Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The Pun Also Rises review

The Pun Also Rises.  How the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed History, and make Wordplay more than Some Antics by John Pollack

All Puns are not created equal.  So says the amazing former world champion punster who won the pun-offs held in Austin, Texas in 1995.  A pun is essentially a play on words.  There are many different types of puns as Pollack explains and most people begin using puns as children. 

Puns are everywhere.  After I started reading this book, puns started stalking me.  I heard them in songs, saw them in TV sitcoms, read them in the newspapers and on billboards.  I've fallen into the art of punning and I couldn't get up.  Punning takes a certain amount of skill and knowledge as Pollack points out.  Your brain actually switches hemispheres to find the play on words.  Not everyone gets it and some even get mad and condemn the pun as a low form of humor.  I for one appreciate a good pun.  I laughed heartily while reading this book and even stroked my ego with intelligent wordplay.

Holy Shiite, Punning has been around for as long as we have had the spoken word. Language began in the Middle East and culturally diffused throughout the world and the pun hitched a ride from one location to the next.  Puns can be found in every language, in every sacred text and just about anywhere you look.  This book is a lot of fun for the curious mind and language lovers.

What is your favorite pun?

One of mine is:

When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

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