Laughing All the Way: Teaching English Using Puns

Kristin Lems U NITED S TATES Laughing All the Way: Teaching English Using Puns nderstanding jokes is part Even native speakers need to access of the process of native lan- a great deal of linguistic information Uguage acquisition, and jokes and background knowledge to “get” are part of the charm that belongs to a joke (Aarons 2012). At the same any language. Learning to understand time, jokes that are based on word- jokes in a new language is both a play in another language can be really cause, and a consequence, of language hard to understand because they need proficiency (Cook 2000). to be processed very quickly. In a The most obvious benefit of under- social setting where everyone is stand- standing jokes is that it can help stu- ing around chatting, understanding dents feel more comfortable in their a joke that comes up may seem like new language. A shared moment of a high-stakes test. Not understand- humor lowers the affective filter, that ing a joke in this situation can make invisible barrier that makes learners feel someone feel like an outsider and cre- awkward and uncomfortable. A low ate a sense of isolation. For all these affective filter is one of the cornerstones reasons, an important part of learning of successfully learning a new language a new language is learning to enjoy (Krashen 1982). If a class can laugh its jokes. together, they are likely to learn better Puns: A special form of joke together, too. Jokes based on word- Puns are a special form of humor play have additional benefits because based on double meanings. Puns are they build metalinguistic awareness, or sometimes nicknamed “the lowest conscious awareness of the forms of lan- form of humor” and often greeted guage, and this, in turn, helps in learn- with groans, but in fact, the language ing more language (Ely and McCabe knowledge needed to understand a pun 1994; Zipke 2008; Lems 2011). In is very sophisticated (Pollack 2011). particular, metalinguistic awareness Because they require processing the boosts reading comprehension and sound and meaning of words twice, encourages higher-order thinking. puns demand considerable language 26 2013 NUMBER 1 | E NGLISH T EACHING F ORUM agility. Unlike humor based on sight gags, betic, numeric, or simplified spelling. Using funny facial expressions, or amusing visual teacher-friendly terms, we will look at each arrangements, the humor of puns is based on of these categories in turn. It is important to language play. note that there are other kinds of jokes and Puns are also language-specific. Every lan- humorous word games that are not puns, and guage has its own puns and wordplay, includ- that not all puns fall into these four categories. ing languages that do not use alphabetic However, thousands do, and that should be writing systems. Mandarin, for example, has enough to warrant their use in the classroom. puns based on the sounds and appearance of Chinese logograms. For example, the Manda- Category 1: Soundalike puns (homophones) rin word for “fish” creates a pun based on a Soundalike puns are based on homophones, close pronunciation with the word for “abun- words that sound the same, but have different dance,” and for that reason, the fish occurs spellings and meanings (e.g., hair/hare; to/too/ in many Chinese illustrations as a symbol of two). In soundalike puns, a phrase or sentence wealth. The similarity of the sounds creates contains a word with the same sound but two the pun, and fluent Mandarin speakers under- meanings. An example of a soundalike pun is the sign for a daycare provider that reads “Wee stand it effortlessly. Care Day Care.” The words we and wee are Because it has been fed by many streams, homophones, which gives “Wee Care” two English has a wonderful reservoir of sources for meanings. On the one hand, the phrase “we puns. Puns can be found not only in children’s care” serves as a statement of philosophy by joke books and on TV, but also in environmental the business to show that they care about the print found in daily life—in menus, newspaper children they take care of; at the same time, headlines, billboards, websites, signs, advertising, the spelling of wee creates the compound noun and especially the names of small businesses. “Wee Care,” which means care of “little ones” Since puns do not transfer between languages, or “children.” The meaning of the compound they need to be taught; however, they are rarely noun, which can be paraphrased as “care of included in lesson plans or content units. One little ones,” adds an appealing dimension to reason for this is that humorous language the name of the business. The combination of is sometimes—wrongly—considered inappro- the two meanings conveys a bit of charm and priate for the language classroom. However, humor and thus makes a simple name a lot thousands of puns are perfectly appropriate more memorable. for students of any age. Another reason is that teachers of English may not understand exactly Category 2: Lookalike puns how puns work and therefore feel hesitant to (polysemous words) try to use them. Polysemous words are spelled and pro- This article lays out four categories of nounced the same and have related meanings English puns, provides some practice in clas- (e.g., “ruler” as a measuring stick or a king; sifying them, and suggests how they might “mole” as a burrowing mammal or a spy). Poly- be incorporated into the English learning semous words create lookalike puns. An exam- classroom. The puns described here are found ple of a lookalike pun can be found in a sign for in environmental print and related venues a small business, observed by the author while around Chicago, Illinois, but they are repre- driving in Montana: “Blind Man—Window sentative of many settings and locales where Blinds of Every Kind.” This lookalike pun English is spoken. attracts the attention of drivers going by on the road by implying that a blind man lives nearby Four categories of English puns and they ought to drive more slowly (American English puns generally fall into four cat- street signs often alert drivers that a blind or egories, three of which are well established deaf resident lives on that block). A second and are based on homophones, polysemous meaning of “blind,” however, is window blinds, words, and close-sounding words (Lems and put together with the word “man,” it forms 2011). A fourth, newer category of puns is a compound noun, “blind man,” or “a man now emerging through texting and instant who sells window blinds.” The second mean- messaging and is based on the use of alpha- ing identifies the nature of the small business E NGLISH T EACHING F ORUM | N UMBER 1 2013 27 (the graphic on the sign showing horizontal Texting puns are being created every day slats reinforces the idea of window blinds). The as people play with their wireless devices and combined effect of the graphic and the looka- look for ever more economical, nuanced ways like pun is that a person driving by the sign to convey their messages. An example of a reads it, ponders its two meanings, is momen- texting pun is found in the popular Ameri- tarily amused, and is more likely to remember can car insurance advertisement that reads and patronize the business—or at least that is “0 CRDT CHX.” To understand this, we what the owners hope! mentally change the first symbol into the As one can see, soundalike puns and look- word zero, then insert the missing vowels for alike puns may be based on a single word or the word credit, and insert the missing vowel one word within a larger unit, such as a com- and correct the spelling for the third set of let- pound noun. ters, to obtain the word checks. Put together, the phrase “Zero Credit Checks” informs Category 3: Close-sounding puns potential customers that they can purchase A third kind of English pun comes from this auto insurance without going through the confusion generated by similar sound- any credit checks, something which people ing words. When one word is substituted with bad credit records will be glad to know! for another that sounds like it, whether the Simplified spellings save money for sign substitution is for a single word or part of a makers, so they are always looking for ways phrase, that can create a close-sounding pun. to convey the message of a product or service An example of a close-sounding pun is a sign using fewer letters. It is easy to simplify spelling seen on a van in Chicago: “Ex-stink Sewer and in English because English bears many spelling Drainage.” This humorous title for a plumb- patterns from its Germanic and Old English ing business is based on the close pronun- origins. Many English words no longer look ciation of “Ex-stink” and the word extinct. By like they sound, so it is possible to find other looking at the words on the van (which also ways to represent the sounds of the word. For has a painted picture of a toilet!), we can fig- example, doughnut is often written as donut, ure out that “Ex-stink” must indicate that the and the word light is increasingly spelled as lite business will get rid of the bad smell, or stink, when referring to the reduced calories found in one’s plumbing, and the words “sewer and in processed food and beverages. Another drainage” on the side of the van confirm that.

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