The homophonic pun, a common type, uses word pairs which sound alike (homophones) but are not synonymous. Walter Redfern exemplified this type with his statement, To pun is to treat homonyms as synonyms.[5] For example, in George Carlins phrase Atheism is a non-prophet institution, the word prophet is put in place of its homophone profit, altering the common phrase non-profit institution. Similarly, the joke Question: Why do we still have troops in Germany? Answer: To keep the Russians in Czech relies on the aural ambiguity of the homophones check and Czech. Often, puns are not strictly homophonic, but play on words of similar, not identical, sound as in the example from the Pinky and the Brain cartoon film series: I think so, Brain, but if we give peas a chance, wont the lima beans feel left out? which plays with the similar—but not identical—sound of peas and peace.[6]
Posted on: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 05:36:09 +0000