A-pun my word

Recently we were trying to eat our meal in peace and quiet, and Jane simply would not settle down. She had been fractious all day, and I was writing her off as tired, but I feared that her peevishness would adversely affect Michael, who, like most men, tends not to tune out the sounds of a baby's crying so well. I apologised for her behaviour. 'I don't know why she's being so cantankerous,' I said, and went on to make such excuses for her that he finally assured me such excuses were unnecessary, adding, 'I hope you don't think I'm being cantankerous.'

'Well, no,' I admitted, 'but you were looking so tense that I figured you were getting a bit can't-take-her-ous.'

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For a very long time, puns were considered strictly lowbrow humour. Their obvious play on well-known words guaranteed a wide and appreciative audience, and a form of humour that was readily enjoyed by people of all education and literacy was not considered highbrow or subtle enough to entertain those of refinement. Any self-held wit could transform himself into a punster, and cheap puns appeared en masse in the daily papers for the guffaws and amusement of the common readership. High-class society entertained itself with such dainties as the double-entendre, which we already know must be far cleverer and more refined because it has a foreign name. Those who did venture a pun were quick to disavow their wit, insisting 'No pun intended,' which became quickly seized upon as a humble form of saying, 'Did you catch that? You may be too thick-headed to notice that I just made a pun, but I simply cannot let this example of my cleverness get by without acknowledgement.'

I am glad that in our less class-conscious society, puns are making a respectable comeback, because I think they can evince such cleverness of word tricks and give us an opportunity to play with the language. Tom Swifties are among my favourites of the genre. I think I may have mentioned these before:

'That's my gold mine,' Tom claimed.
'But that used to be my gold mine!' Tom exclaimed.
'I used to be a pilot,' Tom explained.
'I dropped the toothpaste,' said Tom, crestfallen.
'I lost a fight with a lion,' Tom said off-handedly.