A mondegreen is a word or words formed from a misinterpretation of what the word or words actually are, such as “take it for granite,” for “take it for granted” and “for all intensive purposes” for “for all intents and purposes.” Children are innocently brilliant at concocting original interpretations of the boundaries that separate words. […]
In this year of electile dysfunction, with just a few days left before the race for the presidency crosses the finish line, political jokes can be very powerful. That’s why so many of them get elected. Many mean things have been said about politics and politicians. Will Rogers explained, “I don’t make jokes. I just […]
At the spirited Halloween ball the ghosts had a wail of a time. They danced sheet to sheet and boo-gied to some haunting melodies that the band played from sheet music. Awraitha Franklin sang soul and spirituals, and the stars of Wailer Swift sang “Ghost Riders in the Sky” and “America the Boo-tiful.” The emcee […]
With Labor Day coming up, I’ve decided to share with you my checkered workplace history: My first job was working in an orange juice factory, but I got couldn’t concentrate on the same old boring rind, so I got canned. Then I became a lumberjack, but I just couldn’t hack it, so they gave me […]
This is the time of year when teachers send parents evaluations of their children’s academic and social progress. Here are some school reports about famous literary characters in their early years: • The Hulk has been a star heavyweight on the school wrestling team, but his classmates tease him for his tattered clothing and green […]
Charles Dickens walks into a bar and orders a martini. The bartender asks, “Olive or twist?” Over the past several decades many jokes have featured all manner of people and other creatures walking into bars. For example: Two ropes walk into a bar. The first rope orders a beer. “We don’t serve ropes here,” sneers […]
In last week’s column I commemorated the death of William Shakespeare 400 years ago, on April 23, 1616. The cause of the Bard’s exiting the earthly stage remains a mystery, but an entry in the diary of John Ward, the vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford, where Shakespeare is buried, may offer a clue. […]
Welcome to a yearlong centennial celebration of the San Diego Zoo, most universally voted the best zoo in the US of A. Starting with animals left over from the 1915-1916 Panama-California Exposition, the dream of a zoo in San Diego blossomed into a reality. As Henry David Thoreau wrote in “Walden,” “If you have built […]
Cristoffa Corombo was born in the Republic of Genoa (now in Italy) in 1451. He began his career as a seaman in the Portuguese merchant marine. Later, in Spain, he was known as Christóbal Colón. We know him as Christopher Columbus, and he is generally given credit for discovering America. In A.D. 1000, almost 500 […]
A few weeks ago, I presented a parade of real-life, verbally clever signs and placards that have adorned places of business around the world. I invited you, my punderful readers, to wing me your own creations. More than 125 entries poured in. Here are the three winners, each of whom will receive a signed copy […]