This op-ed seriously made me laugh out loud. I thought it was cleverly and
humourously written. Part of the appeal in this op-ed is that it is
lighthearted, as I have said in previous posts it was nice to read something
that wasn't about war, the economy or death. The author, Joseph Tartakovsky,
took a regular, every day concept and wrote an entire piece about it.
Tartakovsky related well to his audience, providing personal anecdotes and
asking them to draw on their own experiences. I mean who hasn't groaned at the
corniest pun? I know I am constantly rolling my eyes at my father when he
decides it might be fun to quote something like Wigler's Bakery slogan ""Look
deep into our ryes." So. Cheesy. Tartakovsky even makes use of his subject
matter, the ever-contreversial pun, in his own piece.
On the matter of puns I have to say I am mostly inclined to agree with Dryden,
who called them the “lowest and most groveling kind of wit.” Especially if it
wasn't even thought up by the speaker.
I recognize that puns can have be useful in literature, particularly
rhetorically or to lighten the mood of the text, but it seems to me they still
add a certain cheapness. I am not a huge fan of puns, one or two is ok I guess
but when they get overwhelming I sort of tune them out and they become
redundant.
In some cases puns can be fun, such as in the novel "Night Mare," whose title
itself is a play on words. In this novel the puns and wordplay serve to keep the
reader on their toes, constantly sorting our the double entendres from the
literal statements. Still, puns can always be overdone.
Finally, I thought it was really interesting how Shakespeare's writing would not
have been considered full of puns but *word play* in his time. I had always
wondered why he would use a technique that is intended to be humouress when
talking about something serious. Because of the puns or wordplay, I would often
take the situation less seriously. However, if I were to now go back and reread
some of his works I would think differently.
Anyways, here's the link.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/28/opinion/28Tartakovsky.html?_r=2&em
I liked the op-ed a lot, too. It was on a common topic that nobody really thinks about much. (I think it should have been published on April 1, though.) Sometimes the funniest puns are those that come unintentionally. For instance, my brother was loudly humming the "Rocky" theme song when my mother came down the steps. "That song's not gonna fly with me," she yelled before she realized what she had said. These Freudian slips tend to be a lot funnier than intended puns.
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