Witzelsucht

Definitions

noun A tendency to tell inappropriate or pointless stories and poor jokes; excessive facetiousness, especially when due to some medical condition

German. See witzeln, "to joke", + Sucht, "obsession", "addiction".

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Stedman's Medical Dictionary lists an ailment known as Witzelsucht -- literally ` wit-seeking '-- which is characterized by "a morbid tendency to pun and tell pointless stories while being inordinately entertained thereby."

VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol VII No 1 1980
This is Witzelsucht a German term meaning “searching for wit” and is associated with coarse brain disease.

The Neuropsychiatric Guide to Modern Everyday Psychiatry Michael Alan Taylor 1993
In his first paragraph, Witzelsucht doesn't mean ` witseeking 'but ` wit-mania.'

VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol VII No 3 1980
It’s like Witzelsucht, but the jokes are about conservatives and republicans, their pointless ideology and failed programs and constant incompetence, and you laugh harder, at the conservatives, who are all the butt of the jokes.

Think Progress » Protest Turnout: A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Lies 2005