Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Give-Away of The Pun Also Rises by John Pollack

The last post reviewed a great new book on the history of the pun, The Pun Also Rises by John Pollack. The publisher, Gotham Books, is giving away a copy of the book to one lucky Brave New Words reader.

To win a copy of the book, post a comment here with your favorite pun. Make sure you include your name and location too. You have five days to post; the winner will be chosen randomly and announced on 16 May. So get thee to a punnery!

8 comments:

Nora Bartels said...

I'm going to try my luck then. I hope a German pun is OK, too. It's one I learned in my youth:

Wer ARD sagt, muß auch BRD sagen.

The original saying goes: "Wer A sagt, muß auch B sagen", i.e. "If you say A, you have to say B, too.", meaning that you have to think of the consequences of your decisions. An example: Someone tells you about their decision to think of the environment first from now on. Then you notice their air condition is in full use and mention it critically. This is the time to add: "Wer A sagt, muß auch B sagen".

Now about that pun: In East Germany (GDR), it was possible but not very welcomened to watch TV from West Germany (FRG, the German abbreviation is BRD). Of course, everybody watched it anyway. There were not many channels to choose from, the most prominent one in West Germany was the public channel ARD. So if you talked with someone and they told about something they saw in West German TV, some answered as a joke: "Wer ARD sagt, muß auch BRD sagen", i.e. if you watch West German TV, you should move to West Germany, too.

It now seems to me I could have chosen something that needs less explanation... Anyway, I would be delighted to receive that book. My location is Berlin.

Rosalind said...

One of my favourite bilingual jokes:

Q: Why do the French only use one egg to make an omelette?

A: Because in France, one egg is un oeuf!

(Best performed with comedy OTT French accent)

Dagmar said...

Oooh - j'adore le pun de Rosalind. One of my faves is a pun about puns:
"There was the person who sent ten different puns to various people, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did." (cue guffaw!)
Would love to win the book!
- Dagmar

Stefano Favero said...

Hi!
This is a very, very famous pun, maybe not the best, but if you remember the film..you find it just lovely:

Mia: Vincent, do you still want to hear my Fox Force Five joke?
Vincent: Sure, but I think I'm still a little too petrified to laugh.
Mia: No, you wont laugh, 'cus it's not funny. But if you still wanna hear it, I'll tell it.
Vincent: I can't wait.
Mia: Three tomatoes are walking down the street- a poppa tomato, a momma tomato, and a little baby tomato. Baby tomato starts lagging behind. Poppa tomato gets angry, goes over to the baby tomato, and smooshes him... and says, Catch up.

Bye, Stefano Favero(Bologna - Italy or Kaliningrad - Russian Federation)

Sarah Alys said...

I often think of my favorite business name ever: a hair salon in my hometown called the "Curl Up and Dye."

Here, someone's posted a pic on Flickr so you'll know I'm not making it up: http://www.flickr.com/photos/teamperks/5087617796/

^_^

Dallas, Texas, USA

Andrew Heath said...

How are you?

I'm as well as a hole in the ground full of water, as fair as a summer carnival, as fine as a punishment for speeding, as good as the Friday before Easter, as great as shredded cheese, and as grand as a piano!

B.J. Epstein said...

Haha, Andrew! That was a good series!

Best wishes,
BJ

Mikkel said...

How about this slogan from a Danish ice cream vendor:

"We only have ice for you"