Pun

A pun is a form of wordplay humor built around similar words or phrases with multiple supported meanings. The connection is the sound and/or look of the words and the contrast is their meanings. Unlike wordplay types like malapropisms or mondegreens, puns have a humor context that supports more than one meaning. Puns can be formed from any setup method.

Cultural use of puns is decidedly mixed. On the one hand, puns are used routinely, not just in personal and professional humor but also commercially in giving objects names. Everything from sailboats, racehorses and household pets to ice cream flavors, nail polish colors and local hair salons is christened with amusingly punny and attention-getting names. On the other hand, certain kinds of puns are seen as ‘bad’ – perhaps some of the same ones! Opposing reactions to puns form a strong dividing line between humor cultures. Puns grow best in the right kind of culture.

Clash Theory’s examination of puns in Why Funny Is Funny mirrors their Jekyll-and-Hyde reputation. Many mechanisms for pun creation are interspersed with eight distinct reasons why puns are thought to be horrible (two are described below). The common theme linking these reasons is the perception of some kind of unnatural or inharmonious stretch.

For example, homonyms are words with different meanings that look and sound identical. Natural homonyms like the word ‘culture’ are a relatively simple path towards pun creation. Sometimes words are not natural homonyms, but are forced to become one by the humor context. A lengthy and highly humor-dense vaudeville routine by Abbott and Costello did this with players on a baseball team.

Costello: Who’s on first?
Abbott: Yes.
Costello: I mean the fellow’s name.
Abbott: Who.

This next ‘bad pun’ example of a features an unnatural stretch and lower quality humor. Instead of a homonym or near-homonym, call it a far-homonym. ‘Corny’ is a word to describe these kinds of puns, and lower quality jokes and humor in general.

Q. What kind of a ship flies an R-rated flag?
A. An inappro-pirate ship.

As seen in this Pearls Before Swine comic, one of Pun’s most natural cultural partners is Self-Loathing.

courtesy Stephan Pastis / Pearls Before Swine probably (TBD)

Return to the first major humor culture category Wordplay