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Re: puns involving substitution of meaning

Posted by Henry on January 19, 2004

In Reply to: Re: puns involving substitution of meaning posted by Rude Boy on January 19, 2004

: : : Hi,
: : : I'm trying to come up with a birthday card based on variations of punning phrases. For example, 'How long is a piece of string?' becomes 'How long is a birthday?' The answer will be 'Longer than a piece of string.' There's a substitution involved in making the pun.

: : : Similarly, the pun 'Time flies like bananas, fruit flies like an arrow' involves substitution. This pun works because it confuses one meaning of a word with another. I'm trying to think of other words that I can do this with, to create a birthday card that's a series of questions (How long, how far,...) whose answers involve play on those words.

: : : Any suggestions?

: :
: : :::Perhaps psychiatric evaluation.............

: They don't work, do they?

: Try 'the penis mightier than the sword' - at least a knob-gag will usually get a laugh.

Here are three sources you might be able to use;
A fat sportsman said, "Call me anything you like, but don't call me late for dinner."
Groucho Marks said, "If you can't leave in a taxi, you can leave in a huff. If you can't leave in a huff, you can leave in a minute and a huff."
From an earlier thread on this site, "She left in a Chevrolet and a huff."