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Very interesting stuff. I wonder how they would explain the fact that most people seem to dislike verbal puns. Being one of those people who enjoy them, I never
by CodeMage 17y ago
Very interesting stuff. I wonder how they would explain the fact that most people seem to dislike verbal puns. Being one of those people who enjoy them, I never really understood other people's dislike for them and it keeps puzzling me.
- gcheong 17y agoI think people like their own puns but tend to roll their eyes at other people's (while secretly enjoying them).
- bdr 17y agoA pun is likely to fall above the speaker's "conversational value threshold" (i.e., is it worth saying?) and below the listener's (was it worth him saying?) because (1) the comedic value is low, but (2) the speaker alone gets the added benefits of inflicting the pun and/or thinking they appear clever.
- jerf 17y agoI actually don't mind a well thought-out pun. However, I choose to act as if I don't like them, for two basic reasons: Most puns are just lazy, lazy puns, but worse, it always turns into a freaking pun war. The horse is ridden, beaten, killed, beaten some more, buried, then the grave is beaten. They also tend to squeeze out all other forms of humor. Why puns are uniquely vulnerable to this, I don't know, but it's pretty constant. Get two punsters in one place and it just becomes a humor wasteland until the mental thesaurus for the topic of the day is totally, utterly exhausted. Choosing to act as if I don't like them causes a net improvement of the local ambient humor.
- Groxx 17y agoThe horse had it coming. And I think most punsters view other punsters as challenges. And puns are most definitely Serious Business™, so of course it leads to an all-out battle.