Armstrong & Miller; 'Chalky's A Spy'

The writer of this sketch is very clever with how he uses language throughout this piece. It is easy to tell that the writer is deliberately trying to make fun of how young people speak through the use of words and phrases like 'yeah man' and 'I swear down'. The use of these words makes the sketch funny as it is mainly the younger generations that use this type of language. In addition, the whole situation in which the colloquial words are being used are abnormal to us as we don't associate soldiers with using language like 'giving the German's all like spoilers', when thinking about it, we all assume soldiers talk formally so this makes the situation funnier. Also, we know this is a serious topic of conversation so using 'oh my days, that is so two faced' and 'well vexed' makes us laugh as we know it isn't serious but hearing it said that the enemies are 'two faced' makes it hard not to laugh. The use of 'him and Hitler have been talking about me behind my back' is deliberately funny as it gives a very relaxed feel to the war situation these soldiers are supposed to be in and it makes it seem like they are caring about the wrong things. Lastly, the use of the words 'deal with it girlfriend' is trying to relate to young girls when they are angry or sarcastic and hearing it said by a man instead of a girl and specifically a man who is a soldier makes the conversation funnier.

The writer also plays with the language interestingly throughout. Its clear he uses a specific spoken form of language almost like dialect but instead of it being according to a region its more like according to a generation. The writer uses phonology in this sketch to refer to the natural speech of many people. This use helps the audience to relate to what is being said, either because the person might notice that the words being used, they actually use themselves or because they know of others that use it. The type of phonology selected makes the sketch funny for people for different reasons. For example, a parent might find this funny because their child uses this language or a teenager might find it funny because they use this language daily or around their friends. 

The use of simple words such as 'like', even though daily they wouldn't be funny, get laughs in this sketch due to the emphasis on them. Normally, we might not notice these words being used but, purely because of the situation, these words and phrases suddenly become hilarious when used by a soldier in a serious situation.