
whose husband accompanied him, exclaimed
doubtfully: “I do mot like her looks” “I-
have not liked her looks for a long time,” was
the quick rejoinder of the husband. The
physician, of course, referred to the condition
of the wife, but he expressed his apprehension
about the patient in such words as to afford
the husband the means of utilizing them to
assert his conjugal aversion. Concerning a
satirical comedy Heine remarked: “ This satire
would not have been so biting had the author

44 ANALYSIS

of it had more to bite.” "This jest is a better
example of metaphoric and common double
meaning than of real play upon words, but
at present we are not concerned about such
strict lines of demarcation. Charles Matthews,
the elder, one of England's greatest actors,
was asked what he was going to do with his
son (the young man was destined for architec-
ture). "Why," answered the comedian, “ ће
is going to draw houses like his father.” Foote
once asked a man why he forever sang ome
tune. “ Because it haunts me,” replied the man.
“ No wonder,” said Foote, “ you are continually
murdering it.” Said the Dyspeptic Philoso-
pher: “ One swallow doesnt make a summer,
nor quench the thirst.”

A gentleman had shown much ingenuity in
evading a notorious borrower whom he had
sent away many times with the request to call
when he was “in.” One day, however, the
borrower eluded the servant at the door and cor-
nered his victim.

* Ah,” said the host, seeing there was no way
out of it, “ at last I am in.”

* No,” returned the borrower in anticipation,
“at last I am in and you are out.”

Heine said in the Harzreisc: " " cannot re-
call at the moment the names of all the students,

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 45

and among the professors there are some who
have no name as yet.”

Dr. Johnson said of the University of St.
Andrews in Scotland, which was poor in purse,
but prolific in the distribution of its degrees:
* Let it persevere in its present plan and it may
become .rich by degrees.” Here the wit de-
pends more on the manifold application than
on the play on words.

The keen-witted writer, Horatio Winslow,
sums up the only too-familiar history of some
American families as follows:

A TALE oF Two AMERICAN GENERATIONS
Gold Mine
Gold Spoon
Gold Cure

The last couplet, gold cure, refers to the
familiar cure for alcoholism. This wit is an
excellent example of unification—everything is,
as it were, of gold. The manifold meanings
of the adjective which do not very strikingly
contrast with one another make possible this
“ manifold application.”

Ambiguity
Another play on words will facilitate the

transition to a new subdivision of the technique
of double meaning. The witty colleague who

46 ANALYSIS

was responsible for the joke mentioned on
page 42 is likewise responsible for this joke,
current during the trial of Dreyfus:

“This girl reminds me of Dreyfus. The
army does not believe in her innocence.”

The word innocence, whose double meaning
furnishes the basis of the witticism, has in one
connection the customary meaning which is the
opposite of guilt or transgression, while in the
other connection it has a sexual sense, the
opposite of which is sexual experience. There
are very many such examples of double meaning
and in each one the point of the joke refers
especially to a sexual sense. The group could
be designated as “ambiguous.” A good ex-
ample to illustrate this is the story told of a
wealthy but elderly gentleman who showed
his devction to a young actress by many lavish
gifts. Being a respectable girl she took the
first opportunity to discourage his attentions by
telling him that her heart was already given
to another man. “I never aspired as high as
that,” was his polite answer.

If one compares this example of double-
meaning-with-ambiguity with other examples
one cannot help noticing a difference which is
not altogether inconsequential to the technique.
In the joke about “innocence ” one meaning of
the word is just as good for our understanding

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 47

of it as the other. One can really not decide
whether the sexual or non-sexual significance
of the word is more applicable and more
familiar. But it is different with the other
example mentioned. Here the final sense of
the words, “I never aspired as high as that,”
is by far more obtrusive and covers and con-
ceals, as it were, the sexual sense which could
easily escape the unsuspecting person. In sharp
contrast to this let us examine another example
of double meaning in which there is no attempt
made to veil its sexual significance—e.g., Heine's
characterization of a complaisant lady: “ She
could pass (abschlagen) nothing except her
water.” It sounds like an obscene joke and
the wit in it is scarcely noticed. But the
peculiarity that both senses of the double mean-
ing are not equally manifested can occur also in
witticisms without sexual reference providing
that one sense is more common or that it is
preferred on account of its connection with the
other parts of the sentence (e.g., c’est le premier
vol de Vaigle). All these examples I propose
to call double meaning with allusion.

* Compare here K. Fischer (p. 85), who applies the term “ double
meaning” to those. witticisms in which both meanings are not
equally prominent, but where one overshadows the other. I
have applied this term differently. Such a nomenclature is a mat-
ter of choice. Usage of speech has rendered no definite de-
cision about them.

48 ANALYSIS

We have by this time become familiar with
such a large number of different techniques of
wit that I am afraid we may lose sight of them.
Let us, therefore, attempt to make a summary.

I. CONDENSATION
(a) with mixed word-formation.
(b) with modification.
II. THE APPLICATION OF THE SAME Ma-
TERIAL
(c) The whole and the part.
(d) Change of order.
(e) Slight modification.
(f) Tht same words used in their
full or colorless sense.
III. DouBLE MEANING
(g) Name and verbal significance.
(h) Metaphorical and verbal mean-
ing.
(i) True double meaning (play on
words).
(j) Ambiguous meaning.
(k) Double meaning with allusion.

This variety causes confusion. It might vex
us because we have devoted so much time to
the consideration of the technical means of wit,
and the stress laid on the forms might possibly
arouse our suspicions that we are overvaluing

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 49

their importance so far as the knowledge of the
nature of wit is concerned. But this conjecture
is met by the one irrefutable fact: namely, that
each time the wit disappears as soon as we
remove the effect that was brought to expres-
sion by these techniques. We are thus directed
to search for the unity in this variety. It must
be possible to bring all these techniques under
one head. As we have remarked before, it is
not difficult to unite the second and third
groups, for the double meaning, the play on
words, is nothing but the ideal case of utilizing
the same material. The latter is here appar-
ently the more comprehensive conception. The
examples of dividing, changing the order of the
same material, manifold application with slight
modifications (с, d, e) —all these could, without
difficulty, be subordinated under the conception
of double meaning. But what community ex-
ists between the technique of the first group—
condensation with substitutive formation—and
the two other groups—manifold application of
the same material?

The Tendency to Economy

It seems to me that this agreement is very
simple and clear. The application of the same
material is only a special case of condensation
and the play on words is nothing but a con-

50 ANALYSIS

densation without substitutive formation. Con-
densation thus remains as the chief category. A
compressing or—to be more exact—an eco-
nomic tendency controls all these techniques.
As Prince Hamlet says: “ Thrift, Horatio,
thrift.” It seems to be all a matter of economy.

Let us examine this economy in individual
cases. “ C’est le premier vol de Vaigle.” That
is, the first flight of the eagle. Certainly, but
it is a depredatious flight. Luckily for the gist
of this joke “vol” signifies flight as well as
depredation. Has nothing been condensed and
economized by this? Certainly, the entire sec-
ond thought, and it was dropped without any
substitution. The double sense of the word
“vol” makes such substitution superfluous, or
what is just as correct: The word “vol” con-
tains the substitution for the repressed thought
without the necessity of supplementing or
varying the first sentence. Therein consists the
benefit of the double meaning.

Another example: Gold mine,—gold spoon,
the enormous economy of expression the single .
word “ gold “ produces. It really tells the his-
tory of two generations in the life of some
American families. The father made his for-
tune through hard toiling in the gold fields dur-
ing the early pioneer days. The son was born
with a golden spoon in his mouth; having been

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 51

brought up as the son of a wealthy man, he be-
comes a chronic alcoholic and has to take the
gold cure.

Thus there is no doubt that the condensation
in these examples produces economy and we
shall demonstrate that the same is true in all
cases. Where is the economy in such jokes
as “ Rousseau—roux et sot,” or “ Antigone—
antique-oh-nay ” in which we first failed to
find the prime factors in causing us to establish
the technique of the manifold application of the
same material? In these cases condensation
will naturally not cover the ground, but when
we exchange it for the broader conception of
“economy ” we find no difficulty. What we
save in such examples as those just given is
quite obvious, We save ourselves the trouble
of making a criticism, of forming a judgment.
Both are contained in the names. The same is
true in the “livelihood “ example and the others
thus far analyzed. Where one does not save
much is in the example of “I am in and you
are out,” at least the wording of a new answer is
saved. The wording of the address, “ I am in,”
serves also for the answer. It is little, but in
this little lies the wit. The manifold applica-
tion of the same words in addressing and answer-
ing surely comes under the heading of economy.
Note how Hamlet sums up the quick succession

52 ANALYSIS

of the death of his father and the marriage of
his mother:

“ the funeral baked meats
Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.”

But before we accept the “ tendency to econo-
mize ” as the universal character of wit and ask
whence it originates, what it signifies, and how
it gives origin to the resultant pleasure, we shall
concede a doubt which may justly be con-
sidered. It may be true that every technique
of wit shows the tendency to economize in ex-
pression, but the relationship is not reversible.
Not every economy in expression or every
brevity is witty on that account. We once
raised this question when we still hoped to
demonstrate the condensation process in every
witticism and at that we justly objected by
remarking that a laconism is not necessarily
wit. Hence it must be .a peculiar form of
brevity and economy upon which the character
of the wit depends, and just as long as we are
ignorant of this peculiarity the discovery of the
common element in the technique of wit will
bring us no nearer a solution. Besides, we have
the courage to acknowledge that the economies
caused by the technique of wit do not impress us
as very much. They remind one of the man-
ner in which many a housewife economizes

uz

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 58

when she spends time and money to reach a
distant market because the vegetables can there
be had a cent cheaper. What does wit save by
means of its technique? Instead of putting to-
gether a few new words, which, for the most
part, could have been accomplished without any
effort, it goes to the trouble of searching for
the word which comprises both ideas. Indeed,
it must often at first transform the expression
of one of the ideas into an unusual form until
it furnishes an associative connection with the
second thought. Would it not have been
simpler, easier, and really more economical to
express both thoughts as they happen to come
even if no agreement in expression results? Is
not the economy in verbal expression more than
abrogated through the expenditure of intel-
lectual work? And who economized through it,
whom does it benefit? We can temporarily cir-
cumvent these doubts by leaving them unsolved
until later on. Are we really familiar enough
with all the forms of techniques of wit? It will
surely be safer to gather new examples and
submit them to analysis.

Puns

Indeed, we have not yet given consideration
to one of the largest groups into which the
techniques of wit may be divided. In this we

54 ANALYSIS

have perhaps been influenced by the low esti-
mate in which this form of wit is held. It
embraces those jokes which are commonly called
“puns.” These are generally counted as the
lowest form of wit, perhaps because they are
“ cheapest” and can be formed with the least
effort. They really make the least demands on
the technique of expression just as the actual
play on words makes the most. Whereas in
the latter both meanings find expression in the
identical word, and hence usually in a word
used only once, in the pun it is enough if two
words for both meanings resemble each other
through some slight similarity in structure, in
rhythmic consonance, in the community of
several vowels, or in some other similar manner.
The following examples illustrate these points:

“We are now fallen into that critical age
wherein censores liberorum are become censores
librorum: Lectores, Lictores.”

Professor Cromwell says that Rome in ex-
changing her religion changed Jupiter to Jew
Peter.

It is related that some students wishing to
play a trick on Agassiz, the great naturalist,
constructed an insect made up of parts taken
from different bugs and sent it to him with the
question, “ What kind of a bug is this?” His
answer was “ Humbug.”

|

|
q
⑧

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 55

Puns are especially fond of modifying one
of the vowels of the word; e.g., Hevesi (Alma-
naccando, Reisen in Italien, p. 87) says of an
Italian poet who was hostile to the German
emperor, but who was, nevertheless, forced to
sing his praises in his hexameters, “ Since he
could not exterminate the Cæsars he at least
annihilated the cesuras.”

From the multitude of puns which are at
our disposal it may 'be of special interest to
us to quote a really poor example for which
Heine (Book Le Grand, Chapter V) is responsi-
ble. After parading for a long time before his
lady as an “ Indian Prince” the suitor suddenly
lays aside his mask and confesses, “ Madam, I
have lied to you. I have never been in Cal-
cutta any more than that Calcutta roast which
I relished yesterday for lunch.” Obviously the
fault of this witticism lies in the fact that both
words are not merely similar, but identical.
The bird which served as a roast for his lunch
is called so because it comes from, or at least
is supposed to come from, the same city of
Calcutta.

K. Fischer has given much attention to this
form of wit and insists upon making a sharp
distinction between it and the “ play on words “
(p. 78). “A pun,” he says, “is a bad play on i
words, for it does not play with the word as |

56 ANALYSIS

»

a word, but merely as a sound.” The play on
words, however, "transfers itself from the
sound of the word into the word itself.” On
the other hand, he also classifies such jokes as
“ famillionaire, Antigone (Antique-Oh-nay),”
etc, with sound-wit. I see no necessity to fol-
low him in this. In the plays on words, also,
the word serves us only as a sound to which
this or that meaning attaches itself. Here also
usage of language makes no distinction, and
when it treats “ puns “ with disdain but the play
on words with a certain respect it seems that
these estimations are determined by others as
technical viewpoints. One should bear in mind
the forms of wit which are referred to as puns.
There are persons who have the ability, when
they are in a high-spirited mood, to reply with
a pun for a long time to every sentence ad-
dressed to them. Brill” relates that at a gather-
ing some one spoke disparagingly of a certain
drama and wound up by saying, “ It was so
poor that the first act had to be rewritten."
“And now it is rerotten;" added the punster of
the gathering.

At all events we can already infer from the
controversies about the line of demarcation be-
tween puns and play on words that the former
cannot aid us in finding an entirely new tech-

31. c, page 339,

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 57

nique of wit. Even if no claims are made for
the pun that it utilizes the manifold application
of the same material, the accent, nevertheless,
falls upon the rediscovering of the familiar and
upon the agreement between both words form-
ing the pun. Thus the latter is only a sub-
species of the group which reaches its height
in the real play on words.

Displacements

There are some witticisms, however, whose
techniques baffle almost every attempt to classify
them under any of the groups so far investi-
gated. It is related that while Heine and the
poet Soulié were once chatting together in a
Parisian drawing-room, there entered ome of
those Parisians whom one usually compared to
Midas, but not alone on account of their money.
He was soon surrounded by a crowd which
treated him with the greatest deference. “ Look
over there)” said Soulié to Heine, “ and see
how the nineteenth century is worshipping the
Golden Calf.” Heine cast one glance upon the
object of adoration and replied, as if correct-
ing his friend: “ Oh, he must be older than
that” (K. Fischer, p. 82).

Wherein lies the technique of this excellent
witticism? According to K. Fischer it lies in

58 ANALYSIS

the play on words. Thus, for example, he says,
“the words “Golden Calf” may signify Mam-
mon as well as idol-worship,—in the first case
the gold is paramount; in the second case it is
the animal picture. It may likewise serve to
designate in a rather uncomplimentary way one
who has very much money and very little
brains.” If we apply the test and take away
the expression “Golden Calf” we naturally
also abrogate the wit. We then cause Soulié
to say, “Just see how the people are throng-
ing about that blockhead only because he is
rich.” To be sure, this is no longer witty. Nor
would Heine’s answer be possible under these
circumstances. But let us remember that it is
not at all a matter of Soulić's witty compari-
son, but of Heine's retort, which is surely much
more witty. We have then no right to dis-
turb the phrase “the golden calf” which re-
mains as a basis for Heine's words and the
reduction can only be applied to the latter. If
we dilate upon the words, “ Oh, he must be
older than that,” we can only proceed as fol-
lows:

“ Oh, he is no longer a calf; he is already a
full-grown ox.” Heine’s wit is therefore based
on the fact that he no longer took the “ golden
calf ” metaphorically, but personally by refer-
ring it to the moneyed individual himself, If

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 59

this double meaning is not already contained
in the opinion of Soulié!

Let us see. We believe that we can state
that this reduction has not altogether destroyed
Heine’s joke, but, on the contrary, it has left
its essential element untouched. It reads as if
Soulié were now saying, “Just see how the
nineteenth century is worshipping the golden
calf,” and as if Heine were retorting, “ Oh, he
is no longer a calf. He is already an ox.” And
even in this reduced form it is still a witticism.
However, another reduction of Heine's words
is not possible.

It is a pity that this excellent example con-
tains such complicated technical conditions.
And as it cannot aid us toward enlightenment
we shall leave it to search for another in which
we imagine we can perceive a relationship with
the former one.

It is a “ bath” joke treating of the dread which
some Jews are said to have for bathing. We de-
mand no patent of nobility for our examples
nor do we make inquiries about their origin.
The only qualifications we require are that they
should make us laugh and serve our theoretical
interest. It is to be remarked that both these
demands are satisfied best by Jewish jokes.

Two Jews meet near a bathing establishment.
"Have you taken a bath?” asked one. " How

60 ANALYSIS

is that?” replies the other. “ Is one missing?”

When one laughs very heartily about a joke
he is not in the best mood to investigate its
technique. It is for this reason that some
difficulties are experienced in delving into their
analyses. * That is a comic misunderstanding ”
is the thought that comes to us. Yes, but how
about the technique of this joke? Obviously
the technique lies in the double meaning of the
word take. In the first case the word is used
in a colorless idiomatic sense, while in the sec-
ond it is the verb in its full meaning. It is,
therefore, a case where the same word is taken
now in the “full” and now in the “ empty”
sense (Group II, f). And if we replace the
expression "take a bath” by the simpler
equivalent “bathed” the wit disappears. The
answer is no longer fitting. The joke, there-
fore, lies in the expression “ take a bath.”

This is quite correct, yet it seems that in
this case, also, the reduction was applied in
the wrong place, for the joke does not lie in
the question, but in the answer, or rather in the
counter question: “How is that? Is there
one missing?” Provided the same is not de-
stroyed the answer cannot be robbed of its wit
by any dilation or variation. We also get the
impression that in the answer of the second
Jew the overlooking of the bath is more signifi-

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 61

cant than the misconception of the word “ take.”
However, here, too, things do not look quite
clear and we will, therefore, look for a third
example.

Once more we shall resort to a Jewish joke
in which, however, the Jewish element is in-
cidental only. Its essence is universally human.
It is true that this example, too, contains un-
desirable complications, but luckily they are
not of the kind so far which have kept us from
seeing clearly.

In his distress a needy man borrowed twenty-
five dollars from a wealthy acquaintance. The
same day he was discovered by his creditor in a
restaurant eating a dish of salmon with mayon-
naise. The creditor reproached him in these
words: “ You borrow money from me and then
order salmon with mayonnaise. Is that what
you needed the money for?” “I don’t under-
stand you,” responded the debtor, “ when I have
no money I can’t eat salmon with mayonnaise.
When I have money I mustn't eat it. Well
then, when shall I ever eat salmon with mayon-
naise? ^

Here we no longer discover any double mean-
ing. Even the repetition of the words “ salmon
with mayonnaise ” cannot contain the technique
of the witticism, as it is not the “ manifold appli-
cation of the same material,” but an actual,

62 ANALYSIS

identical repetition required by the context.
We may be temporarily nonplussed in this
analysis, and, as a pretext, we may wish to dis-
pute the character of the wit in the anecdote
which causes us to laugh. What else worthy
of notice can be said about the answer of the
poor man? It may be supposed that the strik-
ing thing about it is its logical character, but,
as a matter of fact, the answer is illogical. The
debtor endeavors to justify himself for spending
the borrowed money on luxuries and asks, with
some semblance of right, when he is to be al-
lowed to eat salmon. But this is not at all
the correct answer. The creditor does not blame
him for eating salmon on the day that he bor-
rowed the money, but reminds him that in his
condition he has no right to think of such lux-
uries at all. The poor bon vivant disregards
this only possible meaning of the reproach,
centers his answer about another point, and acts
as if he did not understand the reproach.

Is it possible that the technique of this joke
lies in this deviation of the answer from the
sense of reproach? A similar changing of the
viewpoint—displacement of the psychic accent—
may perhaps also be demonstrated in the two
previous examples which we felt were related
to this one. This can be successfully shown
and solves the technique of these examples.

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 68

Soulié calls Heine’s attention to the fact that
society worships the “ golden calf ” in the nine-
teenth century just as the Jewish nation once
did in the desert. To this an answer from
Heine like the following would seem fit: “ Yes,
that is human nature. Centuries have changed
nothing in it;” or he might have remarked
something equally apposite. But Heine devi-
ates in his manner from the instigated thought.
Indeed, he does not answer at all. He makes
use of the double meaning found in the phrase
“ golden calf “ to go off at a tangent. He seizes
upon one of the components of the phrase,
namely, “the calf,” and answers as if Soulić's
speech placed the emphasis on it—“ Oh, he is
no longer a calf, etc.” *

The deviation is much more evident in the
bath joke. This example requires a graphic
representation. The first Jew asks, “Have
you taken a bath?” The emphasis lies upon
the bath element. The second answers as if the
query were: “ Have you taken a bath?” The
displacement would have been impossible if
the question had been: “ Have you bathed?”
The witless answer would have been: “ Bathed?
What do you mean? I don’t know what that

* Heine’s answer is a combination of two wit-techniques—a dis-
placement and an allusion—for he does not say directly: “He
is an ox.”

な

/

64 ANALYSIS

means.” However, the technique of the wit lies
in the displacement of the emphasis from “ to
bathe “ to “to take." *

Let us return to the example “salmon with
mayonnaise,” which is the purest of its kind.
What is new in it will direct us into various
paths. In the first place we have to give
the mechanism of this newly discovered tech-
nique. I propose to designate it as having
displacement for its most essential element.
The deviation of the trend of thought consists
in displacing the psychic accent to another
than the original theme. It is then incumbent
upon us to find out the relationship of the
technique of displacement to the expression of
the witticism. Our example (salmon with
mayonnaise) shows us that the displacement
technique is absolutely independent of the verbal
expression. It does not depend upon words,
but upon the mental trend, and to abrogate it
we are not helped by substitution so long as
the sense of the answer is adhered to. The re-
duction is possible only when we change the

*The word “take,” owing to its meanings, lends itself very
well towards the formation of plays upon words, a pure example
of which I wish to cite as a contrast to the displacement men-
tioned above. While walking with his friend, in front of a
café, a well-known stock-plunger and bank director made this
proposal: “Let us go in and take something” His friend
held him back and said: “ My dear sir, remember there are people
in there,”

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 65

mental trend and permit the gastronomist to
answer directly to the reproach which he eluded
in the conception of the joke. The reduced
conception will then be: “ What I like I cannot
deny myself, and it is all the same to me where
I get the money for it. Here you have my
explanation as to why I happen to be eating
salmon with mayonnaise today just after you
have loaned me some money.” But that would
not be a witticism but a cynicism. It will be
instructive to compare this joke with one
which is closely allied to it in meaning.

A man who was addicted to drink supported
himself in a small city by giving lessons. His
vice gradually became known and he lost most
of his pupils in consequence. A friend of his
took it upon himself to admonish him to re-
form. “ Look here,” he said, “ you could have
the best scholars in town if you would give up
drinking. Why not do it?” “What are you
talking about?” was the indignant reply. “I
am giving lessons in order to be able to drink.
Shall I give up drinking in order to obtain
scholars?

This joke, too, carries the stamp of logic
which we have noted in the case of “salmon
with mayonnaise," but it is no longer displace-
ment-wit. "The answer is a direct one. The
cynicism, which is veiled there, is openly ad-

66 ANALYSIS

mitted here, “For me drink is the most im-
portant thing.” The technique of this witticism
is really very poor and cannot explain its
effect. It lies merely in the change in order
of the same material, or to be more exact, in
the reversal of the means-and-end relationship
between drink and giving lessons or getting
scholars. As I gave no greater emphasis in -
the reduction to this factor of the expression
the witticism is somewhat blurred; it may be
expressed as follows: “ What a senseless de-
mand to make, For me, drink is the most im-
portant thing and not the scholars. Giving
lessons is only a means towards more drink.”
The wit is really dependent, upon the expres-
sion.

In the bath wit, the dependence of the witti-
cism upon the wording “have you taken a
bath” is unmistakable and a change in the
wording nullifies the joke. The technique in
this case is quite complicated. It is a com-
bination of double meaning (sub-group f) and
displacement. The wording of the question
admits a double meaning. The joke arises
from the fact that the answer is given not in
the sense expected by the questioner, but has a
different subordinate sense. By making the
displacement retrogressive we are accordingly
in position to find a reduction which leaves the

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 67

double meaning in the expression and still does
away with the wit.

“Have you taken a bath?” "Taken what?
A bath? What is that?” But that is no longer
a witticism, It is simply either a spiteful or
playful exaggeration.

In Heine’s joke about the “ golden calf “ the
double meaning plays a quite similar part. It
makes it possible for the answer to deviate from
the instigated stream of thought—a thing which
happens in the joke about “ salmon and mayon-
naise ”—without any such dependence upon the
wording. In the reduction Soulié’s speech and
Heine's answer would be as follows: “ It re-
minds one very much of the worship of the
golden calf when one sees the people throng
around that man simply because he is rich.”
Heine's answer would be: * That he is made
so much of on account of his wealth is not the
worst part. You do not emphasize enough the
fact that his ignorance is forgiven on account
of his wealth.” Thus, while the double mean-
ing would be retained the displacement-wit
would be eliminated.

Here we may be prepared for the objection
which might be raised, namely, that we are
seeking to tear asunder these delicate differen-
tiations which really belong together. Does
not every double meaning furnish occasion for

68 ANALYSIS

displacement and for a deviation of the stream
of thought from one sense to another? And
shall we agree that a “double meaning” and
“ displacement” should be designated as rep-
resentatives of two entirely different types of
wit? It is true that a relation between double
meaning and displacement actually exists, but
it has nothing to do with our differentiation
of the techniques of wit. In cases of double
meaning the wit contains nothing but a word
capable of several interpretations which allows
the hearer to find the transition from one
thought to another, and which with a little
forcing may be compared to a displacement.
In the cases of displacement-wit, however, the
witticism itself contains a stream of thought
in which the displacement is brought about.
Here the displacement belongs to the work
which is necessary for its understanding.
Should this differentiation not be clear to us we
can make use of the reduction method, which is
an unfailing way for tangible demonstration.
We do not deny, however, that there is some-
thing in this objection. It calls our attention
to the fact that we cannot confuse the psychic
processes in the formation of wit (the wit-work)
with the psychic processes in the conception of
the wit (the understanding-work). The object

å

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 69

of our present investigation will be confined
only to the former.

Are there still other examples of the tech-
nique of displacement? They are not easily
found, but the following witticism is a very
good specimen. It also shows a lack of over-
emphasized logic found in our former ex-
amples.

A horse-dealer in recommending a saddle
horse to his client said: “ If you mount this
horse at four o'clock in the morning you will
be in Monticello at siæ-thirty in the morning.”
“What will I do in Monticello at siæ-thirty in
the morning?” asked the client.

Here the displacement is very striking. The
horse-dealer mentions the early arrival in the
small city only with the obvious intention of
proving the efficiency of the horse. The client
disregards the capacity of the animal, about
which he evidently has no more doubts, and
takes up only the data of the example selected

3 For the latter see a later chapter. It will perhaps not be
superfluous to add here a few words for better understanding.
The displacement regularly occurs between a statement and an
answer, and turns the stream of thought to a direction different
from the one started in the statement. The justification for
separating the displacement from the double meaning is best
seen in the examples where both are combined, that is, where the
wording of the statement admits of a double meaning which
was not intended by the speaker, but which reveals in the

answer the way to the displacement (see examples).

70 ANALYSIS

for the test. The reduction of this joke is com-
paratively simple.

More difficulties are encountered by another
example, the technique of which is very obscure.
It can be solved, however, through the applica-
tion of double meaning with displacement. The
joke relates the subterfuge employed by a
“ schadchen” (Jewish marriage broker). It
belongs to a class which will claim more of our
attention later.

The “ schadchen” had assured the suitor
that the father of the girl was no longer living.
After the engagement had been announced the
news leaked out that the father was still living
and serving a sentence in prison. The suitor
reproached the agent for deceiving him.
“Well,” said the latter, “ what did I tell you?
Do you call that living?”

The double meaning lies in the word “ living,”
and the displacement consists in the fact that
the “ schadchen “ avoids the common meaning
of the word, which is a contrast to “ death,” and
uses it in the colloquial sense: “ You don’t call
that living.” In doing this he explains his
former utterance as a double meaning, although
this manifold application is here quite out of
place. Thus far the technique resembles that
of the “golden calf” and the “bath” jokes.
Here, however, another factor comes into con-

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 71

sideration which disturbs the understanding of
the technique through its obtrusiveness. One
might say that this joke is a “ characterization-
wit.” It endeavors to illustrate by example the
marriage agents characteristic admixture of
mendacious impudence and repartee. We shall
learn that this is only the “ show-side “ of the
facade of the witticism, that is, its sense. Its
object serves a different purpose. We shall
also defer our attempt at reduction.

After these complicated examples, which are
not at all easy to analyze, it will be gratifying
to find a perfectly pure and transparent ex-
ample of “displacement-wit.” A beggar im-
plored the help of a wealthy baron for a trip
to Ostend, where he asserted the physicians had
ordered him to take sea baths for his health.
“Very well, I shall assist you,” said the rich
baron, “ but is it absolutely necessary for you to
go to Ostend, which is the most expensive of all
watering-places? ” “Sir” was the reproving
reply, “ nothing is too expensive for my health.”
Certainly that is a proper attitude, but hardly
proper for the supplicant. The answer is given
from the viewpoint of a rich man. The beggar
acts as if it were his own money that he was
willing to sacrifice for his health, as if money
and health concerned the same person.

+ See Chapter III.

72 ANALYSIS

Nonsense as a Technical Means

Let us fake up again in this connection the
instructive example of “salmon with mayon-
naise.” It also presents to us a side in which
we noticed a striking display of logical work
and we have learned from analyzing it that
this logic concealed an error of thought, namely,
a - displacement of the stream of thought.
Henceforth, even if only by way of contrast
association, we shall be reminded of other jokes
which, on the contrary, present clearly some-
thing contradictory, something nonsensical, or
foolish. We shall be curious to discover wherein
the technique of the witticism lies. I shall
first present the strongest and at the same time
the purest example of the entire group. Once
more it is a Jewish joke.

Ike was serving in the artillery corps. He
was seemingly an intelligent lad, but he was
unwieldy and had no interest in the service.
One of his superiors, who was kindly disposed
toward him, drew him aside and said to him:
“Ike, you are out of place among us. I would
advise you to buy a cannon and make yourself
independent.”

The advice, which makes us laugh heartily,
is obvious nonsense. There are no cannon to
be bought and an individual cannot possibly

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 73

make himself independent as a fighting force
or establish himself, as it were. One cannot
remain one minute in doubt but that this ad-
vice is not pure nonsense, but witty nonsense
and an excellent joke. By what means does
the nonsense become a witticism?

We need not meditate very long. From the
discussions of the authors in the Introduction
we can guess that sense lurks in such witty
nonsense, and that this sense in nonsense trans-
forms nonsense into wit. In our example the
sense is easily found. The officer who gives
the artilleryman, Ike, the nonsensical advice
pretends to be stupid in order to show Ike how
stupidly he is acting. He imitates Ike as if to
say, “ I will now give you some advice which is
exactly as stupid as you are.” He enters into
Ike's stupidity and makes him conscious of it by
making it the basis of a proposition which must
meet with Ike's wishes, for if Ike owned a can-
non and took up the art of warfare on his own
account, of what advantage would his intelli-
gence and ambition be to him? How would
he take care of the cannon and acquaint
himself with its mechanism in order to meet
the competition of other possessors of can-
non?

I am breaking off the analysis of this example
to show the same sense in nonsense in a shorter

ゾ

74 ANALYSIS

and simpler, though less glaring case of non-
sense-wit.

* Never to be born would be best for mortal
— man." “But,” added the sages of the Fliegende

Blätter, “ hardly one man in a hundred thou-
sand has this luck.”

The modern appendix to the ancient philo-
sophical saying is pure nonsense, and becomes
still more stupid through the addition of the
seemingly careful “hardly.” But this appen-
dix in attaching itself to the first sentence in-
zontestably and correctly limits it. It can thus
open our eyes to the fact that that piece of
wisdom so reverently scanned, is neither more
nor less than sheer nonsense. He who is not
born of woman is not mortal; for him there
exists no " good “ and no “ best.” The nonsense
of the joke, therefore, serves here to expose
and present another bit of nonsense as in the
case of the artilleryman. Here I can add a
third example which, owing to its context,
scarcely deserves a detailed description. It
serves, however, to illustrate the use of non-
sense in wit in order to represent another ele-
ment of nonsense.

A man about to go upon a journey intrusted
his daughter to his friend, begging him to watch
over her chastity during his absence. When
he returned some months later he found that

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 75

she was pregnant. Naturally he reproached
his friend. The latter alleged that he could not
explain this unfortunate occurrence. “ Where
has she been sleeping?” the father finally asked.
“In the same room with my son,” replied the
friend. "How is it that you allowed her to
sleep in the same room with your son after I
had begged you so earnestly to take good care
of her?” remonstrated the father. "Well?
explained the friend, “ there was a screen be-
tween them. There was your daughter's bed
and over there was my son’s bed and between
them stood the screen.” “ And suppose he
went behind the screen? What then?” asked
the parent. “Well, in that case,” rejoined the
friend thoughtfully, “ it might be possible.”

In this joke—aside from the other qualities
of this poor witticism—we can easily get the
reduction. Obviously, it would read like this:
“You have no right to reproach me. How
could you be so foolish as to leave your daughter
in a house where she must live in the constant
companionship of a young man? As if it were
possible for a stranger to be responsible for
the chastity of a maiden under such circum-
stances!” The seeming stupidity of the friend
here also serves as a reflection of the stupidity
of the father. By means of the reduction we
have eliminated the nonsense contained in the

76 ANALYSIS

witticism as well as the witticism itself. We
have not gotten rid of the “ nonsense " element
itself, as it finds another place in the context of
the sentence after it has been reduced to its
true meaning.

We can now also attempt the reduction of
the joke about the cannon. The officer might
have said: “I know, Ike. that you are an in-
telligent business man, but I must tell you that
you are very stupid if you do not realize that
one cannot act in the army as one does in
business, where each one is out for himself
and competes with the other. Military service
demands subordination and co-operation.”

The technique of the nonsense witticisms
hitherto discussed really consists in advancing
something apparently absurd or nonsensical
which, however, discloses a sense serving to
illustrate and represent some other actual
absurdity and nonsense.

Has the employment of contradiction in the
technique of wit always this meaning? Here is
another example which answers this affirma-
tively. On an occasion when Phocion's speech
was applauded he turned to his friends and
. asked: Did I say something foolish? ”

This question seems paradoxical, but we
immediately comprehend its meaning. “ What
have I said that has pleased this stupid crowd?

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 77

I ought really to be ashamed of the applause,
for if it appealed to these fools, it could not
have been very clever after all.”

Other examples teach us that absurdity is
used very often in the technique of wit without
serving at all the purpose of uncovering another
piece of nonsense.

A well-known university teacher who was
wont to spice richly with jokes his rather dry
specialty was once congratulated upon the
birth of his youngest son, who was bestowed
upon him at a rather advanced age. “Yes”
said he to the well-wishers, “it is remarkable
what mortal hands can accomplish.” This reply
seems especially meaningless and out of place,
for children are called the blessings of God to
distinguish them from creations of mortal hands.
But it soon dawns upon us that this answer has
a meaning and an obscene one at that. The
point in question is not that the happy father
wishes to appear stupid in order to make some-
thing else or some other persons appear stupid.
The seemingly senseless answer causes us as-
tonishment. It puzzles us, as the authors would
have it. We have seen that the authors deduce
the entire mechanism of such jokes from the
change of the succession of “ clearness and con-
fusion.” We shall try to form an opinion about
this later. Here we content ourselves by re-

78 ANALYSIS

marking that the technique of this witticism
consists in advancing such confusing and sense-
less elements,

An especially peculiar place among the non-
sense jokes is assumed by this joke of Lichten-
berg.

“He was surprised that the two holes were
cut in the pelts of cats just where their eyes
were located.” It is certainly foolish to be
surprised about something that is obvious in
itself, something which is really the explanation
of an identity. It reminds one of a seriously
intended utterance of Michelet (The Woman)
which, as I remember it, runs as follows: " How
beautifully everything is arranged by nature.
As soon as the child comes into the world it
finds a mother who is ready to care for it.”
This utterance of Michelet is really silly, but
the one of Lichtenberg is a witticism, which
makes use of the absurdity for some purpose.
There is something behind it. What? At
present that is something we cannot discuss.

Sophistic Faulty Thinking

We have learned from two groups of ex-
amples that the wit-work makes use of devia-
tions from normal thought, namely, displace-
ment and absurdity, as technical means of pre-

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 79

senting witty expressions. It is only just to
expect that other faulty thinking may find a
similar application. Indeed, a few examples of
this sort can be cited.

A gentleman entered a shop and ordered a
fancy cake, which, however, he soon returned,
asking for some liqueur in its stead. He drank
the liqueur, and was about to leave without
paying for it. The shopkeeper held him back.
“What do you want of me?” he asked.
“Please pay for the liqueur,” said the shop-
keeper. “ But I have given you the fancy cake
for it” * Yes, but you have not paid for that
either.” “Well, neither have I eaten it.”

This little story also bears the semblance of
logic which we already know as the suitable
facade for faulty thinking. The error, ob-
viously, lies in the fact that the cunning cus-
tomer establishes a connection between the re-
turn of the fancy cake and its exchange for the
liqueur, a. connection which really does not
exist. The state of affairs may be divided into
two processes which as far as the shopkeeper
is concerned are independent of each other.
He first took the fancy cake and returned it,
so that he owes nothing for it. He then took
the liqueur, for which he owes money. One
might say that the customer uses the relation
“for it” in a double sense, or, to speak more

80 ANALYSIS

correctly, by means of a double sense he forms
a relation which does not hold in reality."

The opportunity now presents itself for mak-
ing a not unimportant confession. We are
here busying ourselves with an investigation of
technique of wit by means of examples, and
we ought to be sure that the examples which
we have selected are really true witticisms.
The facts are, however, that in a series of
cases we fall into doubt as to whether or not
the example in question may be called a joke.
We have no criterion at our disposal before
investigation itself furnishes one. Usage of
language is unreliable and is itself in need of
examination for its authority. To decide the
question we can rely on nothing else but a
certain “feeling,” which we may interpret by
saying that in our judgment the decision fol-
lows certain criteria which are not yet accessi-
ble to our knowledge. We shall naturally not
appeal to this “ feeling ” for substantial proof.
In the case of the last-mentioned example we
cannot help doubting whether we may present
it as a witticism, as a sophistical witticism, or

3 А similar nonsense technique results when the joke aims to
maintain a connection which seems to be removed through the
special conditions of its content. A joke of this sort is related
by J. Falke (1. c.): “Is this the place where the Duke of Well-
ington spoke these words?” * Yes, this is the place; but he never
spoke these words.”

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 81

merely as a sophism. The fact is that we do
not yet know wherein the character of wit lies.

On the other hand the following example,
which evinces, as it were, the complementary
faulty thinking, is a witticism without any
doubt. Again it is a story of a marriage agent.
The agent is defending the girl he has proposed
against the attacks of her prospective fiancé.
“The mother-in-law does not suit- me,” the
latter remarks. “ She is a crabbed, foolish per-
son.” “That's true,” replies the agent, “ but
you are not going to marry the mother-in-law,
but the daughter.” " Yes, but she is no longer
young, and she is not pretty, either.” “That's
nothing: if she is not young or pretty you can
trust her all the more.” “ But she hasn't much
money.” “Why talk of money? Are you go-
ing to marry money? You want a wife, don't
you?” “ But she is a hunchback.” "Well,
what of that? Do you expect her to have no
blemishes at all?”

It is really a question of an ugly girl who is
no longer young, who has a paltry dowry and a
repulsive mother, and who is besides equipped
with a pretty bad deformity, relations which are
not at all inviting to matrimony. The marriage
agent knows how to present each individual
fault in a manner to cause one to become
reconciled to it, and then takes up the un-

82 ANALYSIS

pardonable hunch back as the one fault which
can be excused in any one. Here again there
is the semblance of logic which is characteristic
of sophisms, and which serves to conceal the
faulty thinking. It is apparent that the girl
possesses nothing but faults, many of which
can be overlooked, but one that cannot be passed .
by. The chances for the marriage become very
slim. The agent acts as if he removed each
individual fault by his evasions, forgetting that
each leaves behind some depreciation which is
added to the next one. He insists upon dealing
with each factor individually, and refuses to
combine them into a sum-total.

A similar omission forms the nucleus of an-
other sophism which causes much laughter,
though one can well question its right to be
called a joke.

A. had borrowed a copper kettle from B., and
upon returning it was sued by B. because it had
a large hole which rendered it unserviceable.
His defense was this: “ In the first place I
never borrowed any kettle from B., secondly
the kettle had a hole in it when I received it
from B., thirdly the kettle was in perfect con-
dition when I returned it.” Each separate pro-
test is good by itself, but taken together they
exclude each other. A. treats individually
what must be taken as a whole, just as the

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 83

‘marriage agent when he deals with the imper-
fections of the bride. One can also say that A.
uses “and” where only an “ either 一 or “ is
possible.

Another sophism greets us in the following
marriage agent story. The suitor objects be-
cause the bride has a short leg and therefore
limps. The agent contradicts him. “ You are
wrong,” he says. "Suppose you marry a
woman whose legs are sound and straight.
What do you gain by it? You are not sure
from day to day that she will not fall down,
break a leg, and then be lame for the rest of
her life. Just consider the pain, the eæcite-
ment, and the doctor's bill. But if you marry
this one nothing can happen. Here you have
a finished job.”

Here the semblance of logic is very shallow,
for no one will by any means admit that a
“ finished misfortune ” is to be preferred to a
mere possibility of such. The error in the
stream of thought will be seen more easily in a
second example.

In the temple of Cracow sat the great Rabbi
N. praying with his disciples. Suddenly he
emitted a cry and in response to his troubled
disciples said: “ The great Rabbi L. died just
now in Lemberg.” The congregation thereupon
went mto mourning for the deceased. In the

84 ANALYSIS

course of the next day travelers from Lemberg
were asked how the rabbi had died, and what
had caused his death. They knew nothing
about the event, however, as, they said, they
had left him in the best of health. Finally it
was definitely ascertained that the Rabbi of
Lemberg had not died at the hour on which
Rabbi N. had felt his death telepathically, and
that he was still living. A stranger seized the
opportunity to banter a pupil of the Cracow
rabbi about the episode. “ That was a glorious
exhibition that your rabbi made of himself
when he saw the Rabbi of Lemberg die,” he
said. "Why, the man is still living!” “No
matter,” replied the pupil. “To look from
Cracow to Lemberg was wonderful anyhow.”

Here the faulty thinking common to both
of the last examples is openly shown. The
value of fanciful ideas is unfairly matched
against reality; possibility is made equivalent
to actuality. To look from Cracow to Lem-
berg despite the miles between would have been
an imposing telepathic feat had it resulted in
some truth, but the disciple gives no heed to
that. It might have been possible that the
Rabbi of Lemberg had died at the moment
when the Rabbi of Cracow had proclaimed his
death, but the pupil displaces the accent from
the condition under which the teacher’s act

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 85

would be remarkable to the unconditional ad-
miration of this act. “ In magnis rebus voluisse
sat est” is a similar point of view. Just as in
this example reality is sacrificed in favor of
possibility, so in the foregoing example the
marriage agent suggests to the suitor that the
possibility of the woman's becoming lame
through an accident is a far more important
consideration to be taken into account; whereas
the question as to whether or not she is lame
is put altogether: into the background.

Automatic Errors of Thought

Another interesting group attaches itself to
this one of sophistical faulty thinking, a group
in which the faulty thinking may be designated
as automatic. It is perhaps only a stroke of
fate that all of the examples which I shall cite
for this new group are again stories referring
to marriage agents.

The agent brought along an assistant to a
conference about a bride. This assistant was
to confirm his assertions. “ She is as well made
as a pine tree,” said the agent. “ Like a pine
tree,” repeated the echo. “ She has eyes which
one must appreciate.” “ Wonderful eyes,” con-
firmed the echo. “She is cultured beyond
words. She possesses extraordinary culture.”

86 ANALYSIS

“ Wonderfully cultured,” repeated the assistant:
"However, one thing is true,” confessed the
agent. “ She has a slight hunch on her back.”
“ And what a hunch!” confirmed the echo.

The other stories are quite analogous to this
one, but they are cleverer.

On being introduced to his prospective bride
the suitor was rather unpleasantly surprised,
and drawing aside the marriage agent he re-
proachfully whispered to him: “ Why have you
brought me here? She is ugly and old. She
squints, has bad teeth, and bleary eyes”
“You can talk louder,” interrupted the agent.
“ She is deaf, too.”

A prospective bridegroom made his first call
on his future bride in company with the agent,
and while in the parlor waiting for the appear-
ance of the family the agent drew the young
man’s attention to a glass closet containing a
handsome silver set. "Just look at these
things,” he said. “ You can see how wealthy
these people are.” “ But is it mot possible that
these articles were just borrowed for the occa-
sion,” inquired the suspicious young man, “ 80
as to give the appearance of wealth?” “ What
an idea,” answered the agent protestingly.
“Who in the world would lend them any-
thing?”

In all three cases one finds the same thing.

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 87

A person who reacts several times in succession
in the same manner continues in the same
manner on the next occasion where it becomes
unsuited and runs contrary to his intentions.
Falling into the automatism of habit he fails
to adapt himself to the demands of the situa-
tion. Thus in the first story the assistant forgot
that he was taken along in order to influence
the suitor in favor of the proposed bride, and
as he had thus far accomplished his task by
emphasizing through repetition the excellencies
attributed to the lady, he now emphasizes also
her timidly conceded hunch back which he
should have belittled.

The marriage agent in the second story is so
fascinated by the failings and infirmities of the
bride that he completes the list from his own
knowledge, which it was certainly neither his
business nor his intention to do. Finally in
the third story he is so carried away by his
zeal to convince the young man of the family’s
wealth that in order to corroborate his proofs
he blurts out something which must upset all
his efforts. Everywhere the automatism tri-
umphs over the appropriate variation of
thought and expression.

That is quite easy to understand, although
it must cause confusion when it is brought to
our attention that these three stories could just

88 ANALYSIS

as well be termed “ comical ” as “ witty.” Like
every act of unmasking and self-betrayal the
discovery of the psychic automatism also be-
longs to technique of the comic. We suddenly
see ourselves here confronted with the problem
of the relationship of wit to the comic element—
a subject which we endeavored to avoid (see
the Introduction). Are these stories only
“ comical “ and not “ witty " also? Does the
comic element employ here the same means as
does the wit? And again, of what does the
peculiar character of wit consist?

We must adhere to the fact that the tech-
nique of the group of witticisms examined last
consists of nothing else but the establishment of
“faulty thinking." We are forced to admit,
however, that so far the investigation has led
us further into darkness than to illumination.
Nevertheless we do not abandon the hope of
arriving at a result by means of a more thor-
ough knowledge of the technique of wit which
may become the starting-point for further in-
sight.

Unification

The next examples of wit with which we wish
to continue our investigation do not give us as
much work. Their technique reminds us very
much of what we already know. Here is one

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 89

of Lichtenberg's jokes. “January,” he says,
“is the month in which one extends good wishes
to his friends, and the rest are months in which
the good wishes are not fulfilled.”

As these witticisms may be called clever
rather than strong, we shall reinforce the im-
pression by examining a few more.

“ Human life is divided into two halves; dur-
ing the first one looks forward to the second,
and during the second one looks backward to
the first.”

“ Experience consists in experiencing what
one does not care to experience.” (The last
two examples were cited by K. Fischer.)

One cannot help being reminded by these ex-
amples of a group, treated of before, which is
characterized by the “manifold application of
the same material.” The last example espe-
cially will cause us to ask why we have not
inserted it there instead of presenting it here
in a new connection. * Experience” is de-
scribed through its own terms just as some of
the examples cited above. Neither would I be
against this correction. However, I am of the
opinion that the other two cases, which are
surely similar in character, contain a different
factor which is more striking and more im-
portant than the manifold application of the
same word which shows nothing here touching

90 ANALYSIS

upon double meaning. And what is more, I
wish to emphasize that new and unexpected
identities are here formed which show them-
selves in relations of ideas to one another, in
relations of definitions to each other, or to a
common third. I would call this process unifica-
tion. Obviously it is analogous to condensation
by compression into similar words. Thus the
two halves of human life are described by the
inter-relationship discovered between them:
during the first part one longs for the second,
and in the second one longs for the first. To
speak more precisely there were two relation-
ships very similar to each other which were
selected for description. The similarity of the
relationship that corresponds to the similarity of
the words which, just for this reason, might
recall the manifold application of the same
material— (looks forward)
(looks backward).

In Lichtenberg’s joke, January and the
months contrasted with it are characterized
again by a modified relationship to a third
factor: these are good wishes which one re-
ceives in the first month, but are not fulfilled
during the other months. The differentiation
from the manifold application of the same ma-
terial which is really related to double meaning
is here quite clear.

.

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 91

A good example of unification-wit needing
no explanation is the following:

J. B. Rousseau, the French poet, wrote an
ode to posterity (a la postérité). Voltaire,
thinking that the poor quality of the poem in
no way justified its reaching posterity, wittily
remarked, “ This poem will not reach its desti-
nation” (K. Fischer).

The last example may remind us of the fact
that it is essentially unification which forms
the basis of the so-called repartee in wit. For
ready repartee consists in using the defense for
aggression and in “turning the tables” or in
“paying with the same coin.” That is, the
repartee consists in establishing an unexpected
identity between attack and counter-attack.

For example, a baker said to a tavern keeper,
one of whose fingers was festering: " I guess
your finger got into your beer.” The tavern
keeper replied: “ You are wrong. One of your
rolls got under my finger nail” (Ueberhorst:
Das Komische, II, 1900).

While Serenissimus was traveling through his
domains he noticed a man in the crowds who
bore 4 striking resemblance to himself. He
beckoned him to come over and asked: “ Was
your mother ever employed in my home?”
“ No, sire,” replied the man, “ but my father
was.”

92 ANALYSIS

While Duke Karl of Würtemberg was riding
horseback he met a dyer working at his trade.
“ Can you color my white horse blue?” “ Yes,
sire,” was the rejoinder, “if the animal can
stand the boiling!”

In this excellent repartee, which answers a
foolish question with a condition-that is equally
impossible, there occurs another technical
factor which would have been omitted if the
dyer's reply had been: “ No, sire, I am afraid
that the horse could not stand being boiled.”

Another peculiarly interesting technical
means at the disposal of unification is the addi-
tion of the conjunction “and.” Such correla-
tion signifies a connection which could not be
understood otherwise. When Heine (Harzreise)
says of the city of Góttingen, “ In general the -
inhabitants of Góttingen are divided into stu-
dents, professors, Philistines, and cattle,” we
understand this combination exactly in the sense
which he furthermore emphasized by adding:
“ These four soeial groups are distinguished lit-
tle less than sharply.” Again, when he speaks
about the school where he had to submit * to
so much Latin, drubbing, and geography,” he
wants to convey by this combination, which is
made very conspicuous by placing the drubbing
between the two studies, that the schoolboy’s
conception unmistakably described by the drub-

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 93

bing should be extended also to Latin and
geography.

In Lipps's book we find among the examples
of “witty enumeration” (Koordination) the
following verse, which stands nearest to Heine's
“ students, professors, Philistines, and cattle.”

“With a fork and with much effort his
mother pulled him from a mess.”

“As if effort were an instrument like the
fork,” adds Lipps by way of explanation. But
we get the impression that there is nothing
witty in this sentence. To be sure it is very
- comical, whereas Heine's co-ordination is un-
doubtedly witty. We shall, perhaps, recall these
examples later when we shall no longer be
forced to evade the problem of the relationship
between wit and the comic.

Representation Through the Opposite

We have remarked in the example of the
Duke and the dyer that it would still have been
a joke by means of unification had the dyer
replied, “ No, I fear that the horse could not
stand being boiled.” In substituting a “yes”
for the “no” which rightly belonged there, we
meet a new technical means of wit the applica-
tion of which we shall study in other examples.

This joke, which resembles the one we have

94 ANALYSIS

just cited from K. Fischer, is somewhat sim-
pler. “ Frederick the Great heard of a Silesian
clergyman who had the reputation of communi-
cating with spirits. He sent for him and re-
ceived him with the following question: " Can
you call up ghosts?” * At your pleasure, your
majesty,’ replied the clergyman, “but they
won't come." Here it is perfectly obvious
that the wit lies in the substitution of its op-
posite for the only possible answer, “ No.” To
complete this substitution “but” had to be
added to “yes,” so that “yes” plus “but”
gives the equivalent for “ no.” ;

This “ representation through the opposite,” as
we choose to call it, serves the mechanism of
wit in several ways. In the following cases it
appears almost in its pure form:

“This woman resembles Venus de Milo in
many points. Like her she is extraordinarily
old, kas no teeth, and has white spots on the
yellow surface of her body” (Heine).

Here ugliness is depicted by making it agree
with the most beautiful. Of course these agree-
ments consist of attributes expressed in double
meaning or of matters of slight importance.
The latter applies to the second example.

“ The attributes of the greatest men were all
united in himself. Like Alexander his head
was tilted to one side: like Cæsar he always had

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 95

something in his hair. He could drink coffee
like Leibnitz, and once settled in his armchair
he forgot eating and drinking like Newton, and
like him had to be awakened. He wore a wig
like Dr. Johnson, and like Cervantes the fly of
his trousers was always open” (Lichtenberg:
The Great Mind).

J. V. Falke’s Lebenserinnerungen an eine
Reise nach Ireland (page 271) furnishes an ex-
ceptionally good example of “representation
through the opposite” in which the use of
words of a double meaning plays absolutely no
part. The scene is laid in a wax figure museum,
like Mme, Tussaud’s. A lecturer discourses on
one figure after another to his audience, which
is composed of old and young people. “ This is
the Duke of Wellington and his horse,” he says.
Whereupon a young girl remarks, “ Which is
the duke and which is the horse?" " Just as
you like, my pretty child,” is the reply. “ You
pay your money and you take your choice.”

The reduction of this Irish joke would be:
“It is gross impudence on the part of the
museum's management to offer such an exhibi-
tion to the public. It is impossible to distin-
guish between the horse and the rider (playful
exaggeration), and it is for this exhibit that
one pays one’s hard-earned money!” The in-
dignant expression is now dramatized and ap-

96 — ANALYSIS

plied to a trivial occurrence. In the place of
the entire audience there appears one woman
and the riding figure becomes individually de-
termined. It is necessarily the Duke of Well-
ington, who is so very popular in Ireland. But
the insolence of the museum proprietor or lec-
turer who takes money from the public and
offers nothing in return is represented by the
opposite, through a speech, in which he extols
himself as a conscientious business man whose
fondest desire is to respect the rights to which
the public is entitled through the admission
fee. One then realizes that the technique of this
joke is not very simple. In so far as a way
is found to allow the swindler to assert his
scrupulosity it may be said that the joke is a
case of “representation through the opposite.”
The fact, however, that he does it on an occa-
sion where something different is demanded of
him, and the fact that he replies in terms of
commercial integrity when he is expected to dis-
cuss the similarity of the figures, shows that it
is a case of displacement. The technique of
the joke lies in the combination of both technical
means.

Outdoing-wit

This example is closely allied to another
small group which might be called outdoing-

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 97

wit.” Here “yes,” which would be proper in
the reduction, is replaced by “ no,” which, owing
to its context, is equivalent to a still stronger
“yes.” The same mechanism holds true when
the case is reversed. The contradiction takes
the place of an exaggerated confirmation. An
example of this nature is seen in the following
epigram from Lessing.

“The good Galathee! "Tis said that she dyes
her hair black, yet it was black when she bought
Nº

Lichtenberg's make-believe mocking defense
of philosophy is another example.

“There are more things in heaven and earth
than are dreamt of in your philosophy,” Prince
Hamlet had disdainfully declared. Lichten-
berg well knew that this condemnation was
by no means severe enough, in that it does not
take into account all that can be said against
philosophy. He therefore added the following:
" But there is also much in philosophy which is
found neither in heaven nor on earth.” To be
sure, his assertion supplements what was lack-
ing in Hamlet's philosophical utterance, but in
doing this he adds another and still greater re-
proach.

More transparent still, because they show
no trace of displacement, are two Jewish

* Following an example of the Greek Anthology.

98 ANALYSIS

jokes which are, however, of the coarse
kind.

Two Jews were conversing about bathing.
“ I take a bath once a year,” said one, “ whether
I need one or not.”

It is clear that this boastful assurance of his
cleanliness only betrays his state of uncleanli-
ness.

A Jew noticed remnants of food on the beard
of another. “I can tell you what you ate yes-
terday,” he remarked. “Well, let's hear it,”
said another. “ Beans,” said the first one. “ You
are wrong,” responded the other. “ I had beans
the day before yesterday.”

The following example is an excellent “ out-
doing ” witticism which can be traced easily
to representation through the opposite.

The king condescended to pay a visit at a
surgical clinic, and found the professor of sur-
gery engaged in amputating a leg. He watched
the various steps of the operation. with interest
and expressed his royal approval with these
loud utterances: “ Bravo, bravo, Professor.”
When the operation was over the professor
approached the king, bowed low, and asked:
“ Does your majesty also command the amputa-
tion of the other leg?”

Whatever the professor may have thought
during this royal applause surely could not

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 99

have been expressed unchanged. His real
thoughts were: “ Judging by this applause he
must be under the impression that I am ampu-
tating the poor devil's diseased leg by order
of and for the pleasure of the king. To be
sure, I have other reasons for performing this
operation.” But instead of expressing these
thoughts he goes to the king and says: “ I have
no other reasons but your majesty’s order for
performing this operation. "The applause you
accorded me has inspired me so much that I
am only awaiting your majesty’s command to
amputate the other leg also.” He thus suc-
ceeded in making himself understood by ex-
pressing the opposite of what he really thought
but had to keep to himself. Such an expres-
sion of the opposite represents an incredible
exaggeration or outdoing.

As we gather from these examples, repre-
sentation through the opposite is a means fre-
quently and effectively used in the technique
of wit. We need not overlook, however, some-
thing else, namely, that this technique is by
no means confined only to wit. When Marc
Antony, after his long speech in the Forum
had changed the mood of the mob listen-
ing to Cæsar's obsequies, at last repeats the
words,

“For Brutus was an honorable man,”

100 ANALYSIS

he well knows that the mob will scream the
true meaning of his words at him, namely,

“ They are traitors: nice honorable men!”

Or when Simplicissimus transcribes a col-
lection of unheard-of brutalities and cynicisms
as expressions of “ people with temperaments,”
this, too, is a representation through the oppo-
site. However, this is no longer designated as
wit, but as * irony." Indeed, the only technique
that is characteristic of irony is representation
through the opposite. Besides, one reads and
hears about “ironical wit.” Hence there is no
longer any doubt that technique alone is not
capable of characterizing wit. There must be
something else which we have not yet dis-
covered. On the other hand, however, the fact
that the reduction of the technique destroys the
wit still remains uncontradicted. For the pres-
ent it may be difficult for us to unite for the
explanation of wit the two strong points which
we have already gained.

Indirect Expression

Since representation through the opposite
belongs to the technical means of wit, we may
also expect that wit could make use of its re-
verse, namely, the representation through the
similar and cognate. Indeed, when we continue

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 101

our investigation we find that this forms the
technique of a new and especially extensive
group of thought-witticisms. We can describe
the peculiarity of this technique much better
if instead of representation through the “ cog-
nate” we use the expression representation
through “ relationships and associations.” We
shall start with the last characteristic and illus-
trate it by an example.

Indirect Expression with Allusion

It is an American anecdote and runs as
follows. By undertaking a series of risky
schemes, two not very scrupulous business men
had succeeded in amassing an enormous for-
tune and were now intent on forcing their way
into good society. Among other things they
thought it advisable to have their portraits
painted by the most prominent and most ex-
pensive painters in the city, men whose works
were considered masterpieces. The costly pic-
tures were exhibited for the first time at a great
evening gathering, and the hosts themselves led
the most prominent connoisseur and art critic
to the wall of the salon on which both portraits
were hanging side by side, in order to elicit
from him a favorable criticism. He examined
the portraits for a long time, then shook his

102 ANALYSIS

head as if he were missing something. At
length he pointed to the bare space between
the pictures, and asked, “ And where is the
Savior? ”

The meaning of this expression is clear. It
is again the expression of something which can-
not be represented directly. In what way does
this “indirect expression” come about? By a
series of very obvious associations and conclu-
sions let us work backwards from the verbal
setting.

The query, “ where is the Savior? ” or “ where
is the picture of the Savior?” arouses the con-
Jjecture that the two pictures have reminded the
speaker of a similar arrangement familiar to
him as it is familiar to us. This arrangement,
of which one element is here missing, shows the
figure of the Savior between two other figures.
There is only one such case: Christ hanging
between the two thieves. The missing element
is emphasized by the witticism, and the similar-
ity rests in the figures at the right and left of
the Savior, which are not mentioned in the jest.
It can only mean that the pictures hanging in
the drawing-room are likewise those of thieves.
This is what the critic wished to, but could
not say, “ You are a pair of scoundrels,” or
more in detail, “ What do I care about your
portraits? You are a pair of scoundrels, that

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 108

I know.” And by means of a few associations
and conclusive inferences he has said it in a
manner which we designate as “ allusion.”

We immediately remember that we have
encountered the process of allusion before.
Namely, in double meaning, when one of the
two meanings expressed by the same word
stands out very prominently because being used
much oftener and more commonly, our atten-
tion is directed to it first, whereas the other
meaning remains in the background because it
is more remote—such cases we wished to de-
scribe as double meaning with allusion. In an
entire series of examples which we have hitherto
examined, we have remarked that their tech-
nique is not simple and we realized that the
process of allusion was the factor that com-
plicated it. For example, see the contradiction-
witticism in which the congratulations on the
birth of the youngest child are acknowledged by
the remark that it is remarkable what human
hands can accomplish (p. 77).

In the American anecdote we have the process
of allusion without the double meaning, and we
find that the character of this process consists
in completing the picture through mental asso-
ciation. It is not difficult to guess that the
utilized association can be of more than one
kind. So as not to be confused by large num-

104 ANALYSIS

bers we shall discuss only the most pronounced
variations, and shall give only a few examples.

The association used in the substitution may
be a mere sound, so that this sub-group may
be analogous to word-wit in the pun. How-
ever, it is not similarity in sound of two words,
but of whole sentences, characteristic combina-
tions of words, and similar means.

For example, Lichtenberg coined the saying:
“ New baths heal well,” which immediately re-
minds one of the proverb, “ New brooms clean
well,” whose first and last words, as well as
whose whole sentence structure, is the same as
in the first saying. It has undoubtedly arisen
in the witty thinker’s mind as an imitation of
the familiar proverb. Thus Lichtenberg’s say-
ing is an allusion to the latter. By means of
this allusion something is suggested that can-
not be frankly said, namely, that the efficacy
of the baths taken as cures is due to other
things beside the thermal springs whose attri-
butes are the same everywhere.

The solution of the technique of another one
of Lichtenberg’s jokes is similar: “ The girl
barely twelve modes old.” "That sounds some-
thing like the chronological term “ twelve
moons ” (ie, months), and may originally have
been a mistake in writing in the permissible
poetical expression. But there is a good deal

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 105

of sense in designating the age of a feminine
creature by the changing modes instead of by
the changing of moons.

The connection of similarity may even con-
sist of a single slight modification. This tech-
nique again runs parallel with a word-technique.
Both kinds of witticisms create almost the
identical impression, but they are more easily
distinguishable by the processes of the wit-
work. ·

The following is an example of such a word-
witticism or pun. "The great singer, Mary
Wilt, who was famous not merely on account
of the magnitude of her voice, suffered the
mortification of having a title of a play, drama-
tized from the well-known novel of Jules
Verne, serve as an allusion to her corpulency.
“The trip around the Wilt (world) in eighty
days.”

Or: “ Every fathom a queen,” which is a
modification of the familiar Shakespearian
quotation, “ Every inch a king,” and served as
an allusion to a prominent woman who was un-
usually big physically. There would really be
no serious objection if one should prefer to
classify this witticism as a substitution for con-
densation with modification (cf. téte-å-béte,
p. 25).

Discussing the hardships of the medical pro-

106 ANALYSIS

fession, namely, that physicians are obliged to
read and study constantly because remedies and
drugs onee considered efficacious are later re-
jected as useless, and that despite the physi-
cian's best efforts the patient often refuses to
pay for the treatment, one of the doctors present
remarked: “ Yes, every drug has its day,” to
which another added, " But not every Doc gets
his pay.” These two witty remarks are both
modifications with allusion of the well-known
saying, " Every dog has his day.” But here,
too, the technique could be described as fusion
with modification.

If the modification contents itself with a
change in letters, allusions through modifica-
tions are barely distinguishable from condensa-
tion with substitutive formation, as shown in
this example: “ Mellingitis,” the allusion to the
dangerous disease meningitis, refers to the
danger which the conservative members of a
provincial borough in England thought im-
pended if the socialist candidate Mellon were
elected.

The negative particles make very good allu-
sions at the cost of very little changing. Heine
referred to Spinoza as:

My fellow unbeliever Spinoza.”

“We, by the Ungrace of God, Laborers,
Bondsmen, Negroes, Serfs,” etc, is a manifesto

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 107

(which Lichtenberg quotes no further) of these
unfortunates who probably have more right to
that title than kings and dukes have to the un-
modified one.

Omission

Finally omission, which is comparable to con-
densation without substitutive formation, is also
a form of allusion. For in every allusion there
is really something omitted, namely, the trend
of thought that leads to the allusion. It is
only a question of whether the gap, or the sub-
stitute in the wording of the allusion which
partly fills in the gap, is the more obvious
element. Thus we come back through a series
of examples from the very clear cases of omis-
sion to those of actual allusion.

Omission without substitution is found in
the following example. There lived in Vienna
a clever and bellicose writer whose sharp in-
vectives had repeatedly brought him bodily
assault at the hands of the persons he assailed.
During a conversation about a new misdeed by
one of his habitual opponents, some one said,
“When X. hears this he will receive another
bor on his ear." The technique of this wit
shows in the first place the confusion about
the apparent contradiction, for it is by no means

108 ANALYSIS

clear to us why a box on one’s ear should be
the direct result of having heard something.
The contradiction disappears if one fills in the
gap by adding to the remark: “then he will
write such a caustic article against that person
that, etc.” Allusions through omission and con-
tradiction are thus the SEMA means of this
witticism.

Heine remarked about some one: “ He praises
himself so much that pastils for fumigation are
advancing in price.” This omission can easily
be filled in. What has been omitted is replaced
by an inference which then strikes back as an
allusion to the same. For self-praise has al-
ways carried an evil odor with it.

Once more we encounter the two Jews in
front of the bathing establishment. “ Another
year has passed by already,” says one with a
sigh.

These examples leave no doubt that the omis-
sion is meant as an allusion.

A still more obvious omission is contained
in the next example, which is really a genuine
and correct allusion-witticism. Subsequent to
an artists” banquet in Vienna a joke book was
given out in which, among others, the follow-
ing most remarkable proverb could be read:

“A wife is like an umbrella, at worst one may
also take a c

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 109

An umbrella does not afford enough protec-
tion from rain. The words “at worst” can
mean only: when it is raining hard. A cab
is a public conveyance. As we have to deal
here with the figure of comparison, we shall put
off the detailed investigation of this witticism
until later on.

Heine's “ Bäder von Lucca “ contains a veri-
table wasps’ nest of stinging allusions which
make the most artistic use of this form of wit as
polemics against the Count of Platen. Long
before the reader can suspect their application,
a certain theme, which does not lend itself espe-
cially to direct presentation, is preluded by
allusions of the most varied material possible;
e.g., in Hirsch-Hyacinth’s twisting of words:
You are too corpulent and I am too lean; you
possess too much conceit and I the more busi-
ness ability; I am a practicus and you are a
diarrheticus, in fine, “ You are altogether my
Antipodex ”—“ Venus Urinia ”—the thick Gu-
del of Dreckwall in Hamburg, ete. Then the
occurrences of which the poet speaks take a
turn in which it merely seems to show the im-
polite sportiveness of the poet, but soon it dis-
eloses the symbolic relation to the polemical in-
tention, and in this way it also reveals itself as
allusion. At last the attack against Platen
bursts forth, and now the allusions to the sub-

110 ANALYSIS

ject of the Count's love for men seethe and
gush from each one of the sentences which
Heine directs against the talent and the char-
acter of his opponent, e.g.:

“Even if the Muses are not well disposed
to him, he has at least the genius of speech in
his power, or rather he knows how to violate
him; for he lacks the free love of this genius,
besides he must perseveringly run after this
youth, and he knows only how to grasp the
outer forms which, in spite of their beautiful
rotundity, never express anything noble.”

“ He has the same experience as the ostrich,
which considers itself sufficiently hidden when
it sticks its head into the sand so that only its
backside is visible. Our illustrious bird would
have done better if he had stuck his backside
into the sand, and had shown us his head.”

Allusion is perhaps the commonest and most
easily employed means of wit, and is at the basis
of most of the short-lived witty productions
which we are wont to weave into our conversa-
tion. They cannot bear being separated from
their native soil nor can they exist independ-
ently. Once more we are reminded by the
process of allusion of that relationship which
has already begun to confuse our estimation of
the technique of wit. The process of allusion
is not witty in itself; there are perfectly formed

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 111

allusions which have no claims to this character.
Only those allusions which show a “ witty ”
element are witty, hence the characteristics of
wit, which we have followed even into its tech-
nique, again escape us.

I have sometimes called allusion “ indirect ex-
pression,” and now recognize that the different
kinds of allusion with representation through
the opposite, as well as the techniques still to be
mentioned, can be united into a single large
group for which “indirect expression” would
be the comprehensive name. Hence, errors of
thought—unification—indirect representation—
are those points of view under which we can
group the techniques of thought-wit which be-
came known to us.

Representation Through the Minute or the
Minutest Element

On continuing the investigation of our ma-
terial we think we recognize a new sub-group
of indirect representation which though sharply
defined can be illustrated only by few examples.
It is that of representation through a minute
or minutest element; solving the problem by
bringing the entire character to full expression
through a minute detail. Correlating this
group. with the mechanism of allusion is made

ン

112 ANALYSIS

possible by looking at the triviality as con-
nected with the thing to be presented and as a
result of it. For example: :

A Jew who was riding in a train had made
himself very comfortable; he had unbuttoned
his coat, and had. put his feet on the seat, when
a fashionably dressed gentleman came in. The
Jew immediately put on his best behavior and
assumed a modest position. The stranger
turned over the pages of a book, did some cal-
culation, and pondered a moment and suddenly
addressed the Jew. “I beg your pardon, how
soon will we have Yom Kippur?” (Day of
Atonement). “Oh, oh!” said the Jew, and
put his feet back on the seat before he an-
swered.

It cannot be denied that this representation
through something minute is allied to the tend-
ency of economy which we found to be the final
common element in the investigation of the
technique of word-wit.

The following example is much similar.

The doctor who had been summoned to help
the baroness in her confinement declared that
the critical moment had not arrived, and pro-
posed to the baron that they play a game of
cards in the adjoining room in the meantime.
After a while the doleful cry of the baroness
reached the ears of the men. “ Ah, mon Dieu,

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 118

que je souffre!” The husband jumped up, but
the physician stopped him saying, “ That's
nothing; let us play on.” A little while later
the woman in labor-pains was heard again:
“Му God, my God, what pains!” " Dont
you want to go in, Doctor?” asked the baron.
“ By no means, it is not yet time,” answered the
doctor. At last there rang from the adjacent
room the unmistakable cry,“ A-a-a-ai-e-e-e-e-e-e-
E-E-E!” The physician then threw down the
cards and said, “ Now it's time.”

How the pain allows the original nature to
break through all the strata of education, and
how an important decision is rightly made de-
pendent upon a seemingly inconsequential utter-
ance—both are shown in this good joke by the
successive changes in the cries of this child-
bearing lady of quality.

Comparison:

Another kind of indirect expression of which
wit makes use is comparison, which we have not
discussed so far because an examination of com-
parison touches upon new difficulties, or rather
it reveals difficulties which have made their
appearance on other occasions. We have al-
ready admitted that in many of the examples
examined we could not banish all doubts as to

114 ANALYSIS

whether they should really be counted as witty,
and have recognized in this uncertainty a serious
shock to the principles of our investigation.
But in no other material do I feel this uncer-
tainty greater and nowhere does it occur more
frequently than in the case of comparison-wit.
The feeling which usually says to me—and I
dare say to a great many others under the same
conditions—this is a joke, this may be written
down as witty before even the hidden and
essential character of the wit has been uncov-
ered—this feeling I lack most. If at first I
experience no hesitation in declaring the com-
parison to be a witticism, then the next instant
I seem to think that the pleasure I thus found
was of a different quality than that which I am
hecustomed to aser be to a joke. Also the fact
that witty comparisons but seldom can evoke
the explosive variety of laughter by which a
good joke proves itself makes it impossible for
me to, cast aside the existing doubts, even when
I limit myself to the best and most effective
examples.

It is easy to demonstrate that there are some
especially good and effective examples of com-
parison which in no way give us the impres-
sion of witticisms. A beautiful example of this
kind which I have not yet tired of admiring,
and the impression of which still clings to me,

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 115

I shall not deny myself the pleasure of citing.
It is a comparison with which Ferd. Lassalle
concluded one of his famous pleas (Die Wissen-
schaft und die Arbeiter): “ A man like myself
who, as I explained to you, had devoted his
whole life to the motto * Die Wissenschaft und

' die Arbeiter’ (Science and the Workingman),
would receive the same impression from a con-
demnation which in the course of events con-
fronts him as would the chemist, absorbed in
his scientific experiments, from the cracking of
a retort. With a slight knitting of his brow at
the resistance of the material, he would, as soon
as the disturbance was quieted, calmly con-
tinue his labor and investigations.”

One finds a rich assortment of pertinent and
witty comparisons in the writings of Lichten-
berg (2 B. of the Göttingen edition, 1858).
I shall take the material for our investigation
from that source.

“It is almost impossible to carry the torch
of truth through a crowd without singeing
somebody’s beard.” "This may seem witty, but
on closer examination one notices that the witty
effect does not come from the comparison it-
self but from a secondary attribute of the same.
For the expression “the torch of truth” is no
new comparison, but one which has been used
for a long time and which has degenerated into

116 ANALYSIS

a fixed phrase, as always happens when a com-
parison has the luck to be absorbed into the
common usage of speech. But whereas we
hardly notice the comparison in the saying,
“the torch of truth,” its original full force is
restored it by Lichtenberg, since by building
further on the comparison it results in a de-
duction. But the taking of blurred expressions
in their fall sense is already known to us as a
technique of wit; it finds a place with the Mani-
fold Application of the Same Material (p. 85).
It may well be that the witty impression created
by Lichtenberg’s sentence is due only to its re-
lation to this technique of wit.

The same explanation will undoubtedly hold
good for another witty comparison by the same
author.

“The man was not exactly a shining light,
but a great candlestick. . . . He was a pro-
fessor of philosophy.”

To call a scholar a shining light, a “ lumen
mundi,” has long ceased to be an effective com-
parison, whether it be originally qualified as a
witticism or not. But here the comparison was
freshened up and its full force was restored to
it by deducting a modification from it and in
this way setting up a second and new com-
parison. The way in which the second com-
parison came into existence seems to contain

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 117
the condition of the witticism and not the two
comparisons themselves. This would then be
a case of Identical Wit Technique as in the
example of the torch.

The following comparison seems witty on
other but similarly classifiable grounds: “I
look upon reviews as a kind of children’s dis-
ease which more or less attacks new-born books.
There are cases on record where the healthiest
died of it, and the puniest have often lived
through it. Many do not get it at all. At-
tempts have frequently been made to prevent
the disease by means of amulets of prefaces and
dedications, or to color them up by personal
pronunciamentos; but it does not always help.”

The comparison of reviews with children’s
diseases is based in the first place upon their
susceptibility to attack shortly after they have
seen the light of the world. Whether this
makes it witty I do not trust myself to decide.
But when the comparison is continued, it is
found that the later fates of the new books may
be represented within the scope of the same or
by means of similar comparisons. Such a con-
tinuation of a comparison is undoubtedly witty,
but we know already to what technique it owes
its witty flavor; it is a case of unification or the
establishment of an unexpected association.
The character of the unification, however, is not

118 ANALYSIS

changed by the fact that it consists here of a
relationship with the first comparison.

Doubt in Witty Comparisons

In a series of other comparisons one is
tempted to ascribe an indisputably existing
witty impression to another factor which again
in itself has nothing to do with the nature of
the comparison. These are comparisons which
are strikingly grouped, often containing a com-
bination that sounds absurd, which comes inte
existence as a result of the comparison. Most
of Lichtenberg’s examples belong to this group.

“It is a pity that one cannot see the learned
bowels of the writers, in order to find out what
they have eaten." "The learned bowels” is a
confusing, really absurd attribute which is
made clear only by the comparison. How
would it be if the witty impression of this com-
parison should be referred entirely and fully to
the confusing character of their composition?
This would correspond to one of the means of
wit well known to us, namely, representation
through absurdity.

Lichtenberg has used the same comparison of
the imbibing of reading and educational ma-
terial with the imbibing of physical nourishment.

“ He thought highly of studying in his room

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 119

and was heartily in favor of learned stable
fodder.”

The same absurd or at least conspicuous attri-
butes, which as we are beginning to notice are
the real carriers of the wit, mark other com-
parisons of the same author.

“This is the weatherside of my moral con-
stitution, here I can stand almost any-
thing.”

“Every person has also his moral backside
which he does not show except under the stress
of necessity and which he covers as long as
possible with the pants of good-breeding.”

The “moral backside” is the peculiar attri-
bute which exists as the result of a comparison.
But this is followed by a continuation of the
comparison with a regular play on words
(“ necessity “) and a second, still more unusual
combination (“the pants of good-breeding ”),
which is possibly witty in itself; for the pants
become witty, as it were, because they are the
pants of good-breeding. Therefore it may not
take us by surprise if we get the impression of
a very witty comparison; we are beginning to
notice that we show a general tendency in our
estimation to extend a quality to the whole
“thing when it clings only to one part of it.
Besides, the * pants of good-breeding “ remind
us of a similar confusing verse of Heine.

120 ANALYSIS

“Until, at last, the buttons tore from the
pants of my patience.”

It is obvious that both of the last comparisons
possess a character which one cannot find in all
good, i.e., fitting, comparisons. One might say
that they are in a large manner “ debasing,” for
they place. a thing of high category, an abstrac-
tion (good-breeding, patience), side by side with
a thing of a very concrete nature of a very low
kind (pants). Whether this peculiarity has
something to do with wit we shall have to
consider in another connection. Let us attempt
to analyze another example in which the de-
grading character is exceptionally well defined.
In Nestroy's farce “ Einen Jux will er sich
machen,” the clerk, Weinberl, who resolves in
his imagination how he will ponder over his
youth when he has some day become a well-
established old merchant, says: “ When in the
course of confidential conversation the ice is
chopped up before the warehouse of memory;
when the portal of the storehouse of antiquity
is unlocked again; and when the mattings of
phantasy are stocked full with wares of yore.”
These are certainly comparisons of abstractions
with very common, concrete things, but the
witticism depends—exclusively or only par-
tially—upon the circumstance that a clerk
makes use of these comparisons which are taken

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 121

from the sphere of his daily occupation. But
to bring the abstract in relation to the common-
place with which he is otherwise filled is an act
of unification. Let us revert to Lichtenberg's
comparisors.

Peculiar Attributions

“The motives for our actions may be ar-
ranged like the thirty-two winds, and their
names may be classified in a similar way, e.g.,
Bread-bread-glory or Glory-glory-bread.”

As so often happens ‘in Lichtenberg's witti-
cisms, in this case, too, the impression of appro-
priateness, cleverness, and ingenuity is so
marked that our judgment of the character of
the witty element is thereby misled. .If some-
thing witty is intermingled in such an utterance
with the excellent sense, we probably are de-
luded into declaring the whole to be an excep-
tional joke. Moreover, I dare say that every-
thing that is really witty about it results from
the strangeness of ‘the peculiar combination
bread-bread-glory. Thus as far as wit is con-
cerned it is representation through absurdity.

The peculiar combination or absurd attribu-
tion can alone be represented as a product of a
comparison.

Lichtenberg says: “ 4 twice-sleepy woman—

122 ANALYSIS

a once-sleepy church pew.” Behind each one
there is a comparison with a bed; in both cases
there is besides the comparison also the tech-
nical factor of allusion. Once it is an allusion
to the soporific effect of sermons, and the second
time to the inexhaustible theme of sex.

Having found hitherto that a comparison as
often as it appears witty owes this impression
to its connection with one of the techniques of
wit known to us, there are nevertheless some
other examples which seem to point to the fact
that a comparison as such can also be witty.

This is Lichtenberg’s characteristic remark
about certain odes. “ They are in poetry what
Jacob Bohm’s immortal writings are in prose—
they are a kind of picnic in which the author
supplies the words, and the readers the mean-
ing.”

“When he philosophizes, he generally sheds
an agreeable moonlight over his topics, which is
in the main quite pleasant, but which does not
show any one subject clearly.”

Again, Heine’s description: “ Her face resem-
bled a kodex palimpsestus, where under the new
block-lettered text of a church father peek forth
the half-obliterated verses of an ancient Hel-
lenic erotic poet.”

Or, the continued comparison of a very de-
grading tendency, in the “ Bäder von Lucca.”

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 128

“The Catholic priest is more like a clerk
who is employed in a big business; the church,
the big house at the head of which is the Pope,
gives him a definite salary. He works lazily
like one who is not working on his own account,
he has many colleagues, and so easily remains
unnoticed in the big business enterprise. He is
concerned only in the credit of the house and
still more in its preservation, since he would be
deprived of his means of sustenance in case’
it went bankrupt. The Protestant clergyman,
on the other hand, is his own boss, and carries
on the religious businesses on his own account.
He has no wholesale trade like his Catholic
brother-tradesman, but deals merely at retail;
and since he himself must understand it, he
cannot be lazy. "He must praise his articles of
faith to the people and must disparage the
articles of his competitors. Like a true small
trader he stands in his retail store, full of envy
of the industry of all large houses, particularly
the large house in Rome which has so many.
thousand bookkeepers and packers on its pay-
roll, and which owns factories in all four cor-
ners of the world."

In the face of this, as in many other examples,
we can no longer dispute the fact that a com-
parison may in itself be witty, and that the
witty impression need not necessarily depend

124 ANALYSIS

on one of the known techniques of wit. But
we are entirely in the dark as to what deter-
mines the witty character of the comparison,
since it certainly does not cling to the similarity
as a form of expression of the thought, or to
the operation of the comparison. We can do
nothing but include comparison with the differ-
ent forms of “indirect representation” which
are at the disposal of the technique of wit, and
the problem, which confronted us more dis-
tinctly in the mechanism of comparison than
in the means of wit hitherto treated, must re-
main unsolved. There must surely be a special
reason why the decision whether something is a
witticism or not presents more difficulties in
cases of comparison than in other forms of ex-
pression.

This gap in our understanding, however, of-
fers no ground for complaint that our first in-
vestigation has been unsuccessful. Considering
the intimate connection which we had to be pre-
pared to ascribe to the different types of wit,
it would have been imprudent to expect that
we could fully explain this aspect of the prob-
lem before we had cast a glance over the others.
We shall have to take up this problem at
another place.

THE TECHNIQUE OF WIT 125

Review of the Techniques of Wit

Are we sure that none of the possible tech-
niques of wit has escaped our investigation?
Not exactly; but by a continued examination
of new material, we can convince ourselves that
we have become acquainted with the most nu-
merous and most important technical means of
wit-work—at least with as much as is necessary
for formulating a judgment about the nature
of this psychic process. At present no such
judgment exists; on the other hand, we have
come into possession of important indications,
from the direction of which we may expect a
further explanation of the problem. The inter-
esting processes of condensation with —
tive formation, which we have ri
the nucleus of the technique of word-wit, -
rected our attention to the dream-formation in
whose mechanism the identical psychic processes
were discovered. Thither also we are direc
by the technique of the thought-wit, namely dis-
placement, faulty thinking, absurdity, indirect |
expression, and representation through the op- |
posite—each and all are also found in the tech- |
nique of dreams. The dream is indebted to“
displacement for its strange appearance, which
hinders us from recognizing in it the continua-
tion of our waking thoughts; the dream’s use

126 ANALYSIS

of absurdity and contradiction has cost it the
dignity of a psychic product, and has misled the
authors to assume that the determinants of
dream-formation are: collapse of mental activ-
ity, cessation of criticism, morality, and logic.
Representation through the opposite is so com-
mon in dreams that even the popular but en-
tirely misleading books on dream interpreta-
tion usually put it to good account. Indirect
expression, the substitution for the dream-
thought by an allusion, by a trifle or by a
symbolism analogous’ to comparison, is just ex-
actly what distinguishes the manner of expres-
sion of the dream from: our waking thoughts."
Such a far-reaching agreement as found be-
tween the means of wit-work and those of
dream-work can scarcely be accidental. To
show those agreements in detail and to trace
their motivations will be one of our future tasks.

* Cf. my Interpretation of Dreams, Chap. VI, The Dream Work,

translated by A. A. Brill, The Macmillan Co., New York, and
Allen & Unwin, London.