Is sarcasm the lowest form of wit? If not, what is? Jason Frank, Cumbria
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Readers reply
I’ve always wondered why only the first half of the quote by Oscar Wilde is being discussed. The full quote is: “Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but the highest form of intelligence.” Ffesterr
Sarcasm is quite complex and can facilitate exceptional sophistication in humour. I think the lowest form of wit is that thing where you repeat the last thing a person said back to them. For example: “The weather looks a bit wet and windy.” “You look a bit wet and windy.” Porthos
Miners’ jokes: they’re the pits. bricklayersoption
I distanced myself from sarcasm when I realised those I used it with had no idea I was being sarcastic. So, as with the adage that if you have to explain a joke, it isn’t a joke; if you have to explain you are being sarcastic, then it isn’t wit. dallastxhollywood
Not all puns, but the sort of awful puns people come up with when any semblance of cleverness or double meaning is gone from the wordplay and it’s just an awkward forcing of words that barely sound right. Say, if people were trying to pun about cheese and someone said: “That would be a gouda time.” Jebedee
Dunno – I thought that was edam good joke. PeteTheBeat
A man went into a baker’s shop and asked: “Do you have any buns?” The baker replied: “We no longer bake buns.” “Why ever not?” asked the man. The baker replied: “Because the bun is the lowest form of wheat.” Scotford Lawrence
