OK, serious question on puns

[TarnishedPenny]

By their very nature, puns require a certain degree of cleverness. Really good puns can be amazingly complex. So why do people groan when they hear them and why are they described as the lowest form of humour?

 

[SimonDoom]

Most puns are not clever and are obvious, so they understandably induce eye rolling. But a good pun, a really clever one, can be a gem.

 

[WittyUserName]

By their very nature, puns require a certain degree of cleverness. Really good puns can be amazingly complex. So why do people groan when they hear them and why are they described as the lowest form of humour?

A lot are overused, but you can still get a laugh out of them in other ways. I've had a character make a really bad pun, and the other characters called him on it. The pun wasn't funny, the way everyone reacted was.

 

[TheLobster]

I like my characters speaking in bad puns because it absolves me from the responsibility of coming up with then. It's not me, it's the MC!

 

[alohadave]

By their very nature, puns require a certain degree of cleverness. Really good puns can be amazingly complex. So why do people groan when they hear them and why are they described as the lowest form of humour?

People overuse them, and most of the time they are not clever, they are just rhyming words.

Then you get online on people rehash the same puns over and over and over again in threads. It's low effort and annoying when a random pun chain appears.

 

[StillStunned]

This must be what it feels like when someone walks over your grave...

 

[StillStunned]

More seriously, a pun is almost like a battle of wits between the punner and the punnee. A clever pun is one that you don't see coming; the traditional groan is acknowledgment of defeat by the punner's cleverness or inventiveness.

 

[SinclairGroupLLP]

I use bad puns quite often - and usually signal to the audience when I've made a particularly good (bad) one.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Be careful in here. Piers Anthony may show up...

 

[MrPixel]

Puns are brain teasers and groans are the desired response. They are (or at least can be) funny, but not "ha ha ha" funny. They're satire on the language, basically. Most do not translate to other languages for that reason, though most languages have their own opportunities for word play.

The MMC in my stories pulls at least two or three puns or similar word play in every chapter. He's known for it. Here's an excerpt, the MMC talking with the owner of the local swimming pool service:

"T-ville Pool and Spa. This is Alexandra. How may I help you?"​

"Hi, Alex!"​

"Hi, Steve! I'll bet you're calling about that pump Ashley ordered."​

"Yep. She probably told you it's getting worse."​

"She did. Our supplier is still trying to hunt one down. That particular model has been discontinued."​

"No drop-in replacement?"​

"Nope. Sucks, doesn't it?"​

"Uh. It's supposed to. That's how pumps work."​

Alex laughs. "You're always full of it, aren't you?"​

 

[Wifetheif]

The political ones are best. "I don't know who this Ted kennedy fellow is but I wish the chap would quit it!"
You are welcome!

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

The political ones are best. "I don't know who this Ted kennedy fellow is but I wish the chap would quit it!"
You are welcome!

Please don't. I'm drowning here...

 

[12oclocktales]

If no pun is intended, then no punishment.

 

[SimonDoom]

There are too many pundits in this thread for my brain to handle, so I'm going to punt on it. I prefer homespun wisdom. I'm opun to changing my mind, however.

 

[SinclairGroupLLP]

He who'd pun would pick a pocket.

 

[MrPixel]

Yeah, puns can be punishing excruciating sometimes. There's the one guy who tried hard, and would constantly miss even after nearly a dozen. You'd expect at least one would deserve a groan or light chuckle, but no pun in ten did.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

By their very nature, puns require a certain degree of cleverness. Really good puns can be amazingly complex. So why do people groan when they hear them and why are they described as the lowest form of humour?

Well, simply put, you can blame Samuel Johnson on that. He really despised Shakespeare's puns, and honestly, I'd hurl a spear up his head for it. I bet good ol' Sammy is all bitter and jealous because he is second place to ol' Billy, who is already first place to have the most worshipped and sucked Johnson of the English language, because of course the Wizard is jealous of the Bard getting all the damsels.

E: Narrator here. Mynx can't type shit, so she had to fix her own typos, but never does it with her stories.

 

[MrPixel]

Quoting my wife when I told her about this thread a minute ago: "Puns. Gawd. You couldn't write without 'em."