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Posted By: CarlAdler Wry or Dry "sense of humor" - redux - 02/11/08 03:02 PM
Is "Wry sense of humor" the same as "Dry sense of Humor" and in any case what is it (or are they)?

The first I can find nothing on topic. People generally think the second is a form of "sarcasm", but that does not seem right to me.
Carl

I posted this question in the "fun with Words" forum and should have posted it here.

I did receive some excellent and humerous answers there and post it here just to correct my error.

Any additional answers will be welcome and great thanks to all those who have already helped.
Carl
Posted By: dalehileman Re: Wry or Dry "sense of humor" - redux - 02/11/08 03:51 PM
Carl Welcome!!!! That's a good question while by the def alone it would seem they mean the same

http://onelook.com/?w=wry&ls=a

http://onelook.com/?w=dry&ls=a

With the former, 88K Ghits, with the latter 161K
Posted By: zmjezhd Re: aestival & autumnal - 02/11/08 04:07 PM
I wonder if it doesn't have something to do with Avicenna's binary oppositions in relation to Galen's four temperaments (or humors): hot, cold, wet, moist. Choleric was dry and hot, and melancholic was dry and cold. (A note to those driven mad by the modern use of a word like decimate, seem meekly content with the change of (etymological) meaning of humor from liquidity to tempermentality.)
Posted By: dalehileman Re: aestival & autumnal - 02/11/08 04:53 PM
tsu as a former prescriptivist I can well concur about "decimate." Once upon a time it had a prefectly clear and specific meaning as reduced by a tenth, but then I suppose came to mean weakened, before its present usage as to obliterate
Posted By: BranShea Re: aestival & autumnal - 02/11/08 06:27 PM
Double threads, double posts.

Between the definitional and the practical appraoch:

Googling for 'dry' jokes and for 'wry' jokes shows a distinction between 'dry', the dummy lame ones and 'wry', the more intelligent ironic and sarcastic ones.
Posted By: Jackie Re: aestival & autumnal - 02/12/08 02:55 AM
Double threads, double posts. Well, you all can be sure I won't try to delete one of these!
Posted By: Zed Re: aestival & autumnal - 02/12/08 06:36 AM
I assumed that wry jokes were associated with other definition of wry - twisted or warped. Dry humour I had always associated with an intellectual rather than slapstick humour. But then I haven't googled for examples.
Posted By: AnnaStrophic Re: aestival & autumnal - 02/12/08 01:53 PM
I agree with Zed. Even if she does spell the last letter of the alphabet wrong.
Posted By: BranShea Re: lame and dry - 02/12/08 01:59 PM
Yes, me too but...
Posted By: belMarduk Re: aestival & autumnal - 02/13/08 12:15 AM
Originally Posted By: AnnaStrophic
I agree with Zed. Even if she does spell the last letter of the alphabet wrong.


Waddya mean? Looks perfectly fine to me.
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