What is the meaning of "Pun Intended" ?
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I'm not a native English speaker therefore i ask:
what is the simple meaning when someone says "Pun Intended" when referring to something he just said before? (or no pun intended)
i tried to google it but haven't been able to find a simple answer.
i understand that it's a play on words - but when and why?
"You can tune a guitar, but you can't tuna fish" - i understand the joke in this example but, ironically i hear it a lot on the U.S news which i doubt they try to make a joke while debating an important issue
can you please provide an example so that i can finally 'connect' the dots ?thanks guys.
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I'm not a native English speaker therefore i ask:
what is the simple meaning when someone says "Pun Intended" when referring to something he just said before? (or no pun intended)
i tried to google it but haven't been able to find a simple answer.
i understand that it's a play on words - but when and why?
"You can tune a guitar, but you can't tuna fish" - i understand the joke in this example but, ironically i hear it a lot on the U.S news which i doubt they try to make a joke while debating an important issue
can you please provide an example so that i can finally 'connect' the dots ?thanks guys.
A pun is a phrase which could be interpreted in a serious way or in a funny way, such as in:
Someone stole my toilet and the police have nothing to go on.
Having sex in an elevator is wrong on so many levels.
Last time I got caught stealing a calendar I got 12 months.
I saw an ad for burial plots, and thought to myself this is the last thing I need.
All four of those examples have both a serious meaning, and a funny meaning.
If you were being serious, you might add "no pun intended" so that people don't think you were making a joke.
If you were making a joke, you might add "pun intended" so that nobody would take your remark seriously. -
To build on that.
It's possible to say a lot of ambiguous things in English. If you say "pun unintended' you mean that you didn't intend for there to be more than one meaning. If you say 'pun intended' then both meanings are implied.
My choir conductor told the Tenor section: "I know you all like the D but you're staying on the D too long." She did not intend the double meaning.
When I said, "The acting pool in Canada tends to be shallow" - I meant both meanings. There are few available actors for many shows and those actors tend to be shallow.
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A pun is a phrase which could be interpreted in a serious way or in a funny way, such as in:
Someone stole my toilet and the police have nothing to go on.
Having sex in an elevator is wrong on so many levels.
Last time I got caught stealing a calendar I got 12 months.
I saw an ad for burial plots, and thought to myself this is the last thing I need.
All four of those examples have both a serious meaning, and a funny meaning.
If you were being serious, you might add "no pun intended" so that people don't think you were making a joke.
If you were making a joke, you might add "pun intended" so that nobody would take your remark seriously.Thank you for an excellent explaination and examples!
really made things clear to me -
To build on that.
It's possible to say a lot of ambiguous things in English. If you say "pun unintended' you mean that you didn't intend for there to be more than one meaning. If you say 'pun intended' then both meanings are implied.
My choir conductor told the Tenor section: "I know you all like the D but you're staying on the D too long." She did not intend the double meaning.
When I said, "The acting pool in Canada tends to be shallow" - I meant both meanings. There are few available actors for many shows and those actors tend to be shallow.
John Allenson is correct!
