ABSTRACT
I am not entirely alone in my explorations. I have an illustrious predecessor in the person of Freud, in his book on jokes. The urge to classify and explain cannot entirely conceal the pleasure he takes in telling Jewish jokes, and in adding one more example to an already rich corpus, in giving free rein to the mild anarchism of playing with language. And a new language-game it is, which I shall practise after him: being naughty with language, which means both disruptive and childish. By exploring aspects of language that do not contribute to information, communication, and reference, one lets down the (philosophical) side, one seems to abandon the (de)ontological care for truth. And one appears to go back to the inane babblings of late infancy and early childhood. But of course this is exactly what Freud is saying. Joking implies a return to infantile playing with language and, conversely, this infantile urge, far from being definitively overcome in the adult, constantly returns. The rag-bag linguist listens for signs of protracted or second childhood in ordinary speakers; he is - to revive the most hoary of puns - in his anecdotage. The pun itself, of course, is an excellent instance of the remainder at work.
