[Daphne – You’ve understood the opposite of what I meant, Mario. I am from the port area, which is why the sayings coined and used in rural areas like Zurrieq, using agricultural terminology, are alien to me. And probably, the sayings of the port area are alien to people from Zurrieq, too.]

[Daphne – No, I don’t know how the saying goes because I come from an urban family background. The ‘sayings’ of the port area are different to those of rural culture. I’ve noticed this with nouns and verbs, too.]

[Daphne – Your last remark is a complete non sequitur. Besides, most of the men in my family go bald in their 20s, and they don’t wear wigs.]

[Daphne – A St Aloysius boy whose mother went to St Dorothy’s, as I did, and who probably shares my suspicion for the same reason.]

[Daphne – Eventually, I might resolve one of the big mysteries of my universe: why do intolerant people spell tolerance and all its derivatives with two ls? I repeat: I do not think of homosexual people as ‘them’, and I do not think in terms of toleration when it comes to homosexuals. It is actually people who think, talk and write like you who test the limits of my tolerance and who I regard as impossibly different, too different to understand, and from an exotic culture. Some time back you were defending Muzew classes and how important they are for children. I’m sorry, but if you are the result, those classes have failed.]

Is it not possible for men to have wit and a simultaneous sense of humour?

Nonetheless, I agree that absence of wit cannot be desirable.

However, what parameters are responsible for the perception of wit in any person?

The question can also be put in following way:

how can one distinguish between a simple sense of humour and a more sophisticated wit?

[Daphne – Hi Leo. I specified ‘wit’ rather than ‘sense of humour’ because lots of people seem to think that Fantozzi and Benny Hill are funny, but that doesn’t make them intelligent. Wit is almost always dependent on perception and insight into a person or situation.]

Awww, tough luck if you dont like my views on homosexuals. I dont trust them, you say. What can I say? Coming from you, it must be a shining gospel truth, musnt it? There is nothing witty about what you and I feel, I’m not going to try and change you, dont worry!

If you are referring to your intelligence, yes, some say that i possess the intellectual capacity of a particularly stupid cockroach. Long may they think this way. Hekk irridom!

[Daphne – Guess he’s one of those who eats with many mouths. Xi dwejjaq ta’ bniedem. You don’t trust homosexuals. I don’t trust men without a sense of humour. It’s not a good sign. Wit is a reflection of intelligence. Absence of wit is…]

And Daphne, don’t be so patronising about Zurrieq, will you? I’m proud of being its son, and its not the hellhole you think it is. Far from it. Why did you leave your Sliema hunting grounds and go to Bidnija anyway? As if being from somewhere’s got to do with the argument. I have the privilege of having tasted all facets of Maltese society, from the lowest to the highest, and believe me, there is rot in all strata, but I don’t throw away the tree.

[Daphne – I’ve nothing against Zurrieq, but using sexuality as a criterion for choosing somebody for a job – rather than, say, intelligence, aptitude and trustworthiness – is kind of backwoods thinking.]

@Mario debono
I am under the impression that you own an SME and hence an employer. Saying publicly that gays are less credible than straight people may be a case of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. If I were you, I would be more cautious on what I say.

[Daphne – I’ve corrected it. I was thinking of something else at the time, probably laughing at that bad-toupee music video.]