The Smoking Pun: Crimes Against the Language

Taylor, Thaddeus

ISBN 10: 0977046907 / ISBN 13: 9780977046904

Published by Cerebral Market, 2006

About this Item

[2], 105, [5] p. Illustrations. This collection of 44 puns, each accompanied by a funny illustration, analyzes in endnotes the origins, roots, prefixes, suffixes, and linguistic peculiarities of certain punned words. Tricky twists turn phrases such as "religiously ambivalent" into "either-or-thodox, " and illuminating notes explain how such phrases as "no stone unturned" mutated from the darker "no bones unburned, " which refers to the digging up and destroying of the bones of people posthumously convicted of heresy. Readers are also invited to submit their own puns using mail-in forms at the back of the book. From Wikipedia: "The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic, homographic, metonymic, or metaphorical language. A pun differs from a malapropism in that a malapropism uses an incorrect expression that alludes to another (usually correct) expression, but a pun uses a correct expression that alludes to another (sometimes correct but more often absurdly humorous) expression. Henri Bergson defined a pun as a sentence or utterance in which "two different sets of ideas are expressed, and we are confronted with only one series of words". Puns may be regarded as in-jokes or idiomatic constructions, given that their usage and meaning are entirely local to a particular language and its culture. For example, camping is intense (in tents). Puns are used to create humor and sometimes require a large vocabulary to understand. Puns have long been used by comedy writers, such as William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, and George Carlin. The Roman playwright Plautus is famous for his tendency to make up and change the meaning of words to create puns in Latin." Very good. Signed by previous owner. Sticker residue on back cover over barcode. Several give inscriptions throughout. First edition. First edition [stated]. Presumed first printing. Seller Inventory # 66733

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Smoking Pun: Crimes Against the Language

Publisher: Cerebral Market

Publication Date: 2006

Binding: Trade paperback

Illustrator: Nynas, Tom

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

This collection of 44 puns, each accompanied by a funny illustration, analyzes in endnotes the origins, roots, prefixes, suffixes, and linguistic peculiarities of certain punned words. Tricky twists turn phrases such as "religiously ambivalent" into "either-or-thodox," and illuminating notes explain how such phrases as "no stone unturned" mutated from the darker "no bones unburned," which refers to the digging up and destroying of the bones of people posthumously convicted of heresy. Readers are also invited to submit their own puns using mail-in forms at the back of the book.

About the Author:

Thad Taylor is an acclaimed songwriter & composer whose clients include R & D Thinktank, The United Way and Medical City Dallas. He has a degree in Sociology from Trinity University, is a long-time veteran of Brentano's and Borders, and is the founder of the non-profit Freedom of Association, an organization whose mission is to, in the words of Leonard Bernstein, "encourage thought, free and creative".Tom Nynas is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and The Creative Circus in Atlanta. His work has been featured in leading publications and awards programs, including Communication Arts, Graphis Design Annuals and Graphis Logo. He has served as a judge at the Philadelphia Art Director's Club Show, and has been a guest speaker at both the Portfolio Center and at the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts. For seven years, he has taught design and typography at Texas A&M Commerce, and according to his son Stewie is really good at drawing Batman.