The word play between two is a seduction, a game of flirtation even. It is a matching of wits, a battle of intellect and language. I enjoy this battle more than any other. But this game of words and humor, can either be invigorating or utterly exasperating. I engage in verbal play with people all the time. If it is any good it could possibly lead to mental intercourse, something that is very pleasurable and always desirable for me. If it is bad then I’m left feeling like a cold fish.

My favorite and preferred types of oral sports is the kind that includes both humor and flirtation. Sarcasm and irony rank high up there too. There is something very stimulating about being able to take simple words and give them complex meanings. The stimulation is in having the other party understand, enjoy, and play back. Matching verbal volley for verbal volley, humor for more humor, and flirtation for flirtation. And this is not a blood sport so the purpose is purely recreational.

On the other hand, this exercise becomes tiresome very quickly for me when it is met as a challenge or not met at all. If it treated like a competition, with the other player having to get the last word in, or not even letting the other get a word in edgewise, or has to be right and drills the same point over and over and over and over again (I am sure each of us can think of at least one person who is like that). This is exhausting and exasperating. I am not interested in verbal fencing, where there has to be a winner. But rather, verbal foreplay that is fun, light and could lead to a happily satisfactory end that may or may not have a conclusion.

So put down your fencing swords and bring out that funny, witty, flirtatious tongue. It makes for a much more amusing event and a merrier evening for all involved.