| All forms of humor require some form of contradiction, irony or unique interpretation that leads to suspense or surprise. Often this will be in the form of contrasting one thing against other things or against one's expectations. Several figures of speech and other language techniques are used to develop a contrast or contradiction, such as irony, sarcasm, satire, paraprosdokian, ambiguity, hyperbole and onomatopoeia.
In most cases humor appeals to one's emotions, making one feel happy and laugh as a result. Although humor can be based around a dark and unpleasant reality, such as death, it is essentially fictional in nature. Because of this, one can laugh at something that may be sad or depressing. Humor may be presented in a variety of formats, such as similes, methaphors and changes in perspective. The time and situation also influences how humorous something might be. |