A pun (or paronomasia) is a phrase that deliberately exploits confusion between similar-sounding words for humorous or rhetorical effect. Puns are a form of word play, and occur in all languages.
A friend gave me a good one yesterday about Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was the great Indian advocate of nonviolent protest. He was an ascetic. He devoted his entire life to resisting the domination of the British empire by fasting and lecturing to create awareness among millions of Indians. He lived and died a pauper, travelling on foot to far off lands trying to unite the Indians against the oppressive Brits, choosing to weave his own loin cloths from Indian cotton, and eating whatever vegetables he grew in his backyard. He was, therefore, not in the best of health.
So my friend said, "You know, Gandhi is a super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis." Quite clever, don't you think?
Friday, May 30, 2008
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