Interest Haiku #4: Wit
Thursday, October 2nd, 2003 03:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flwydInterest Haiku #4: Wit
Biting wit draws blood
Battle leaves others confused
Pen sharper than sword
I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person.
The only thing worse than being witty is not being witty. -- Monty Python's Oscar Wilde sketch
Stranger: Are you related to this sign?
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flwyd: Yes. This sign is my cousin.
mlechan: His uncle was a marquis.
Among the great many flaws of contemporary American television is the lack of intellectual effort in dialog. Even ignoring the "reality" television trend, most contemporary American television comedy and drama relies on situation to deliver humor and interest. The words spoken by the characters are not themselves particularly stimulating, impressive, or quotable. Of course, this might be because the intellectual snobs who get off on witty dialog don't spend much time watching TV. There are of course exceptions. Frasier is a stellar example, and The Simpsons often delivers witty gems, but the sharp connoisseur is left to British imports on PBS.
I'm not sure why, butmlechan's presence seems to bring out my witty bone. I can coin more witty phrases in a half-hour discussion with her than I can in the rest of the month. Maybe it's because we both think similarly so the effort isn't lost, but I'd have much more fun if I could just wittily amuse myself from time to time. Evidence of our similar thought patterns? Both of our antepenultimate interests are wordplay. Both of our plusantepenultimate interests are wit. You can follow the progress of her Interest Haiku in the comments to mine.
A few of my favorite witty sayings are found in my signature quotes file.
Biting wit draws blood
Battle leaves others confused
Pen sharper than sword
I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person.
The only thing worse than being witty is not being witty. -- Monty Python's Oscar Wilde sketch
Stranger: Are you related to this sign?
flwyd: Yes. This sign is my cousin.mlechan: His uncle was a marquis.Among the great many flaws of contemporary American television is the lack of intellectual effort in dialog. Even ignoring the "reality" television trend, most contemporary American television comedy and drama relies on situation to deliver humor and interest. The words spoken by the characters are not themselves particularly stimulating, impressive, or quotable. Of course, this might be because the intellectual snobs who get off on witty dialog don't spend much time watching TV. There are of course exceptions. Frasier is a stellar example, and The Simpsons often delivers witty gems, but the sharp connoisseur is left to British imports on PBS.
I'm not sure why, but
mlechan's presence seems to bring out my witty bone. I can coin more witty phrases in a half-hour discussion with her than I can in the rest of the month. Maybe it's because we both think similarly so the effort isn't lost, but I'd have much more fun if I could just wittily amuse myself from time to time. Evidence of our similar thought patterns? Both of our antepenultimate interests are wordplay. Both of our plusantepenultimate interests are wit. You can follow the progress of her Interest Haiku in the comments to mine.A few of my favorite witty sayings are found in my signature quotes file.
