I think being witty takes effort, honestly, it also helps me relax when someone is overly witty and insulting, I just know they have to try and hurt me with their words. It’s an effort to make good insults.

I think a lot of it is based off of parents.

It’s definitely nurture over nature.

I agree it has to do with your parents and the friends you surround yourself with during your formative years.

I would posit that wit and insult are never synonymous. Being insulting is easy; being witty is not.

To me, a sophisticated and original sense of humor is hard to acquire but can be refined. Some people have perfect pitch or beautiful voices, some can draw, some are born athletes, some can look under the hood of a car and understand.

It is, of course, easier to develop your talents if your primary needs are being met. I doubt that there are many wits in Rwanda or the Sudan these days.

Well, yes, but being insulting can also be hard, which means to make a good quick insult takes wit. My point there only covers a very small portion of the question though.
I don’t think you’re born with much you don’t learn and pick up from your parents, even your personality and beliefs start out being based off your parents most of the time.

I certainly think that it can be aquired. It seems the smarter you become, the easier it is to pull wit.

They’re really two sides of the same coin.

@Bree; check back with me after you’ve had several children, or some of your friends have. They pop out with very defined personalities——malleable, of course, and more responsive to tenderness, love and boundaries, but there nevertheless.

@Spargett; don’t you know a lot of very smart people who are as dull as bricks?

@gail yea i know a ton. But it also seems the people i know with the most wit are often the smartest i know. I believe it comes from the people you grew up around, but it also takes a good bit of smarts to pull it off nicely.

I think it’s more cultural awareness than intelligence, because in order to be witty, you have to draw from a lot of references that other people can understand. Otherwise, your witty remark wouldn’t register with them. Also it would require a bit of empathy to know how the other person would perceive the remark.

Some of the safest and funniest humor is self-deprecating. See Woody Allen

Altho, as I think about it, GB shaw and Oscar Wilde were insulting and funny, and Rodney Dangerfield and Jackie Mason were insulting and not funny. My opinion only.

witts come with experience. You gain experience as you grow. And even though some witty individuals are outgoing, there is a difference between “having witts about you” and just plain ” vindictive”.... Witts can hurt someone who wears their heart on their sleeve.