Long before humans wrote poems or delivered speeches, two words may have been enough to make a crowd laugh — or make a rival furious.
Killjoy. Crybaby. Scatterbrain.
These modern English words are not prehistoric leftovers. But their simple verb-and-noun structure may resemble one of the earliest forms of grammar. Linguist Ljiljana Progovac argues that combinations like these gave our ancestors a new way to compete: not only with muscle, but with imagination, insults and jokes.
She calls the idea "survival of the wittiest."
When two words opened a new world
Language leaves no bones behind. Researchers cannot dig up an ancient sentence and determine exactly when grammar appeared. Instead, linguists try to work backward from modern languages, stripping away their complex rules to imagine what earlier forms might have looked like.
Progovac focuses on simple combinations containing a verb and a noun. English examples include pickpocket, crybaby and killjoy. Similar structures appear in languages as different as Serbian, Berber and Twi.
She describes these constructions as linguistic "living fossils." This does not mean the words themselves are ancient. Rather, their basic structure may preserve something resembling an early stage of grammar, before humans developed elaborate sentences with tense, subjects and objects.
Even this tiny grammatical step could have changed human thought. A single word can name an object. Two words can create an unexpected relationship.
A heart does not literally sink. Time does not actually fly. Yet once humans could combine words in surprising ways, metaphor — and verbal humour — became possible.
From physical contests to verbal ones
Clever language may also have transformed social competition.
An early human who invented a memorable nickname could embarrass a rival, entertain a group or attract attention without starting a physical fight. Producing a successful joke demonstrated quick thinking, confidence and awareness of other people's reactions.
Those qualities may have improved a person's social position and made them more attractive as a partner.
This does not mean friendliness stopped mattering. Cooperation helped humans form groups and survive together. Progovac's argument is that cooperation alone cannot explain why human language and imagination became so unusually complex.
Wit combines both sides of social life. A joke can bring a group together, reduce tension and turn strangers into companions. It can also ridicule someone, establish status or sharpen a conflict. Humour is friendly and competitive at the same time.
Clues inside the modern brain
Some brain-imaging research offers possible support for the theory. When modern participants processed simple compounds such as killjoy and crybaby, researchers observed activity in an area involved in face recognition and vivid, metaphorical meaning.
That finding could fit the idea that early word combinations were often used to attach memorable labels to particular people. Other studies suggest that simpler grammatical forms demand less from brain networks involved in processing complex language.
But these experiments cannot show what our ancestors said — or why they said it. Modern brains reading modern words are only indirect evidence about a past that left no recordings.
The theory therefore remains an informed reconstruction. Humour was probably not a single force that created language, ended physical aggression or determined who survived. Strength, cooperation, environment and chance all shaped human evolution.
Still, "survival of the wittiest" offers a useful addition to the story. Perhaps early language did more than help people warn one another about danger or organize a hunt. It may also have allowed them to impress, tease, challenge and charm.
The first great leap in language might not have been a serious speech. It could have been a two-word joke that everyone remembered.