An Essay towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit, Humour, Railery, Satire, and Ridicule (1744)

The essay offers systematic definitions and distinctions among wit, humour, raillery, satire, ridicule, and related faculties, arguing for precise semantic boundaries and explaining why humour often pleases more than wit. It analyzes how witty effects arise from the unexpected but illuminating juxtaposition of subjects, contrasts wit with mere vivacity, and defines the humourist. Examples and close readings of familiar comic types illustrate the categories. Organized as a polemical and analytical treatise, it combines anecdotes and theoretical argument to propose fixed standards for evaluating comic expression.