Humor Series 11: Humor Skills-Reversing Word Order

Hello, I'm Wang Gonghou. This is a humorous series. It's completely free and purely shared. I'll make a summary myself.

Today I'm going to talk about a technique of humor-reversing word order.

Word order means the order in which we use words when we are talking.

Under normal circumstances, we have to speak in order to make clear what we want to express. However, in some cases, disrupting and reversing the word order will enhance the effect of expression, which often leads to unexpected results.

In life, there are many sentences with changed word order. For example, "Hunan people are not afraid of spicy food, Jiangxi people are not afraid of spicy food, and Sichuan people are not afraid of spicy food".

skillfully changing the order of the words "no", "afraid" and "spicy" not only accurately summarizes the characteristics of people eating Chili in the three provinces, but also is intriguing and interesting.

For another example, we can often see the school slogan: "All for children, all for children, all for children".

This sentence only reorganizes the sentence, which clarifies the connotation of education and is meaningful.

There are various forms of word order inversion, such as language inversion, role inversion, logic inversion and so on.

one language inversion: it is to disrupt the order of words in a sentence and form a new, even opposite, but still legal sentence.

The most classic example is the incident of repeated defeats and wars. Zeng Guofan fought the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, losing more and winning less, and almost jumped into the river several times in anger.

during the review of Shanghai Shu, there was a saying that "I have been defeated repeatedly and asked for punishment", and an aide suggested that he should change it to defeat repeatedly.

After reading it, the emperor thought that although he was incompetent, his courage and loyalty were commendable, and he praised him instead.

This change has turned a vulnerable loser into an indomitable "hero", and his image has changed immediately.

One thing to note is that it is best to reverse the word order to achieve humorous effect.

Just like "all for children, all for children, all for children", the three sentences all mean education, so there is no humorous effect.

For example, the normal word order is: I was touched by a pervert on the bus today. This is normal.

If the word order is reversed: I met a pervert on the bus today. This is very unexpected, and the absurd image comes out immediately.

Many common words can be transformed into humorous sentences by reversing the word order. For example, if "a big stone breaks the chest" is changed to "a big stone breaks the chest", the scene will immediately become a lot bloody.

For example, your girlfriend said "I want to hit your big chest with a small fist" and you can change it to "You hit my small chest with your big fist". The image of ridicule came out.

another example: others look good when they smile, but you are different. You do look funny. As soon as this sentence comes out, you will become very beaten.

two-role inversion: it is to change the roles of both sides by reversing the word order, thus forming a new sentence.

Let's give an example to help you understand that Picasso was holding an art exhibition in Paris when Hitler's army captured it. There is a painting called guernica, which depicts a fishing village razed to the ground by the German army.

A Gestapo leader looked at this abstract painting respectfully for a long time and asked in confusion, "Is this your masterpiece?" Picasso said, "No, this is your masterpiece."

Picasso changed the roles of both sides here. My Picasso only painted a picture of ruins, but it was you Nazis who really bombed the fishing village into ruins.

Goethe, a German poet, met an enemy in a narrow way. The man said with a straight face, "I have never been in the habit of making way for stupid pigs."

Goethe flashed his body and said, "I have!" "

From these two stories, it can be seen that role inversion is especially suitable for retorting and negatively quoting the other person's words, so as to achieve the purpose of dealing with a man as he deals with you.

the inversion of roles does not necessarily need to be the inversion of people, but also the inversion of people and things.

For example, I give sunglasses to girls and praise them. They look good. The girl said, "My face looks good in any sunglasses."

I can say, "My sunglasses look good on any face." Here is the face and sunglasses upside down.

The girl said, "I don't like that bar." I can say, "Well, that bar doesn't like you either." Here is the bar and the people upside down.

three logical inversions: by reversing word order, the logical relationship of things is reversed, putting the cart before the horse and turning the cart into the horse.

to explain this concept, we must tell the story of Yan Zi's making Chu.

At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Yan Zi, a doctor from the State of Qi, was sent to the State of Chu. The King of Chu wanted to humiliate him. Seeing that he was short, he let him enter the gate through the dog hole.

Yan Zi definitely won't go in, so he said, "Only people who are sent to the dog country can go in through the dog hole. If your Chu State is a dog country, I will go in.". The Chu people naturally cannot admit that it is a dog country.

Yan Zi, this is the logic of reversing the rules. Yes, I can enter through the dog hole, but you have to admit that you are a dog country first, or you won't enter.

After meeting the King of Chu, the King of Chu said: Is there no one in Qi, and you are so short and ugly that you are sent to my country?

Yan Zi said: I have a lot of talents in Chu, but we have to see how the other side is. A wise person will go to a wise country, and an incompetent person like me can only go to Chu.

Yan Zi here is the logic of reversing his identity. Yes, I am short and ugly, but it is enough for an ordinary country like you to send people like me.

During the banquet, the King of Chu let a criminal pass by on purpose. The King of Chu pretended to ask who this was, and the ministers replied: He was from the State of Qi and committed theft. The king of Chu made things difficult for Yan Zi and asked: Are all people in Qi good at stealing?

Yan Zi said: People don't steal in Qi State, but steal abroad. Is it because the soil and water of Chu State are good at making people thieves?

Yan Zi reversed the logic of cause and effect here. However, I believe this thief is from Qi, but it was only because he was led astray by your State of Chu that he became a thief.

From this story, I believe everyone can see that this routine is especially suitable for those who are difficult for you. Usually we can also make fun of others through this trick.

For example, if a friend says that he fell while wearing slippers today, you can say: Are the slippers all right?

For example, when walking on the street with someone, you give her a hand and say, Be careful, don't crash someone's car, we can't afford to pay for it.

when eating with friends, you can say: eat less Chili, which is not good for Chili.

All these inverted logics can easily create a sense of surprise and a humorous effect.

Although word order changes only adjust the order of sentences, they can generate endless interest. As long as we understand the characteristics and functions of word order change, we can use it properly in real life to enhance the expression effect of language.