The Humorous Manifold

I've spent many years on the Internet In that time I've come to realise that a lot of people don't distinguish between terms which are within the same area but otherwise completely different. These include pairs such as 'cynical' and 'skeptical', 'sardonic' and 'ironic', 'sarcastic' and 'witty'.

It turns out that the great Fowler, in the 1926 edition of his 'Modern English Usage', managed to produce a table which will be of great help to many of these people. I like this table because it classifies forms of humour by motive/aim, province, method/means and audience.

For example, he shows that cynicism has the motive/aim of self-justification in the province of morality, using the method/means of exposure of nakedness (as in the story of the Emperor's new clothes), with the intended audience being the respectable (or those who think they are).

On the other hand, he gives satire as having the motive/aim of amendment in the province of morals/manners, by the method/means of accentuation, with the intended audience being the self-satisfied.

All this appeals to my love of lists and interesting relationships. A lister by nature, a linker by trade, that's who I am.