Pun is a humorous use of words that sound alike or nearly alike but have different meanings. For example, a rascally character in William Shakespeare’s play Henry V says, “To England will I steal, and there I’ll steal.” Benjamin Franklin, arguing for American unity against Britain during the American Revolution (1775-1783), said, “We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” A pun also may be called a play on words. Because a pun condenses more than one meaning into one word, an author can use a pun to present several ideas in a single expression.
Some literary critics, particularly those of England during the 1700’s, have called the pun “the lowest form of wit.” However, many of the world’s greatest writers have frequently used puns. For example, some of the most delightful passages in Shakespeare’s early comedies are those in which characters indulge in punning contests. The Irish novelist James Joyce filled his novel Finnegans Wake (1939) with clever puns in several languages.
