ABSTRACT
The term word play conjures up an array of conceits ranging from puns and spoonerisms to wisecracks and funny stories. Word play is, in fact, inseparably linked to humour which in turn is linked to laughter; so in a book which sets out to explore such a subject, it is hard to resist not to begin by pointing out the obvious analogy which exists between language and laughter, the fact that both are human universals.
In all its many-splendoured varieties, humour can be simply defined as a type of stimulation that tends to elicit the laughter reflex. Spontaneous laughter is a motor reflex produced by the coordinated contraction of 15 facial muscles in a stereotyped pattern and accompanied by altered breathing. Electrical stimulation of the main lifting muscle of the upper lip, the zygomatic major, with currents of varying intensity produces facial expressions ranging from the faint smile through the broad grin to the contortions typical of explosive laughter.
(Koestler, 1974)