The Language of Jokes: Analyzing Verbal PlayIn this highly readable and thought-provoking book, Delia Chiaro explores the pragmatics of word play, using frameworks normally adopted in descriptive linguistics. Using examples from personally recorded conversations, she examines the structure of jokes, quips, riddles and asides. Chiaro explores degrees of conformity to and deviation from established conventions; the `tellability' of jokes, and the interpretative role of the listener; the creative use of puns, word play and discourse. The emphasis in her analysis is on sociocultural contexts for the production and reception of jokes, and she examines the extent to which jokes are both universal in their appeal, and specific to a particular culture. |
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ambiguity amusing answer audience British British Rail Caber Tossing cat drink Cauliflower children’s clerihew clever comic considered contain conversation course create culture descriptive linguistics English evaluation example exploited fact Farmer Brown’s garden Foot Foot-Foot Foot-Foot-Foot formula frame funny Giovanni Bianchi Goon Show graffiti graffitist graphology Green Shield stamps Hockett homophony humorous discourse Initiator interaction invariant core involved Irish joke Irishman Italian joke types joke-capping session joker knock knock knowledge laugh laughter lexical literary Malaprop meaning Mummy narrator normally occur Participant poetic poetry polysemous problems prose punch punchline puns question quip rabbits reader recipient recipient’s recited recognize reference referential rejoinder rhyme riddle seen sender sexual simply situation situation comedies slip slogan Smirnoff sociocultural someone speaker story target language target version tell a joke there’s traditional translation underdog utterance verbal Walter Nash What’s the difference Who’s witty word play