While doing research for his now released book,
Away With Words: An Irreverent Tour Through the World of Pun Competitions, author Joe Berkowitz recalls experiencing firsthand that some puns are just interruptive white noise while others have the power to make people stand up and scream, like when a friend mentioned not being a fan of cats, Berkowitz had spontaneously blurted out the words “You must be kitten” before he could stop himself.*
CARTOON CREDIT: ESQUIRE MAGAZINE
In “If You Think You Hate Puns, You’re Wrong,” an article he wrote for the April 30, 2018 issue of
Esquire Magazine, Berkowitz observes: “Puns are embedded in everything people don’t like—advertising, novelty menu items, morning news show banter, movie review headlines—and often delivered with a certain smirking expectancy. The point too often seems to be less about the clean
feng shui of inventive wordplay, than the fact that someone has made a pun at all. (But) the good news is that puns are also embedded in everything people do like, and in the right hands they are tiny word-shaped miracles.”
Read “If You Think You Hate Puns, You’re Wrong” in the April 30, 2018 issue of Esquire Magazine now!--------
*In the unlikely event that anyone didn’t get the pun in “You must be kitten,” it was meant to humorously suggest the sound of “You must be kidding.”PUN COLLECTIONS IN THE FORUM WORTH CHECKING OUT:“20 Fun Puns and Groaners” (2014) “26 Funny Sayings & Witty Puns” (2013) “Puns to Alleviate the Pain of Occupational Dismissals” (2011)
