In Jane Austen’s novel Emma, published in 1815, Emma Woodhouse joins a picnic on Box Hill. During a game of wit, she makes a joke at the expense of Miss Bates, a poor, talkative older woman, in front of the whole party.
As the party breaks up, Mr. Knightley takes Emma aside and rebukes her: “It was badly done, indeed!” Emma cries almost all the way home.