Fun with puns

Usage of puns is very common in all languages. In Tamil writer ki.va. Jagannathan is famous for his usage of puns. Just a sample of his pun in Tamil (I shall give an english translation for our non-tamil friends).

கி.வா.ஜ: " நண்பர் ஒருவரை பார்த்து விட்டுப் போகும் வழியில் உங்களையும் பார்த்து விட்டுப் போகலாமென்று வந்துள்ளேன்"

நணபர்: " எப்படியோ அந்த சாக்கிலாவது எங்க வீட்டுக்கு வந்தீங்களே"

கி.வா.ஜ: " நான் சாக்கில் வரலை. காரில் வந்தேன்

The writer Ki.Va. jagannathan went to a friend's house and told him that he happened to come that side visiting another friend and he came visiting him also. The friend replied " Oh, it is fine. Atleast you came to visit by excuse". Ki.Va. Jagannathan replied " I did not come by excuse, but I came by car".

In Marathi, the famous actor Dada Kondke is famous for using pun in a vulgar way. He gave to one of his movie the title " Andheri raath mein diya tere haath mein". Here, diya means lamp as well as "gave" . If one takes the meaning of lamp it is innocuous and if one takes the meaning of gave it is vulgar.

Here are some sentences which bring out the essence of pun.

1. I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

2. Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.

3. To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

4. A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.

5. A thief fell and broke his leg in wet concrete. He became a hardened criminal.

6. We'll never run out of math teachers because they always multiply.

7. The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.

8. The dead batteries were given out free of charge.

9. If you take a laptop computer for a run, you could jog your memory.

10. A dentist and a manicurist fought tooth and nail.

11. What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead giveaway.)

12. I didn't know where the sun went at night, so I stayed up thinking about it until it dawned on me.

 

Dear Kamalji,

I am glad that atleast you have appreciated the thread and you have given an excellent FB. I am also thrilled to see that you are going to include this in your blog. Thanks for your great hearted appreciation. Your pun of going unerwater to fish and coming up with something is truely hilarious.

Regards,

Geetha Iyer