ABSTRACT
The chapter begins with a discussion of the relationship between humour and language. It then goes on to chart how both humour and populism form metacommunication. Both populist and anti-populist ridicule and humour contain similarities and are both examples of metalanguage. Through this observation, the chapter explains some of the detail of how particular linguistic techniques function as rhetorical devices inside of Brexit discourse. First, neologisms in Brexit discourse and its humour are discussed, before moving to a discussion of the importance of tautology in Brexit discourse. These tendencies create ambiguity, are contested and fix ambiguity. The chapter discusses jokes about Brexit and the future through a discussion of the use of the trope of hyperbole and the image of the apocalypse. Finally, jokes about Brexit and the past are examined through the language of Brexit nostalgia.
