Quote:
Originally Posted by ApK
No complex or obscure wordplay. Just an alien's take on language. Funny to read, like when Ford described the unpleasant feeling of being drunk. But discussing it is like dissecting a frog.
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That was how I read it. But checking:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-lanc...plain/A3533609
Quote:
Construction
Puns are fun to create and share with loved ones, although good body armour and life insurance are advised. To illustrate their construction, here is a pun constructed especially for h2g2:
Did he mark it badly? No, it was only 'Arf a Dent.
This example demonstrates the construction of the pun rather than its quality.
Once the theme is decided, in this case the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it is simply a matter of considering the related material and finding a potential word or phrase for the pun.
The phrase 'Arthur Dent' allows two intrepretations: in addition to the literal one, altering 'Arthur' to a contraction of 'half a' results in the secondary ''Arf a Dent.'
A context then must be found for the phrase, in order to extract both meanings. In this case, the location of the pun in the h2g2 site elicits the literal meaning and the phrasing of the pun extracts the second.
To gain confidence in pun construction, try playing the punning word association game described below. With practice, finding puns will become almost automatic. However, if punning becomes compulsive it would be wise to seek help to establish whether this is Freudian in nature.
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That makes me wonder what I am missing.