Humor – Puns

Many English speaking writers are famous for their wit, from William Shakespeare to Oscar Wilde to Douglas Adams. Wit is typically described as an author’s creativity and brevity when using language. Some forms of wit are respected such as satire, metaphors, or a quick funny quip. The lowest form of wit however is the pun. A pun is when words share the same sound but have different meanings. This is fairly common in English, and it is used to make a joke. Words that sound the same but have different meanings are homonyms. Puns are intended to be funny but are often greeted with a groan from the audience. Sometimes even when speaking naturally a pun may occur and the speaker will say, “No pun intended” when they realize what they have said.
Here are some examples of puns!

The farmer did not receive his reward because he was outstanding in his field.
“Outstanding in his field” can mean that he was an excellent farmer and it can also mean that he was literally standing on his farm land.

My bicycle fell over because it’s too tired.
This makes sense when spoken but less sense when written. “Too tired” means exhausted, but it sounds just like “two tired” which means the bicycle has two wheels and is unstable.

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