ABSTRACT
In this chapter I discuss my interest in the topic of jokes and what they tell us about the linguistic mind, and present the outline of my central claims. I detail the theoretical concerns and approach of this investigation and show how it makes a contribution to the study of Linguistics and Cognitive Science. I explain why the book is crucially about linguistics and not about humor, per se. In so doing, as a contrast, and for interested readers, I provide a very brief outline of some of the work in Humor Studies.
