# The most literate witticism I have ever read **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 2, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897 "2005-02-02T01:05:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/1 "2005-02-02T01:05:46Z")
I have just read the most literate\* witticism I have ever seen. I’m not exaggerating; I try to avoid that kind of thing. It is from Terry Pratchett’s Thief of Time. Wen stepped out of the cave where he had recieved enlightenment and into the dawning light of the first day of the rest of his life. He stared at the rising sun for some time, because he had never seen it before. Get it? No? Read it again. Still not getting it? Look at it again, think about it. Still clueless? Plato. If you still don’t get it read a philosophy book. I told you this is literate. \*I might not be using literate quite correctly. I mean that you have to be literate to get it. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/2 "2005-02-02T01:10:10Z")
This should be in Cafe Society shouldn’t it? Whoops. Sorry. Better move it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/3 "2005-02-02T01:14:09Z")
Plato, right? ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/4 "2005-02-02T01:15:43Z")
I see the reference, but I’m not sure I see the ‘witticism’ aspect. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/5 "2005-02-02T01:15:44Z")
Bah. Should’ve looked at the spoiler. Well, I haven’t really spoiled anything. But yeah. Probably would’ve passed it right over had I been reading the book myself. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/6 "2005-02-02T01:20:19Z")
> [@LaurAnge](#): > > I see the reference, but I’m not sure I see the ‘witticism’ aspect. It’s witty becaue Wen is literally coming out of Plato’s cave, when Plato was only speaking metaphorically. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/7 "2005-02-02T17:51:58Z")
Yeah, well, Plato tectonics is a little over my head. I know, it’s my own fault. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/8 "2005-02-02T20:21:56Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Yeah, well, Plato tectonics is a little over my head. I know, it’s my own fault. Funny, they’re usually underfoot. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/9 "2005-02-02T20:24:41Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Yeah, well, Plato tectonics is a little over my head. I know, it’s my own fault. If it were over your head, wouldn’t that mean you understood it? ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/10 "2005-02-02T20:27:07Z")
> [@Ilsa\_Lund](#): > > If it were over your head, wouldn’t that mean you understood it? No, it means you were standing under it. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/11 "2005-02-02T21:09:40Z")
It should be funny right? ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/12 "2005-02-02T21:12:40Z")
> [@Sean Factotum](#): > > No, it means you were standing under it. Who’s whooshing who? ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/13 "2005-02-02T21:20:15Z")
You need to get out more. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/14 "2005-02-02T21:34:43Z")
That’s not a witticism, it’s a literary allusion. A witticism would be something along the lines of “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/15 "2005-02-02T22:03:39Z")
:: Reads “witticism.” :: :: Scratches head :: :: Reads spoiler :: … … :smack: ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/16 "2005-02-03T01:23:38Z")
> [@Strinka](#): > > \*I might not be using literate quite correctly. I mean that you have to be literate to get it. Actually, i think the adjective you’re looking for is “literary,” oh literate one. There are plenty of literate people who have never read Plato. Although i guess it is true that you would have to be literate to get it—or at least to read it. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/17 "2005-02-03T06:21:26Z")
**Witticism** sometimes gets mistaken for **wittitis.** If a painful redness makes you laugh, where’s the harm? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/18 "2005-02-03T06:58:04Z")
What gobear said. It’s not really a “witticism” in the usual sense . ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/19 "2005-02-03T12:33:38Z")
witticism = oral literary = written. Anyway do you know Martin Amis\* won a prize for the title most certain to doom a book to failure? The title: _My Struggle_. Joyce also has a man condemn his Irish protestant neighbour as the man who uses a mechanical device to impede the course of nature. - or some English Gent ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-literate-witticism-i-have-ever-read/287897/20 "2005-02-03T12:39:09Z")
:smack: “He employs a mechanical device to frustrate the sacred ends of nature” _Ulysses_