Britons have been asked to name their favourite wits - and Oscar Wilde emerged as the winner.
The playwright beat the likes of Spike Milligan and Stephen Fry to the number one spot.
Do you agree with the findings? Who is your favourite wit and what was their best line? Also, we want to know your own top one-liners.
Written by Sky News, October 15, 2007
It is an absolute disgrace regarding the muslim practice of loud speaker during prayers.As a christian i am told in my own country i now have to say happy holidays instead of merry christmas in case i insult the muslim community.What is going on here? I would be very insulted to hear prayers from another religion ..they should keep inside all the mosques that they are allowed to build..plenty of them to.
Posted by: marilyn co.durham Jan 6, 2008 1:48:37 PM
No good deed goes unpunished!
Posted by: Sassy - Spain Nov 8, 2007 8:46:17 PM
if u cant hunt with the big dogs stay by the fire with the bitches. no idea who said it
Posted by: tam ayrshire Nov 6, 2007 6:43:14 PM
Considering all of GB (ask anyone) wants Madeleine McCann to be found, why can't it be done?
Posted by: SPS Oct 26, 2007 11:44:02 PM
Didn't Stephen Fry play and amazing Oscar Wilde? Comparing the two pictures of these amazing men, I think Stephen is a re-incarnation. He has such wit and intelligence - but is also such a sensitive person.
Posted by: Joanne, Fleet Oct 20, 2007 11:39:05 AM
I don't understand why you are all jumping so much on the defensive.
In the first article written on this website it said that these men were voted "Best British Wits" which is incorrect.
I felt this should be corrected- just like our neighbours in Britain we are very passionate about our culture and history. I'm sure if we claimed one of your "greats" to be Irish you would ALL want this corrected? Can we just leave it there.
..... And Dave I don't need to name a well known comic to prove a point about being the butt of English humour I lived in the Midlands for a while and know all the "paddy" jokes and the likes off by heart from the local pub but I take your point.
Posted by: Jen Ireland Oct 17, 2007 8:53:07 AM
One of my favourites is by one of the Kings of England one of the latter Georges, who, on his deathbed, is supposed to have said "Bugger Bognor!"
Posted by: K Cornelius, Hungary Oct 16, 2007 6:53:31 PM
Dear David..i didnt mis-read any history , i watched a documentary on the life of Spike milligan a few years back he was asked if he considered himself Irish or English , his reply was " I was born in India, My father is Irsh and I live here in England...but My roots are Irish so I am Irish". Wikipedia is generally 99% correct and im not disputing what you have read but those articles can be edited and put together by anyone so their own facts might not have been correct.
as far as Irish Joke and the likes , yeah they are old tat that dodgy comedians use but the root of this issue was that when this article was written here on the website (it was later re-edited) it stated that Oscar Wilde and Spike were British which is not the case.
Posted by: Wayne, Dublin, Ireland Oct 16, 2007 5:27:43 PM
Dear Wayne, in Dublin. You have mis-read the history of Spike Milligan in favour of supporting your own argument. Spike Milligan applied for a British Passport and was refused, and yes, this was due to his unwillingness to swear the oath of allegiance (honour noted) but does not detract from the fact that he applied!
I quote (Wikipedia)...
Though he lived most of his life in England and served in the British Army, he was refused a British passport in 1960. This was partly because he had been born outside Britain to an Irish father, Leo Milligan (of Sligo, Ireland), but also because he refused to take the oath of allegiance, despite advice from Prince Charles. Milligan took Irish citizenship instead.[citation needed] He continued to live and work in the United Kingdom.
...unquote.
Seems to me he too wanted to break down the barriers and yet keep his heritage, for this I admire him as a man - his work speaks for itself - genius.
...and Jen, in Ireland..."the butt of jokes" by the English? 20 years ago it was considered mainstream but the only comics getting away with Irish jokes thesedays barely scrape a living because the main populus have rejected them. I bet you can't name one (still active) highly rated comic that tells jokes about the Irish in a derogatory way.
Posted by: David England Oct 16, 2007 2:57:29 PM
Regarding Spike milligan and where he was born, He was born in india , into an Irish family , he declined british citizen ship and took Irish citizenship , he had an Irish passport and considered himself Irish.
Posted by: Wayne, Dublin, Ireland Oct 16, 2007 1:38:41 PM
To all the anti-British Irish posts on here,
I think you'll find Spike Milligan was born in Poona, INDIA.
Not like it matters !
Posted by: Paul Jackson Aberdeen Oct 16, 2007 12:04:32 PM
best one liner from fools and horses after uncle albert talked about his time with a german prostitute
i think she liked me cos she didnt charge me as much as the other lads i still use it british humour a million miles better than anything the rest of the world can offer
Posted by: chris manchester Oct 15, 2007 7:32:45 PM
It was mentioned in an earlier review they were votest "best British wits", this has since been changed you will have to exucse us jumping on the defensive but here in Ireland we are used to getting very little recognition from our British neighbours and are used to being the butt of every joke so when there is mistake it is only right it is corrected.
Posted by: Jen Ireland Oct 15, 2007 5:46:21 PM
There's always a small band of "simple" few who jump at the chance to draw their little divide.
Irish Smirish, Oscar Wilde and Spike Milligan were great men in the company of other greats be they British or otherwise.
Must there always be such political correctness?
I for one am proud to call the Welsh, Scots AND the Irish my fellow man.
Posted by: David England Oct 15, 2007 4:55:16 PM
Bob, Jen, gerald, Jane and Amy:Err - where in this statement does it say Britons have been asked to name their favourite British Wits?
"Britons have been asked to name their favourite wits - and Oscar Wilde emerged as the winner."
Posted by: Luke -Exeter Oct 15, 2007 4:52:51 PM
Oscar Wilde was Irish. So was Spike Milligan! How very British of you all!
Posted by: Shane London Oct 15, 2007 3:10:08 PM
Once again the Brits claim Irishmen as their own. Oscar Wilde would turn in his Parisian grave!
Posted by: GERARD, IRELAND Oct 15, 2007 2:07:44 PM
Correct me if Im wrong but both Milligan & Wilde are Irish ?
Posted by: Jen Ireland Oct 15, 2007 1:58:20 PM
Oscar Wilde was irish
Posted by: bob livepool Oct 15, 2007 12:42:19 PM
John Cooper Clarke has got loads of great one liners, for example, "If it wasn't for Emmerdale I wouldn't get any fresh air at all. "
And "I played a gig in Cardiff last week and had a run in with the Welsh Mafia; They made me an offer I couldn't understand!"
Great stuff!!
Posted by: Dominic, Clevedon Oct 15, 2007 12:39:49 PM
why is it that oscar wilde and spike milligan are both classed as brits by this survey when they are both in fact 100% irish.
Posted by: Amy ireland Oct 15, 2007 12:36:31 PM
My best one liner, that I shall forever cherish, is when Rodney (Only Fools And Horses) sums up Marlene’s state of pregnancy in the absence of natural insemination, stating “It Is Quicker by tube”
Posted by: Khalid Oct 15, 2007 10:37:23 AM