Pun

Puns may be regarded as in-jokes or idiomatic constructions, especially as their usage and meaning are usually specific to a particular language or its culture.

Examples in which the punned words typically exist in two different parts of speech often rely on unusual sentence construction, as in the anecdote: "When asked to explain his large number of children, the pig answered simply: 'The wild oats of my sow gave us many piglets.'"

An example that combines homophonic and homographic punning is Douglas Adams's line "You can tune a guitar, but you can't tuna fish.

The phrase uses the homophonic qualities of tune a and tuna, as well as the homographic pun on bass, in which ambiguity is reached through the identical spellings of /beɪs/ (a string instrument), and /bæs/ (a kind of fish).

An adaptation of a joke repeated by Isaac Asimov gives us "Did you hear about the little moron who strained himself while running into the screen door?"

However, lexicographers define polysemes as listed under a single dictionary lemma (a unique numbered meaning) while homonyms are treated in separate lemmata.

In this case, the wordplay cannot go into effect by utilizing the separate words or phrases of the puns that make up the entire statement.

For example, a complex statement by Richard Whately includes four puns: "Why can a man never starve in the Great Desert?

Visual and other puns and word games are also common in Dutch gable stones as well as in some cartoons, such as Lost Consonants and The Far Side.

[14] Mark Elvin describes how this "peculiarly Chinese form of visual punning involved comparing written characters to objects.

"[15] Visual puns on the bearer's name are used extensively as forms of heraldic expression, they are called canting arms.

This type of pun is frequently used in advertisements, comedy, and literature to provide a clever and memorable message.

Syllepsis, or heteronymy, is a form of punning where a single word simultaneously affects the rest of the sentence, while it changes the meaning of the idiom it is used in.

This form of punning uses the word in its literal and metaphorical senses at once, creating a surprising and often humorous effect.

An example of a sylleptic pun is in the sentence, "She lowered her standards by raising her glass, her courage, her eyes and his hopes."

In this case, "raising" applies in different ways to each of the items listed, creating a series of linked puns.

This form of punning often relies on homophones, homonyms, or simply the contextual flexibility of a word or phrase.

This punning style is prevalent in both humorous and serious contexts, adding layers of complexity to the language by highlighting the multifaceted nature of words.

The following example comes from the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, though the punchline stems from far older Vaudeville roots.

For example, collegiate a cappella groups are often named after musical puns to attract fans through attempts at humor.

[23] Perhaps the best-known example is: "Tragedy on the Cliff by Eileen Dover", which according to one source was devised by humourist Peter De Vries.

[24] It is common for these puns to refer to taboo subject matter, such as "What Boys Love by E. Norma Stitts".

Puns and other forms of wordplay have been used by many famous writers, such as Alexander Pope,[34] James Joyce,[35] Vladimir Nabokov,[36] Robert Bloch,[37] Lewis Carroll,[38] John Donne,[39] and William Shakespeare.

This is evidenced by the deployment of puns in serious or "seemingly inappropriate" scenes, like when a dying Mercutio quips "Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man" in Romeo and Juliet.

[46] Like other forms of wordplay, paronomasia is occasionally used for its attention-getting or mnemonic qualities, making it common in titles and the names of places, characters, and organizations, and in advertising and slogans.

[47][48] Many restaurant and shop names use puns: Cane & Able mobility healthcare, Sam & Ella's Chicken Palace, Tiecoon tie shop, Planet of the Grapes wine and spirits,[49] Curl Up and Dye hair salon, as do books such as Pies and Prejudice, webcomics like (YU+ME: dream) and feature films such as (Good Will Hunting).

This is also an example of a multilingual pun, full understanding of which requires knowledge of more than one language on the part of the listener.

A recurring motif in the Austin Powers films repeatedly puns on names that suggest male genitalia.

Wyborowa Vodka employed the slogan "Enjoyed for centuries straight", while Northern Telecom used "Technology the world calls on.

William Safire of The New York Times suggests that "the root of this pace-growing [use of paronomasia] is often a headline-writer's need for quick catchiness, and has resulted in a new tolerance for a long-despised form of humor.