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pun |
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pun, use of words, usually humorous, based on (a) the several meanings of one word, (b) a similarity of meaning between words that are pronounced the same, or (c) the difference in meanings between two words pronounced the same and spelled somewhat similarly, e.g., Thomas Hood's "They went and told the sexton and the sexton tolled the bell." Puns have also been used seriously, as in the Bible, Mat. 16.18: "Thou art Peter [Gr. Petros], and upon this rock [Gr. petra] I will build my church." pun the use of words or phrases to exploit ambiguities and innuendoes in their meaning, usually for humorous effect; a play on words. An example is: "Ben Battle was a soldier bold, And used to war's alarms: But a cannonball took off his legs, So he laid down his arms." (Thomas Hood) How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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An eighteenth-century pigsty (Saustall) is punningly and practically transformed into a showroom (Schaustall) by the simple expedient of placing a timber structure inside the original crumbling stone shell. Genthara," a vast retrospective of Luigi Ontani's work comprising hundreds of photographs, paintings, drawings, sculptures, and videos, was pointedly flanked on the one hand by a selection of Italian art from the SMAK's collection, focusing on a superb group of pieces from the era of arte povera, and on the other by a group show of young Italian artists punningly titled "Forse Italia" ("Maybe Italy," but playing on the name of Silvio Berlusconi's political party, Forza Italia, i. Ficino punningly responded, "Would that the marvelous youth had diligently considered the arguments and discussions I have dealt with above before he had had the rashness to confront his own teacher and to espouse an opinion so contrary to that of all the Platonists. |
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