Remember that article I linked to on puns in March? Well, here's another one, this time defending puns and questioning why Americans hate them so much.
I don't know. I like puns (though some of my Dad's puns... heaven help us). And I seem to be surrounded by them: puns appear in the comics, in book titles, newspaper headlines, e-mail forwards, and restaurant names (i.e. Thai One On). If Americans hate puns, then we sure are a masochistic society.
I think we're both addicted to puns and ashamed of our addiction. Is this dislike a mild sort of classism? Most puns can be understood by anyone who speaks the language, so they're a populist form of humor, linked to "lowbrow," commercial texts.
Of course, specialty shops continue to sell t-shirts, mugs, and tote bags adorned with jokes for their niche market. Is my Dad's t-shirt with the ancient mathematician and the slogan "Here's looking at Euclid" a more acceptable form of humor than your garden variety pun? Or just as groaning-inducing?
Thoughts?
Nothing's wrong with puns! I love puns! (You've probably picked up on that recently, hmmm?) And I certainly get the impression that most people don't really hate puns, but sort of play along with the notion that it is a "low" form of comedy. They groan and protest, even as they laugh at it. I think people really secretly love puns, but they're afraid to admit it.
ReplyDeleteI think it's the nature of puns that make me groan. They're usually so cheesy! I've seen some cute ones, and I appreciate their cleverness, but I typically don't acknowledge them when spoken in conversation. Of course, then there's that silence where the other person is like, "Get it...? Huh? HUH?!" And I'm like, "YES, I GOT IT, AND I KNOW YOU DID TOO, so why do we have to pretend it was funny and laugh out loud about it?"
ReplyDeleteGreg is notorious for doing this to me. I usually pretend to be deaf. If I exert energy to a response, it's usually in a glare that says, "You really should know me better than this."