Puns are great. People don't realize just how amusing a pun can be... puns are a form of wordplay that can involve references to different ideas and thoughts that others don't know about. For me at least it's like a huge network of inside jokes. Sometimes puns are obvious on the outside... take the Merit Badger in the post below. Outwardly we can all have a giggle over the goofyness of having a badger instead of a badge, but since badgers are of cultural significance to me in a way most people don't know of, the Merit Badger takes on a deeper meaning. If to me badgers are loyal, faithful, compassionate, trustworthy creatures (through over a decade of reading children's and adolescent novels about these critters... "Redwall" and "Animals of Farthing Wood" anyone?), the merit badger gains deeper metaphorical meaning. And add on top of this different meanings of the word "badger". Who do we badger? On what topics do we badger them? Perhaps badgering is, in a way, a trait of someone who is loyal and compassionate (at least, I hope so, I do a lot of badgering). Which leads to the next idea: puns don't have to be funny. In fact, puns are more meaningful if they're not funny. In fact, puns can evolve, through that network of inside jokes and metaphors, into something that is deep and layered in nuances.
When I pun, I do not always joke. The joke is just a side benefit of the pun. :)
Therefore, puns are awesome.
No comments:
Post a Comment