A good pun is like a good steak — a rare medium well done. In such a prey on words, rare, medium, and well done are double entendres, so that six meanings are packed into the space ordinarily occupied by just three.
Punnery is largely the trick of compacting two or more ideas within a single word or expression. Punnery surprises us by flouting the law of nature that pretends that two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time. It is an exercise of the mind in being concise.
That many people groan rather than laugh at puns doesn’t mean that the punnery isn’t funnery. If the pun is a good one, the groan usually signifies a kind of suppressed admiration for the verbal acrobatics on display, and perhaps a hidden envy. Edgar Allan Poe (of all people) pointed out that “of puns it has been said that those most dislike who are least able to utter them.”Striking while the irony is hot — and hoping that there won’t be too many ironies in the fire — I share with you this little ditty:
A pun’s the highest form of wit.
It stimulates the brain a bit.
It simply takes a word that’s tame
And picks one more that sounds the same.
I firmly believe in a learning strategy called “the naming of the parts.” When you know the name of a concept, you are well on your way to mastering how that concept works.
Essentially, there are three kinds of puns:
The first kind is called a homograph pun, Greek for “same writing,” but different meanings.
- Twice a year, we reset our clocks, watches, and computers, according to the mnemonic adage “Fall back. Spring ahead.
- ”Have you heard about the cross-eyed teacher? She couldn’t control her pupils.
- Have you heard about the nun who got her skirt caught in a revolving door? She entered the building by force of habit.
- Have you heard about the restaurant on the moon? The food is great, but the place doesn’t have any atmosphere.
- Have you heard about the king who was only 12 inches tall? He was a terrible king, but he made a great ruler.
- Moses was the first man in history to use a computer. He downloaded data from the cloud to his tablet.
If the spelling differs in each meaning, the pun is a homophone, Greek for “same sound,” but different spelling and meanings:
- What’s black and white and read all over? A newspaper.
- I’m on a seafood diet. Every time I see food, I eat it.
- The man who changed his will every week became a fresh heir fiend.
- A man gave his male offspring a cattle ranch and named it Focus — because it was where the sun’s rays meet (and the sons raise meat).
- Have you heard about the successful perfume manufacturer? Her business made a lot of scents / cents / sense. (another rare triple play)
- Two ropes walk into a Wild West saloon. The first rope goes up to the bar and orders a beer. “We don’t serve ropes in this saloon,” sneers the bartender, and he picks up the rope, whirls him around in the air, and tosses him out into the street.
“Oh, oh. I’d better disguise myself,” thinks the second rope. He ruffles up his ends to make himself look rougher and twists himself into a circle to look bigger. Then he too sidles up to the bar.
“Hmmm. Are you one of them ropes?” snarls the bartender.
“I’m a frayed knot.”
Finally, we come to double-sound puns, which employ two different sounds and two different meanings:
- What do you get when you cross a gorilla with a clay worker? A Hairy Potter.
- What do you call an empty hot dog? A hollow weenie.
- What do you get when you roll a hand grenade across a kitchen floor? Linoleum Blownapart.
- One of the greatest men of the 20th century was the political leader and ascetic Mahatma Gandhi. His denial of the earthly pleasures included the fact that, to maintain his oneness with the earth, he walked barefoot everywhere. Moreover, he ate so little that he developed delicate health and very bad breath. Thus, he became known as a super-callused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis!