Dark Humour： making jokes about things that are usually considered to be serious or sad.

The origin of dark humour

Dark humour is probably as old as human communication itself. One of the first modern examples in English is in the 17th-century writings of Jonathan Swift. In A Modest Proposal， Swift suggests that poor people sell their children as food to the rich. His intention was to make fun of simple suggestions for solving problems such as poverty or overpopulation[人口過(guò)剩].

Individual examples

There are several individuals who decided to use humour when faced with their own death. Murderer William Palmer looked at the door under the gallows[絞刑架] before his execution[死刑] in 1855 and asked “Are you sure that’s safe？” Writer Oscar Wilde’s last words as he was dying in a cheap hotel were “Either that wallpaper goes or I will.” And humorist Spike Milligan had the words “I told you I was ill” （in Irish） written on his gravestone[墓碑].

Anonymous contributions

It’s still a mystery where some dark humour comes from. Nobody knows who wrote this：“We are born naked， wet and hungry. Then things get worse.” Or how about this piece of graffiti[涂鴉] to make you feel depressed： “Life is a sexually transmitted disease， and it’s 100% fatal.” Now that’s dark…