“You can tune (为……调音) a piano, but you can’t tuna fish.” Upon reading the sentence, you’re either laughing, scratching your head or rolling your eyes. Welcome to the world of puns (双关语).
A pun is a form of wordplay that uses similar-sounding words or phrases for comic effect. For example, in the first sentence, the usage of “tuna” is a pun because it sounds like “tune a”. Of course, you can’t “tune a” fish, but it’s a clever way of using words in an unexpected way.
“They can be a demonstration of cleverness,” John Pollack. author of The Pun Also Rises (the title itself a pun based on Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises). “You’re relying on a person’s ability to analyze language, to understand the nuances (细微差别) and complexities of words. Puns show us how subjective meaning and its many layers can be packed into one word. That’s why for most of Western history, puns were a sign of high intellect. They were a tool, and they remain a tool, to pack more meaning into fewer words.”
Puns are used widely throughout popular culture in TV, movies, and campaigns and marketing. For example, the ice cream company Ben and Jerry’s regularly uses puns in their flavors, such as “Americone Dream”. The American animated comedy Bob’s Burgers uses puns in every episode from the title sequence, episode name and Bob’s burgers of the day— like the Poblano Picasso burger (a burger that uses poblano peppers named after the artist, Pablo Picasso) or Eggers Can’t Be Cheesers (an egg burger based on the saying, “Beggars can’t be choosers”).
You can try writing your own puns, but remember, don’t write with a broken pencil because it’s pointless.
【小题1】Why does the author mention a pun at the beginning of the text?| A．To introduce the origin of puns. | B．To help readers see what a pun is. |
| C．To show how confusing puns can be. | D．To describe people’s reactions to puns. |
| A．Puns help us analyze language. |
| B．Puns are popular with clever people. |
| C．Puns are usually presented in complex forms. |
| D．Puns make use of different meanings of words. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By making a classification. | D．By drawing a conclusion. |
| A．give a warning | B．ask for advice |
| C．offer suggestions | D．show comic effect |
