6 ms·
Economist authors are trying especially hard with puns these days.
by grenoire 9y ago
Economist authors are trying especially hard with puns these days.
- reillyse 9y agoYea they are not bad, but cod do batter.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- Cthulhu_ 9y agoThis is about herring, not lekkerbekjes / kibbeling :p
- klmr 9y agoAw you really missed a chance there: you could have deplored their fishing for puns.
- dagw 9y agoEconomist authors have always been big on puns and word play. It's one of the newspaper's quirky charms (as is its instance on calling itself a newspaper and not a magazine).
- eru 9y agoThe name itself is also quirky old-timey: 'economist' had a different meaning when they started. (If memory serves right, it meant someone who economises and figuratively what we'd call a fiscal-conservative today.)
- dvanduzer 9y agoWell, the headline rhymes, which is clever, and maybe a bit too on the nose, but... > "Mr Vollaard’s study has blown the lid off the sealed world of Dutch herring. Fishmongers who long suspected the judge of bias towards Atlantic now say the test is rotten." No puns there. > "But the charges of belangenverstrengeling (conflict of interest) have left the test’s reputation for impartiality gutted." Wait, is the definition of "pun" just that you're using words with a double meaning? Rhyming "funny" in place of the original word isn't the main example of the art? > "No food is more loved." Okay, I haven't been to the Netherlands in like 400 years, but I know this isn't true.
- wjnc 9y ago-Rotten - both in use for fish and tests -Blown the lid - Herring comes in caskets -Gutted - obviously fish-related Pretty smart writing!
- dvanduzer 9y ago> Gritty tart biting! ^ So to be clear... That wasn't me making a pun, right?
- snaily 9y agoNope, not in the majority's book - you need to pass a bar of topical cleverness in order to qualify as a pun. Though, anecdotally, I've seen the type of wordplay you demonstrate referred to as a pun among English speakers in South East Asia. Where do you hail from?
- dvanduzer 9y agoLos Angeles, descended from early 17th century Dutch colonists. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I must admit to feigning confusion about the definition of puns; I was keying into the original commenter's complaint that the author was trying too hard on the pun front. So I quoted examples of what I thought were exemplary wordplay (i.e. not particularly forced puns).
- 9y ago