Today I'd like to present the topic witty puns
What's a pun?
Answer:
"The leopard moved from 'spot' to 'spot'". That's a Pun - the leopard has spots on it's body and it moved from one place to another (spot). A "Pun" is a figure of speech and can be used in prose and poem. It bascically means double meaning. Pete walks up to u with a "bucket" on his head and asks do I look a little "pail"
I've to own up that it's not easy to find jokes or puns which are not in one's mothertongue.
As a German student of the English language I really have to cross borders in ordern to understand some of the jokes. That proves that the study of vocabulary, grammar, literature and linguistics can never be sufficient enough in order to look "behind the scenes" of a foreign language. On the contrary, I have to study more jokes and idiomatic expressions! ;-)
Here's a fantastic pun I found on
http://www.punoftheday.com/cgi-bin/disppuns.pl?ord=F&cat=0&sub=0&page=1
«He drove his expensive car into a tree and found out how the Mercedes bends.»
Confusion? Laughter? Did you get the joke? In this case it's easy, especially for me as a German. It works as follows:
The double meaning is hidden in the word bends. On the one hand it is the verb of the subordinate clause "and [he] found out how the Mercedes bends". To bend means to bend sth. out of shape, therefore the bodywork of the car. On the other on Benz is the last name of one of the founders of the automobile company. The pun is created by the homophony of the words.
As mentioned above it is not always easy to decode puns. Although Mercedes Benz is a world wide known German automobile company, there nevertheless might be people who cannot understand the joke.
In addition to this I'd like to mention William Shakespeare who already in the 17th century was a fantanstic writer who provided his characters with witty puns, e.g.
As mentioned above it is not always easy to decode puns. Although Mercedes Benz is a world wide known German automobile company, there nevertheless might be people who cannot understand the joke.
In addition to this I'd like to mention William Shakespeare who already in the 17th century was a fantanstic writer who provided his characters with witty puns, e.g.
Claudio:Benedick, didst thou note the daughter of Signior Leonato?
Benedick: I noted her not, but I look’d on her” (Much Ado about Nothing)
Benedick’s quibble confirms a distinction between merely looking at and noticing closely.
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