witticism

noun

Etymology: From witty + -icism; coined in the 1670s by John Dryden, by analogy to criticism.

1. a witty remark; a bon mot; an epigram; a zinger.

   “"Take any shape but that!" is what I always feel tempted to exclaim when dulness attempts a joke; striving to pervert some poor innocent and ill-used word from its lawful meaning till it ceases to have any at all—worrying some unfortunate idea till, like the hunted hare, it is worried to death—dealing in witticisms whose edge has long since been worn off by constant use; and truly to the many, witticisms not only require to be explained, like riddles, but are also like new shoes, which people require to wear many times before they get accustomed to them.”

   “Shock of the witticism is a powerful one; while mere fun will have no power over them if it jar on their moral taste.”