The Non-Anatomy of Humour

Elwyn Brooks White, the acclaimed American writer of such books as Charlotte’s Web, had this to say about humour: “Humour can be dissected as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind.”  Humour is weapon in rhetoric, utilised as a means to bring the audience to our side, to disarm hostilities, to diminish a threat, or even as a means to target someone or something.