Pun is a play on words or paronomasia.
A pun is a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.
Questions tagged [puns]
115 questions
125
votes
3 answers
I don't get this joke. Is it some kind of play on "water, too?"
I don't get this joke. Is it some kind of play on "water, too?"
Transcript:
Two scientists walk into a bar. The first says, "I'll have some H2O." The second says, "I'll have a glass of water too. Why did you say H2O? It's the end of the day and…
Michael Owen Sartin
- 5,346
16
votes
1 answer
"Foot pound energy Irish appearing" pun?
In translating W. H. Hodgson's The Regeneration of Captain Bully Keller, I came across this sentence, which I suppose must be some kind of pun or joke, but I cannot understand at all.
He knew [...] that he had administered a knock-out blow, of a…
Elena
- 197
8
votes
1 answer
Pun with "effervescent" and "fiddlesticks"
I read a pun in a children's joke book "Effervescent enough covers on your bed, your fiddlestick out." I know that "fiddlestick out" is "feet will stick out", but what is the "effervescent" punning on?
Alex Ung
- 113
6
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0 answers
Does this pun make sense to native speakers?
If one were to play the pipes without an audience, would that constitute an "exercise in flutility"?
Not sure if that pun works on native speakers…
user219574
- 61
4
votes
1 answer
Ovine Wordplay: On the 'lam' vs. On the 'lamb'
Pardon me for feeling a bit sheepish; this is my first time posting a question here.
I am known - and revered, as far as I can tell - as something of a pun wizard at my workplace. Today, on our internal work chat, the topic turned (as it does) to…
Vanguard3000
- 143
4
votes
1 answer
Is there a technical name for a play on words, such as "FaceCrook"?
Is there a technical name for the play on words where someone would substitute a word for a similar one (or add a common word to the end of one) in order to express their opinion about the subject in question?
For example:
Not being a fan of…
Grayda
- 203
4
votes
2 answers
What's a paronym?
I really want to know what a paronym is because we're supposed use them in class.
user5072
3
votes
2 answers
"We've got you covered" on an umbrella
Is the above a pun? In one sense, the word covered is used to different ways (sort of) in that the phrase is usually used to mean a covered responsibility, not literally covered.
At the same time, one use of the word is clearly descended from the…
soandos
- 237
3
votes
1 answer
Is “on porpoise” a pun?
Is the phrase “Did you do that on porpoise?” a pun? It doesn’t exploit multiple meanings of the same word but instead uses a different word that sounds similar
Dave
- 263
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3
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1 answer
What literary term best describes the following phrase relying on the dual meaning of a word for humorous effect?
"A sheep led astray rarely gets fleeced." The literal act of fleecing of a sheep alludes to the alternative meaning of fleeced - to get swindled, or stripped of money. It doesn't seem to be a pun, but I can't think of what term would describe the…
user94595
- 31
2
votes
1 answer
What do you call a pun that isn't a pun?
I've just learned of the event within the (UK) Labour Party known as the 'Chicken Coup' and it made me wonder: is it still a pun if it's a play on writing, and not the spoken word?
According to the Oxford Living Dictionaries, a pun is:
A joke…
WhoWantsToKnow
- 29
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1
vote
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Does wordplay boiled soy/soiled boy have a name?
In Polish, there is a relatively established literary pastime of finding two pairs of words having forms a1a2 b1b2 and b1a2 a1b2, where both pairs are realistic phrases (i.e., they have a sensible meaning and are not unrelated), and the second pair…
Turin
- 113
1
vote
1 answer
Is "Biggles Flies Undone" a pun?
At the end of the Monty Python sketch "Biggles Dictates a Letter", there's a voiceover (sounds like John Cleese to me) saying: "Next week, part 2: Biggles Flies Undone"
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/991e5b96-4e4b-42b4-b45e-801eef914a26
I've always…
steveha
- 291
1
vote
2 answers
What is the meaning of "objectively better" in this sentence
I read a sentence in Word by Word by Kory Stamper which was:
If you ask a modern adherent to this rule why, exactly, you aren't supposed to end a sentence with a preposition, they merely goggle at you as if you had just asked why you aren't…
kelvin
- 143
1
vote
1 answer
sarcastic responses as used in comedy or joking around
when a supervisor gives unsolicited advice on how to do something as a reminder and you have been doing this job just that way for the last twenty years and you want to say ...really for real you are advising on that? Do you have any puns or…
