Unconscious Humor

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 52, 26 December 1907, Page 22

Unconscious Humor

There is a charm in unconscious humor ; likewise j in the unstudied wisdom and the unintended sarcasm that sometimes drop from the lips or pens of children. In the Anderson's Bay school (Dunedin) the question of comparative ' respectability •' arose, and the question, was asked : ' Which is the more respectable, a milliner or a general servant ? ' One answer ran as follows : ' A general ; because she does not put on style when < she can't afford it. Another query ran: 'Which is the more respectable, a minister or a roadman ? ' With unstudied double-barrelled sarcasm, one youngster wrote: ' A roadman ; because he has to gain an honest living, and work hard for it. We may, however, be permit- ~ ted a remark on the unfortunate and misleading character of. questions couched in the forms quoted above. Applied to persons, the word ' respectable ' has three different classes of meanings. We quote them , from vol. vi, part i, of the great ' Encyclopaedic Dictionary ' Op. 116) : '1. Worthy of respect or esteem ; deserving of being respected. '2. Having an honest, honorable, or good reputation ; of good repute . '3. Belonging to a fairly good position in society; fairly well to do. Now, in the two. first classes of meanings of the word, a ' general ' may be as ' respectable '- as a milliner, a milliner as a ' general ', a roadman as a milliner, a ' ', or a minister, and each, as any of the olhers. Moreover, in the third and derived meaning of the term,

a ' general ' .may be as ' well to do ' as a mill-men or a minister or a roadman — or better than any of them. And so, too, of the rest. The relative goodness of their ' position in society ' may also, very obviously, be subject to variation, in circumstances .which each, reader can readily imagine for himself. - We fail to see what useful edwcationa.l purpose is .served by questions couched in such ambiguous form. The evident emphasis on one , part of a derived meaning is better calculated to confuse or mislead than to instruct. ' The attempt to ' answer ' each such question would involve, not a sentence, ' but ah essay. " " And even then the question ' would . not be answered." - -