A woman sitting on a sofa is clutching her abdomen and shrieking from the pain resulting from a rope that is being pulled in opposite directions by little demons, thereby constricting her waist. Colic or cholic is a form of pain which starts and stops abruptly. It occurs due to muscular contractions of a hollow tube (colon, ureter, gall bladder, etc.) in attempt to relieve the obstruction by forcing content out. It may be accompanied by vomiting and sweating. Etching by George Cruikshank, 1819. Satire is a genre of literature, and sometimes graphic and performing arts, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, corporations, government or society itself, into improvement.