pun

Definition:

A play on words, either on different senses of the same word or on the similar sense or sound of different words. See also:

• Paronomasia
• Antanaclasis
• Homophones
• Charles Lamb on Puns
• Store Name Puns

Etymology:

Uncertain

Examples and Observations:

• "Punning is an art of harmonious jingling upon words, which, passing in at the ears, excites a titillary motion in those parts; and this, being conveyed by the animal spirits into the muscles of the face, raises the cockles of the heart."
  (Jonathan Swift)



• "A pun is not bound by the laws which limit nicer wit. It is a pistol let off at the ear; not a feather to tickle the intellect."
  (Charles Lamb)



• "When it rains, it pours."
  (advertising slogan for Morton Salt)



• "When it pours, it reigns."
  (slogan of Michelin tires)



• "What food these morsels be!"
  (slogan of Heinz pickles, 1938)



• "American Home has an edifice complex."
  (slogan of American Home magazine)



• "Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight"
  (Dylan Thomas, "Do not go gentle into that good night")



• "Look deep into our ryes."
  (slogan of Wigler's Bakery)



• "Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns; he should be drawn and quoted."
  (Fred Allen)



• A vulture boards a plane, carrying two dead possums. The attendant looks at him and says, "I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger."



• "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana."
  (Groucho Marx)



• "All obscene puns have the same underlying construction in that they consist of two elements. The first element sets the stage for the pun by offering seemingly harmless material, such as the title of a book, The Tiger's Revenge. But the second element either is obscene in itself or renders the first element obscene as in the name of the author of The Tiger's Revenge--Claude Bawls."
  (Peter Farb, Word Play, 1974)



• "To pun is to treat homonyms as synonyms."
  (Walter Redfern, Puns, 1974)

Pronunciation: pun