wit

=Wit in Lit= Definition and examples by K. Lux illustrated by J. Crosson

Definition:
In modern usage, wit is intellectually amusing language that suprises and delights. A witty statement is humurous, while suggesting the speaker's verbal power in creating ingenious and perceptive remarks. Wit usually uses terse language that makes a pointed statement. Historically, wit originally meant basic understanding. Its meaning evolved to include speed of understanding, and finally (in the early seventeenth century), it gfrew to mean quick perception including perceptive fancy.

Examples:
A good metaphor is something even the police should keep an eye on. G. C. Lichtenberg

"The urge to write poetry is like having an itch. When the itch becomes annoying enough, you scratch it." Robert Penn Warren

Literature is the question minus the answer. Roland Barthes

Much of writing might be described as mental pregnancy with successive difficult deliveries. "With 60 staring me in the face, I have developed inflammation of the sentence structure and a definite hardening of the paragraphs." James Thurber