English wit
From Mr Roger Vellacott Sir: Many educated Englishmen have long believed that, as long as something is both
LETTERS
clever and funny, it is a good thing; no other criteria, such as whether it is kind, or cruel, or in bad taste, or destructive, need be applied. In a rather less spectacular way than Toby Young (No laughing matter', 13 May) I, too, have been dismayed to discov- er that this strange feature of our culture is not shared by the rest of the world.
Much of our so-called wit involves cruelty. It is difficult to see how the intention behind Toby Young's speech was anything other than to excel in a peculiarly English game in which goodwill and earnestness are against the rules, and in which it is unac- ceptable to admit that feelings are being hurt. Yet a joke is never just a joke.
In England the most often quoted bons mots are crushing put-downs. The pleasure we all derive from such verbal brilliance is extremely difficult to renounce, but it must be worth trying. Can't we make it unfash- ionable somehow?
Roger Vellacott
RogerVellacon@aol.com
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