VLVL Failed humour

[jbor]

>> (He preaches about it to
>> the point of being "a source of rectal discomfort on the subject"; i.e. he's
>> a pain in the ass and this is yet another example in _Vineland_ of Pynchon
>> playing around with register, tone and lexis, recasting a slang expression
>> in deliberately excessive formal language, trying for humour -- and failing
>> miserably -- but that's a separate issue.)
> 
> "source of rectal discomfort " for "pain in the ass" sounds a lot like
> military humor. 

Trouble with this is, it's Zoyd's point of view, and he's not in the
military and never was. Quite apart from that fact it isn't even remotely
funny, or clever, or appropriate to the character. And it isn't the first
one either.

best