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KIWI! Apteryx!! Neuron connection restored! I now remember years ago coming across the Kiwi in the dictionary with its little picture (much like that one) and thinking it was adorable. Then I came across "apteryx" and thought it was a cool alternative name. I also found the idea of apterygial birds as ironic and I felt bad for them.  Poor kiwi can't fly. :'(
Last edited by mechanesthesia; 04/09/06 11:43 AM.
[insert signature here]
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mechanesthesia, your whole entire post is just asking for numerous ripostes from our Kiwi brethren! [getting hastily out of the way e] I'll say one thing--you and Ari sure have livened up the place! 
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Quote:
Welcome Aramis11. Interesting choice of avatar, if I may say so. Are you an expat Kiwi, or just fond of apteryx? 
Thanks. Wishing there were a less mundane answer but really just selected it from the stock set as the most suitable. Being from NZ would certainly be more interesting but alas, was not given a choice in it.
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Now am wondering what a prescriptivist definition of 'pun' would be. Maybe we ASCII the Faldage you pointee?
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Quote:
Now am wondering what a prescriptivist definition of 'pun' would be. Maybe we ASCII the Faldage you pointee?
A pun is a play on words in which two or more definitions of a word contribute to the meaning. Often on this board some of us start going crazy with some theme saying things like "I never sausage a situation" and "I'll be bacon a cake tomorrow." Generally the meat related meanings contribute nothing to the discourse. I, for one, would not call these puns.
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FWIW I had understood puns to be jokes based on two words with different meanings that sounded similar but were not identical, such as the example above "I never sausage a thing." A play on words uses actual dual meanings, and I somehow had understood to be a little higher than a pun. For example, "In preparation for the party, Doris watered the flowers, and David, the drinks." This uses two slightly different meanings of the verb "to water." (Or at least slightly different motivations for pouring water.) In comparison, the question "Water you looking at?" is a pun because it relies on the phonetic similarity between "what are" and "water." In short, puns are wordplay based primarily on the way words sound and nothing more. More sophisticated wordplay involves invoking dual meanings from a single word.
That said, the actual dictionary definition of a pun is broader than I had believed and does include wordplay in general.
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Punning is a science which teaches men how to pervert the meanings of words and phrases; and by a dexterous sleight of tongue, make them subservient to their own purpose. This art, though very much esteemed by some; by the generality of the world is held in very great abhorrence, and its professors viewed with secret fear and distrust.
- G. R. Wythern Baxter (1842)
science? art? Baxter goes on to refer to punning as a liberal science.
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I eustacy lots of goofy puns here...[shaking head walking away-e]
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I understand by "pun" what you do by "word play," AW.
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Pooh-Bah
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This discussion of punning reminds me of a film which I am pretty sure I have praised here on AWAD before, Ridicule, which centers around life at court during the reign of Louis XVI. Wit and wordplay are very important but puns are considered the antithesis of wit. One young noble who is known for his wit, and who has been hoping to meet the King, does meet him unexpectedly on a morning walk around Versailles. The King remarks to him that he has heard of his renowned wit, and commands him to say something witty for his amusement there on the spot. The surprised young noble asks the King, on what subject shall he make a witty remark? Louis XVI replies that he should make it on himself, the King. The young noble, somewhat thunderstruck, replies, "But the King is not a subject. He is the King." Louis XVI smiles approvingly, but as he walks away he asks his retainers "That wasn't a pun, was it?" (or words to that effect). "Oh no, sir," they assure him, "it was a play on words."
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