It's always funny when someone steps in shit.

Bakhtin suggests that readers should fully understand the meaning of a text's language in context, rather than assuming definitions transcend time. Though the spelling and even usage of a particular word or phrase may be used for centuries, the underlying meaning is likely to have changed dramatically. For instance, when Gargantua's tales are compared to A.R. Ammons' poem, the language appears to us to imply the same "trivial meaning" (Bakhtin 150) of modern times. When examined further, yes, the general definition is similar, but the deeper connotations of the terminology suggest cultural ties to a specific time period, which determines additional reasons for laughter. As Bakhtin explains, Rabelais' society's understanding of excrement and debasement is closely associated with the other functions of the lower bodily organs such as sex and birth. He does not intend his stories to be purely grotesque. This is seen perfectly when Gargamelle eats so much tripe that she induces her own labor. The midwives comically confuse the birth of her child with "her straight entrail" (Rabelais Chapter IV). Immediately after the mixup, Gargantua is actually born. So, the same vicinity produces both defecation and life, sometimes even at the same time. The lighthearted humor in Rabelais' writing is in the fact that though his characters suffer from debasement or gross defecatation, they are simultaneously left with the hope of renewal and life. On the other hand, A.R. Ammons, a contemporary writer, uses our crude, shallow meaning of shit in his poem "Shit List." He uses the word over and over to create a sense of unity and absurdity. The repetitiveness of the expletive makes his poem humorous. If he had just used shit once or twice, people, particularly conservative individuals, would have been slightly appalled rather than engaged in laughter. Thus, the use of defecation for humor is seen in both of the works showing a timeless appreciation for billingsgate, but the individual cultures interpret the specific definitions in such a way as to incite laughter for somewhat different reasons.

The ubiquitous use of billingsgate humor in literature through the ages reveals a natural instinct in human beings to laugh at feces and excrement. We think that other people's misfortune (as Hobbes describes) of being covered with body waste is funny because we are so happy something that disgusting did not happen to us. But, cultural niceties and traditions also dictate the interpretations of words and actions in reference to feces (e.g.: throwing poop). Nowadays, for example, shit is generally thought of as negative and vulgar. Ammons' poem is humorous to us because of the flippant repetition of a taboo word. Because of this, when someone writes crudely and openly about it, people laugh out of shock and awkwardness in addition to the joy of seeing a person uncomfortable. Rabelais' piece was humorous to his society because of the preposterous extent of defecation and debasement, common and accepted practices. In his time, excrement was used to severely degrade someone so the mention of defecation caused people to laugh at a gross manner of humiliation. Therefore, though as a general subject, excrement is humorous, the societal understanding of it often underlies many of the particular reasons why people find it so funny.