Playing with words...its Jewish forms and roots

#### From Jewish humor to riddles: Robert Sedlaczyk takes a closer look at linguistic fun * ##### Language as joke material! Wordplay is one of the smartest examples in the diverse world of jokes. Many classic wordplay jokes have all the makings of a good joke, but they add another element to them: they derive their humor not only from language, but from language itself. We laugh and smile at misunderstandings, whether intentional or unintentional, at unexpected double meanings of words, at literal interpretation of metaphors, at sudden shifts in emphasis, at strange word combinations, and much more. Wordplay jokes are particularly common in jokes about blondes, jokes about the Burgenlanders, and jokes about Count Bobby, Count Mikosch, and Mrs. Pollack von Barnig. The fool often meets the clever in jokes - as well as in cabaret shows - but as Carl Farkas once said, sometimes the opposite is true. ##### Another masterpiece from the Austrian language expert and lexicographer Robert Sedlacek Using more than 500 examples, Sedlacek analyzes the workings of wordplay and traces its development through the ages: from the one-man shows of the 1950s and 1960s, through the great cabaret artists of the interwar period, and the slang-filled play "Die Klabriaspartie," all the way to the end of the 19th century, when jokes with strong endings emerged from tales And jokes and proverbs - jokes that still make us laugh today. In his search for the roots of wordplay, Sedlacek pays special attention to Jewish humor. He analyzes modern vulgar jokes and timeless Jewish jokes, providing examples from modern joke collections and old cabaret programmes. This first comprehensive book on wordplay is both entertaining and instructive.