Humour: Offensively yours

Reading an online argument recently, I chanced upon a choicest slur. Someone called an ideological adversary a “giant bottle of expired Gelusil”. It had a strange effect on me. What a perfectly beautiful insult, I thought, once the spontaneous laughter had subsided. Crushing without being abusive, humiliating without getting personal. In a sudden burst of warmth and nostalgia, it made me think of the many entertaining publicly delivered insults I remember. For to openly criticise someone – especially those in positions of power or importance – takes courage. And to do it with wit makes the sledge a relic to be preserved.