Both Uses of
pretext
in
The Screwtape Letters
- Among adults some pretext in the way of Jokes is usually provided, but the facility with which the smallest witticisms produce laughter at such a time shows that they are not the real cause.†
Chpt 11
- The first sort joke about sex because it gives rise to many incongruities: the second cultivate incongruities because they afford a pretext for talking about sex.†
Chpt 11 *
Definition:
a false reason presented to hide the real reason for doing something