Recourse to Language Humour as an Added Incentive to Studying Contrastive Grammar and Idioms: a Modest Proposal

2009

The present contribution submits to the reader a 'modest proposal' suggesting how language humour can be resorted to in an attempt to improve vocabulary and grammar skills of students taking comparative language courses (English vs. German vs. Romanian). Students ¿ and reader alike ¿ catch a first glimpse of linguicomedy in the second section which exposes the comicality of a prima facie 'humour-proof' sentence like I only drink whisky on the rocks. Sections Three and Four discuss briefly the theory advanced by Coseriu on linguistic norms and my own view on comic effects generated by the flouting of the aforesaid norms, with appropriate examples adduced in corroboration of the theory submit…