In my dreams, I can insult you better than ever. I always think of the perfect comeback, and not hours later, but at the perfect moment. I only want to insult you if you have presumed arrogance; or have insulted my friends. But I have recently learned from someone that the best response to an insult is laughter! Your own laughter, at their poverty of empathy and ignorance of social courtesies.
But insults, for an author, are fabulous material. They enrich characters and push action. A good insult can reveal motivations. Nothing connects with basic human emotion like an insult! Consider the history of insults, which goes back millennia. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/crosswords/insults.html
Possibilities
Think of the childish behavior of some of our politicians and the schoolyard bullying nicknames they employ. If you have a character who wants power but is impoverished in talent, you could endow him or her with a penchant for insults.
Another option would be someone who is just too smart. Really, they are required to associate with others who can’t understand half of what they say. They may arm themselves with insults to alleviate their frustration or, if they’re nasty, to amuse themselves.
You may have a couple, friends or lovers, who enjoy sparring. At some point, they begin to find it amusing to insult each other as part of their engagement with each other. I’m sure there are many more opportunities to enrich your characters by a few insults thrown in.
A Writer’s Goldmine
If you need help developing some colorful insults, here’s a Shakespeare generator. Choose one from each column and enjoy! Or just go back to the graphic and find one that connects for you.
If you do this well, you may find your dreams produce some good insults, too. For your characters, though; not for you!