n-JOKES: New Proposed Master of Laws Entrance Exam Tests English Comprehension and Humour

1. Major Premise of English Society: It is impossible to understand proper English without a strong sense of irony. For witticisms that bring a smile: see, http://www.ibk-lawyers.com/quotable.php

2. I'm tempted to use these sorts of quotations as new oral entry tests for applicants to my Master of Laws course. Three quotations will be read by the applicant. If the applicant does not laugh or smile upon reading each, the applicant will be denied entry for either a lack of English comprehension or a lack of humour. Examples follow:

3. "Quite apart from the judicial qualities of that learned judge, who was not at all prone to aberration, I am perfectly placed to repel any suggestion that advocacy could conceivably have accounted for that result, since I was leading counsel for the applicant."
Bokhary JA in chambers in The Queen v Oscar Li Ka To, on Cons VP grant of bail pending appeal in R v Tam Chung-sing.

4. "A bank's failure may, by force of rumour and suspicion, undermine other banks, perhaps very rapidly — Fama, malum qua non aliud velocius ullum — but it will not always do so."
Laws LJ in SRM Global Master Fund LP & Ors v The Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury (28 July 2009. [OK, this isn't funny but it is on point for the current banking crisis and how rioters in London are spreading their stories.]

5. "I questioned their parentage when they praised my virility..." Denis Healey, when asked if a shouting match on the floor of the Commons involved shouts of "bastards" and "f***er"