AMBIGUITY

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AMBIGUITY PUNSsee also Jokes and Language
Play

• by Don L. F. Nilsen
• and Alleen Pace Nilsen

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A NO. 1

• Two graduates of Iona College in New Rochelle,
  New York, started a pizza shop that they named A
  No. 1. This was Iona spelled packwards.
• The college sued on the grounds of a misuse of
  the Iona identity.
• The judge sided with the graduates, saying, At
  best, the similarities that do exist can be
  interpreted as a satirical play on familiar
  symbolism.
• (Nilsen Nilsen 190)

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THE AMBIGUITY PARADOX

• Everything is ambiguous, as long as it is taken
  by itself, while nothing is strictly ambiguous if
  we look at it top-down, placing it in its proper,
  cognitive environment. (Mey 86, Sperber and
  Wilson 205)

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AMBIGUITY

• Flying planes can be dangerous.
• The missionaries are ready to eat.
• Jacob Mey says, In real life, there is no such
  thing as ambiguityexcepting certain, rather
  special occasions, on which one tries to deceive
  ones partner, or keep the door open. (Mey 12)

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DEFINITION OF PUN

• The English meaning of pun, which comes from the
  Italian word puntiglio meaning fine point, is
  the humorous use of a word in such a way as to
  suggest two or more of its meanings or the
  meaning of another word similar in sound.
• (Nilsen Nilsen 238)

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WHAT SAMUEL JOHNSON SAID ABOUT PUNS

• People that make puns are like wanton boys that
  put coppers on the railroad tracks.
• They amuse themselves and the other children, but
  their little trick may upset a freight train of
  conversation for the sake of a battered
  witticism.
• (Nilsen Nilsen 238)

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• In spite of this criticism, Johnsons poetry
  contains many puns, just as Shakespeares does.
• The best puns are those that fit so well into a
  conversation that they increase the level of
  understanding for those who catch on without
  interrupting the conversations flow for those
  who miss the point.
• For example in Romeo and Juliet, when Mercutio is
  bleeding to death he says, Ask for me tomorrow
  and you shall find me a grave man.
• It was at this point that Romeo and Juliet
  changed from a comedy into a tragedy, because now
  the mercurial and comic Mercutio was dead.

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MARKETING TIME MAGAZINE

• Time flies (1924)
• Time marches on! (1932)
• Time to get the facts (1932)
• Time its brief (1938)
• Its Time (1944)
• Time---to get it straight (1951)
• A man hardly ever has Time all for himself (1954)
• This is the time to start reading Time (1960)
• Make time for Time (1989)
• Understanding comes with Time (1994)
• (Nilsen Nilsen 238)

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JOHNNY CARSON AS KARNAK THE MAGNIFICENT

• On his Tonight Show routine as Karnak the
  Magnificent, Johnny Carson was given the answers
  to which he would provide the questions, which
  often relied on puns.
• The answer is Catch-22
• The question is, What would the Los Angeles
  Dodgers do if they were hit 100 pop flies?
• (Nilsen Nilsen 238)

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BOAT NAMES

• Nauti By Nature
• Ahoy-Vey
• Pier Pressure
• Berth Control
• Harvey Wharfbanger
• (Nilsen Nilsen 238)

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PUBLIC CUTESPEAK

• Mustards Last Stand (a hot dog restaurant)
• The Wizard of Ooze (a septic tank cleaner)
• Currier and Chives (a catering service)
• Wreck-Amended (an auto body shop)
• Curl Up and Dye (a beauty shop)
• Author Dennis Baron likens such names as these to
  overripe camembert. He calls them public
  cutespeak and conjectures that enjoying these
  names has to be an acquired taste.
• (Nilsen Nilsen 238)

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PUNS THAT WORK

• The Ford V-8 was a car with a V-shaped block and
  8 cylinders. V8 Vegitable juice reappropriated
  the term.
• Arbys (from R.B. the initials of Roast Beef)

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CULTURAL AMBIGUITY

• In 1960, when Jack Paar told a mildly risque
  story about a WC, the network censored him,
  causing him to walk off his show for a week.
• The story was about a Swiss schoolmaster who
  misunderstood a British womans request for
  information about the W.C.
• The school master thought the woman was asking
  about the Wayside Chapel, but was instead
  asking about the Water Closet (British for
  toilet).

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• The schoolmaster wrote, The W.C. is situated
  nine miles from the house. It is capable of
  holding 229 people and is open on Sunday and
  Thursday only. I would suggest that you come
  early, although there is plenty of standing room
  as a rule. A good number of people bring their
  lunch and make a day of it. It may interest you
  to know that my daughter was married in the W.C.,
  and it was there that she met her husband. I can
  remember the rush there was for seats. There
  were 10 people to a seat usually occupied by
  one. (Nilsen Nilsen 25)

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LEXICAL AMBIGUITY

• On a Garbage Truck Our business is picking up.
• Ad for Cheese Cheese can make you a hero this
  weekend.
• On a Drapery Shop After 35 years, weve finally
  got the hang of it.
• Optometrists Sign Theres more to a vision
  examination than meets the eye.
• Ad for Asperin We go to a lot of pains.
• (Nilsen Nilsen 25)

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SYNTACTIC AMBIGUITY

• A man goes into a restaurant draggng a 10-foot
  alligator. He manages to get the alligator
  stuffed under a table. When the waitress
  approaches, he asks her if they serve senior
  citizens here. Of course, she says. Good, he
  answers. Give my alligator a senior citizen,
  and Ill have a cheeseburger.

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MORE SYNTACTIC AMBIGUITY

• Stan Kenton wrote a song entitled, Celery Stalks
  at midnight.
• Charles Ulrich wrote a riddle Q Do you know
  what good clean fun is? A No. What good is it?
• In the Frank and Ernest comic strip, Frank says
  to a real estate agent, Sure, wed like to see a
  model home. What time does she get off work?
• (Nilsen Nilsen 26)

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• In Bud Blakes Tiger comic strip, a little boy
  reports, Im gonna be in the school play. When
  his mother asks, What part? he responds, All
  of me.
• (Nilsen Nilsen 26)

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FROM LINGUISTICS TEXTBOOKS

• The governor is a dirty street fighter.
• Did you ever see a horse fly?
• I cannot recommend him too highly.
• Could this be the invisible mans hair tonic?
• He gave her dog biscuits.
• Its the worlds largest war surplus store.
• Cynthia left directions for her Dad to follow.

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NORMAN STAGEBERGS EXAMPLES

• Dance Hall Sign Clean and decent dancing every
  night except Monday.
• Law School Questionnaire How many faculty
  members do you have, broken down by sex?
• Conference Speech I have discussed the high
  cost of living with several women.
• Diner Sign Wanted Man to scrub floor and two
  waitresses.

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JOHN CROSBIE THE PUNDIT

• In 1979, John Crosbie, a Canadian writer and
  publisher, founded the International Save the Pun
  Foundation, which publishes a monthly newsletter,
  The Pundit, and produces a list of the Ten Best
  Stressed Puns of the Year.
• After Crosbies death in 1994, Norman Gilbert, a
  financial planner in Toronto became Chairman of
  the Bored.
• More than 1,500 members from around the world
  belong to the organization, which also gives a
  POTY award to the Punster of the Year.
• The year that author and collector Richard
  Lederer won, he said as part of his acceptance
  speech at the annual April First dinner in
  Chicago, A good pun is like a good Steak---a
  rare medium well done.

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Avocado Pig
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Carrot, Grape Fruit Cauliflower Ice Cream
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Cauliflower Olive Sheep
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Eggplant Penguins
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Green Pepper Frogs
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Kale Fish
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Lettuce Duck
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Rutabaga Mushroom Teeter Totter
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Yam Hamster
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• Reference
• Encyclopedia of 20th Century American Humor.
  http//www.greenwood.com/catalog/OXHUMOR.aspx

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• References 1
• Baron, Dennis. Declining Grammar and Other Essays
  on the English Vocabulary Urbana, IL National
  Council of Teachers of English, 1989.
• Chiaro, Delia. The Language of Jokes Analyzing
  Verbal Play. New York, NY Routledge, 1992.
• Culler, Jonathan, ed. On Puns The Foundation of
  Letters New York, NY Basil Blackwell, 1988.
• Hauptman, Don. Cruel and Unusual Puns. New York,
  NY Dell/Laurel, 1991.
• Lederer, Richard. Anguished English. Charlston,
  SC Wyrick and Co., 1987.

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• References 2
• Lederer, Richard. The Bride of Anguished English.
  New York, NY St Martin's Press, 2000.
• Lederer, Richard. Crazy English. New York, NY
  Pocket Books, 1990.
• Lederer, Richard. The Cunning Linguist. New York,
  NY St. Martin's/Griffin, 2003.
• Lederer, Richard. Fractured English. New York,
  NY Pocket Books, 1997.
• Lederer, Richard. Get Thee to a Punnery. New
  York, NY Laurel, 1988.

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• References 3
• Lederer, Richard. More Anguished English. New
  York, NY Delacorte, 1993.
• Lederer, Richard. Nothing Risque, Nothing Gained.
  Chicago, IL Chicago Review Press, 1996.
• Lederer, Richard. Pun and Games. Chicago, IL
  Chicago Review Press, 1996.
• Lodge, David. Paradise News. Harmondsworth,
  England Penguin, 1992.

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• References 4
• Mey, Jacob L. Pragmatics An Introduction, 2nd
  Edition. Oxford, England, 201.
• Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Nilsen.
  Encyclopedia of 20th Century American Humor.
  Westport, CT Greenwood, 2000.
• Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Nilsen.
  Tendentious Puns Names with a Purpose. Et
  Cetera 48.2 (1991) 146-152.
• Sperber, Dan and Deirdre Wilson. Relevance
  Communication and Cognition, 2nd Edition.
  Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press, 1995.
• Stageberg, Norman C. "Structural Ambiguity Some
  Sources." English Journal 55 (1966) 558-563.