Everyday Canvas

Wit versus Vulgarity

Prompt: “Vulgarity is no substitute for wit.” Maggie Smith in Downton Abbey
How do you think vulgarity and wit affect speech?

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Some vulgar stuff delivered by a competent stand-up comic can be witty; however, the same idea can be presented without being vulgar, which means that the comedian has to work harder and think deeper. It is easier to make people laugh by shocking them.

I think what is considered vulgar and what is not changes from time to time and from culture to culture. For example, a deeply religious person may believe that uttering the Lord’s name in vain to be vulgar and is very much offended by it. For another person, asking him or her personal questions may sound vulgar. Then, yet another person concentrates on specific words as being vulgar. Like beauty, therefore, vulgarity can also be in the eyes of the beholder.

Wit, on the other hand, is universal as intelligent humor. No wonder that in its archaic form, wit means to know or come to know, in other words to learn; with that in mind, who among us doesn’t appreciate knowledge? To show wit, a person has to understand a subject or a situation in its totality.

We consider Mark Twain’s wit to be universal and timeless because he knows and understands human nature very well. He also pays attention to the usage as far as words go, and I certainly agree with him when he says: ““The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”

Then, in speech or writing, depending upon what is considered vulgar and what is not, why not use the right word, instead of using the shocking effect even if the shocking effect may have its significance in rare situations?