Transpositional pun

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A transpositional pun is a pun format with two aspects. It involves transposing the words in a well-known phrase or saying to get a daffynition-like clever redefinition of a well-known word unrelated to the original phrase. The redefinition is thus the first aspect, and the transposition the second aspect. As a result, transpositional puns are considered among the most difficult to create, and commonly the most challenging to comprehend, particularly for non-native speakers of the language in which they're given (most commonly English). [1]

Contents

Examples

Transpositional punOriginal referenceRef.
Dieting: A waist is a terrible thing to mind."A mind is a terrible thing to waste", the motto of the United Negro College Fund. [2]
Hangovers: The wrath of grapes. The Grapes of Wrath [3]
Sports officials: The souls that time men's tries."These are the times that try men's souls.", Thomas Paine [4]
The oboe: An ill wind that nobody blows any good."'Tis an ill wind that blows nobody any good." [5]
Feudalism: It's your count that votes!"It's your vote that counts!" [6]
Soldiers of fortune: Give chance a piece. "Give peace a chance." [ citation needed ]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pollack, John (2012). The Pun Also Rises. Gotham Books. pp.  12–13. ISBN   978-1-59240-675-3.
  2. ↑ Smith, Ronald D. (2013). Strategic Planning for Public Relations. Routledge. p. 223. ISBN   978-0-415-50676-2.
  3. ↑ Oring, Elliott (1995). "Appropriate incongruities: Genuine and spurious". humr. 8 (3): 229–236. doi:10.1515/humr.1995.8.3.229. ISSN   0933-1719.
  4. ↑ Isaacs, Stan (2024-05-14). Out of Left Field: A Sportswriter’s Last Word. University of Illinois Press. PT78. ISBN   978-0-252-05665-9.
  5. ↑ Ammer, Christine (2013). The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, Second Edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 222. ISBN   978-0-547-67658-6.
  6. ↑ Carr, Paul R. (2011). Does Your Vote Count?: Critical Pedagogy and Democracy. Peter Lang. p. xiv. ISBN   978-1-4331-0813-6.
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