The Space Willies, by Eric Frank Russell, was the first novel I read that was not written for children. Over on the Hatrack River writers’ forum, someone was asking for specific examples of humorous passages in science fiction, and the following came to mind. A bit of background: the story centers around Leeming, a human space pilot who is taking an experimental ship deep behind enemy lines. This segment is about a radio conversation overheard in alien space. (Note: This passage contains some mild profanity.)
The unknown life-form manning the vessels had loud, somewhat bellicose voices, but spoke a language with sound-forms curiously akin to Terran speech. To Leeming