Witzelsucht, a German term often translated as joke addiction, refers to an uncontrollable urge to make puns or tell bad jokes, but not in the playful way pun lovers may hope. In medical use, it describes a rare and serious neurological condition involving frontal-lobe dysfunction, sometimes after a stroke, injury, or tumor. A sudden, out-of-character flood of jokes can be a warning sign, especially when the person can’t suppress the jokes or respond appropriately to other people’s humor. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of ““Witzelsucht” Is a Serious Compulsion to Make Puns and Bad Jokes”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is March calling from Stagecoach, Nevada.
Very cool. Well, what’s on your mind today?
Actually, I was listening to Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me a couple of weeks ago, like I usually do, and they were talking about a word in German, and they swore it was true, and I just wanted to find out if it is true.
The word is Witzelsoop.
Now, I’m not quite sure how to spell it, but probably be W-I-T-Z-E-L. And after the S, I’m kind of lost. I’m not sure how to spell it. But anyway, it’s a person that has the habit of constantly making puns. And I’m really interested in puns. I always have been. In fact, I told people Bennett Surf was my patron saint.
Okay.
So the word is Witzelsucht.
Witzelsucht.
Yeah, Marge, it is a word, and it’s W-I-T-Z-E-L-S-U-C-H-T, Witzelsucht. Peter Segal, we have your back.
All right.
Yes.
Well, I’m only half German, so I only got half of it, right?
That’s how it works.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And actually, the thing about this word is that people get all excited when they hear that this word exists, and they think, oh, this is for people who aren’t pun control advocates. Ha, ha, ha. But actually, it refers to a very serious problem with brain dysfunction in the frontal lobe. It’s actually a medical condition, and you don’t hear much about it because it’s pretty rare, but neurologists see folks with Witzelzucht a few times a year. Some of them have reported that. And it has to do with a problem in your frontal lobe. And you can’t stop making puns or you can’t stop making bad jokes. And you can’t respond to the jokes of others. I mean, it’s really sort of a perception problem.
Yeah, one of the medical dictionaries that I read said something about they’re unable to suppress unacceptable responses, which to me describes most puns as an unacceptable response.
Yeah, and the term itself, Witzelzucht, might be translated as joke addiction or something. And, I mean, it’s a serious problem if, say, you’re married to somebody who wakes you up every hour on the hour to tell you a bad joke.
Oh, no.
I mean, that actually happens. How long would that marriage last? That’s terrible. I mean, seriously, doctors say that if you have somebody in your family who suddenly starts making a whole lot of jokes, like suddenly, like it’s not their ordinary kind of behavior. So something going on with the frontal lobe.
Yeah, maybe a stroke or an injury or a tumor. The behavior governor, right? The frontal lobe. The right side, yeah.
Okay.
Yes.
Well, that’s really interesting.
Yeah, I had no idea it was a medical condition. I just figured it was something that they called people that, you know, annoy the heck out of you with dumb jokes. You know, I mean, I have a friend like that too.
Oh, you’re calling for a friend, as they say.
Is that right?
Yeah.
No, actually, I’m not.
No, it’s true. It’s just he has terrible jokes. But he can control himself when he’s trying to impress somebody. It’s only when he’s around his close friends that he does that, just to annoy him.
Yeah, yeah.
I can’t tell you, Marge, the number of puns that I repress. It takes a lot of energy to be me.
Marge, thank you so much for your call and telling us everything. All right? We really appreciate it.
Okay.
Thank you so much.
Cheers.
Keep up the good work.
All right.
Thank you so much.
That’s really cool.
Thank you, Marge.
Take care.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
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