The unintended pun in everyday life.

Friday, February 25, 2011

How Common Are Unintended Puns?

Here are three puns from today, and one I read the other day. The first is from a work colleague who said it with absolutely no look that he meant to be funny. The second is from a quote in a news story, again I think said with no intention to make a pun. The third is a pun from a Yahoo! article which might be intentional. You'll have to decide. The last can't be intentional, because it is too morbid and sad for somebody to try to make a pun about such a thing.

I include these very recent ones to help us see how common these Unintended Puns must be. I'm one person, reading a few web pages a day, talking to a few people a day. And yet I've collected about five this week. I'm pretty sure our brains are up to something--and the activation web has a lot do with it.

Here are the puns:
February 25, 2011
While describing his excitement about finding a new gym, a work colleague said: “Have I told you about my new gym? It's worked out great!”
 The next one is subtle--the pun involves a person living in a town called Klinger using the word "cling" to describe people's reaction to a great young basketball player. Click here for the article.
February 25, 2011
Philly teen a legitimate phenom, by Cameron Smith: “...the Klinger (Pa.) Middle School student is focused on being a middle school student...He is a nice kid, and people are going to cling to him.”
 This next one could be on purpose. It's from an article about spouses sharing household chores. Click here for the article.
February 16, 2011
Economics: the key to happy couples' division of labor, by Dory Devlin: “Once you’ve ironed out all disagreements/agreements of splitting chores between the two of you, get ready for some new battles over what chores the kids should do.”
Finally, the morbid, sad one. The headline contains the pun.  Click here for the article.
February 25, 2011
Article by the Associated Press: “Daycare Fire Raises Questions, Sparks Investigation”
So, today's question: How common are Unintended Puns? If I notice them all around me, am I just a crazed victim who can't escape the taunts and abuses of a vast conspiracy? Or does the brain generate these word combinations on a frequent basis? Please help me decide. My sanity may depend on it. Not really--this is a guilt-free blog.
by Bob H. at 5:01 PM
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3 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 28, 2011 at 11:46 AM

    As far as the question goes... doesn't that have to do with the "verbal fluency" you discussed in one of the previous posts? I mean, some people might see numerical patterns everywhere if they have "mathematical fluency," but instead you're verbally fluent, so you see word patterns everywhere.

    Just a thought-- maybe you could expand on that more in a future post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Claire H.March 1, 2011 at 8:42 AM

    Also, I just had another "homonym" pun... not sure if those count. Another thing to consider.

    I was reporting on the Medifast forum that I had lost 2.8 pounds, so I was "on my weigh [retyped to "way"] down." Had to correct myself there.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bob H.March 3, 2011 at 5:33 PM

    Thanks, Claire. I will comment on both of your thoughts--homonym puns, which I think should "count" in our system, and verbal fluency, which probably contributes greatly to how often one notices the puns in the air.

    ReplyDelete

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