English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
What do we call the person who comes back with clever replies when someone insults them?
Also what is this ability (personality trait) to cleverly thrash rivals on-the-spot called?
Example:
Person A: "I can't bear fools."
Person B: "Apparently, your mother could..."
What should I call Person B in this?
What is the personality trait he possesses that made him comeback so cleverly against the insult?
These words describe the ability to make quick, sharp, clever comebacks.
Winston Churchill was famous for his quick and biting wit:
Member of Parliament, Nancy Astor, speaking to Winston Churchill:
If I were your wife I would poison your coffee..
Churchill:
If you were my wife, I would drink it.
Member of Parliament, Bessie Braddock, speaking to Churchill:
Winston, you are drunk, and what’s more you are disgustingly drunk.
Churchill:
My dear, you are ugly, and what’s more, you are disgustingly ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober and you will still be disgustingly ugly.
References:
Rapier wit is slightly different from witty: there's a (sharp) rapier in mind.
Rapier wit:
ability to deliver witty and cutting remarks
A rapier is a very thin sword with a long, sharp point.
As in: (for a single word)
Person A: "I can't bear fools."
Person B: "Apparently, your mother could!"
Person A: "Ouch ... you are quick."
quick OED
Of a person: mentally agile; prompt to think; of ready wit.
derisive adjective characterized by or expressing derision; contemptuous; mocking: derisive heckling.
Example: The message is derisive—rhabdomyolysis and whatever else might happen to certain people is really for wimps and buffoons only. COOL IT ON THE CROSSFIT: WHAT’S RHABDOMYOLYSIS?|KENT SEPKOWITZ|OCTOBER 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST
wry adjective bitterly or disdainfully ironic or amusing: a wry remark.
Example: But Beard was, as Beard would have put it, "wry," which is the word people like Beard use when they mean funny. DOUG KENNEY: THE ODD COMIC GENIUS BEHIND ‘ANIMAL HOUSE’ AND NATIONAL LAMPOON
sardonic adjective characterized by bitter or scornful derision; mocking; cynical; sneering: a sardonic grin.
Example: Ebert was celebrated for the sardonic wit and democratic writing style he employed in his reviews. ROGER EBERT, 70, HAS DIED: A LOOK AT THE LIFE OF CINEMA’S GREAT APPRECIATOR|MARLOW STERN|APRIL 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST
(source: dictionary.com, thesaurus.com)
In the UK, this is called 'quick-witted'. Refer to this description of comedian Paul Merton:- http://www.therightaddress.co.uk/paul-merton
