PUN

Related Subjects: Epigram, Humor, Joke, Wit

1. The seeds of punning are in the minds of all men, and though they may be subdued by reason, reflection, and good sense, they will be very apt to shoot up in the greatest genius.—ADDISON, The Spectator
   

2. I think no innocent species of wit or pleasantry should be suppressed; and that a good pun may be admitted among the smaller excellencies of lively conversation.—JAMES BOSWELL, Life of Samuel Johnson
   

3. A man who could make so vile a pun would not scruple to pick a pocket.—JOHN DENNIS, The Gentleman's Magazine
   

4. People that make puns are like wanton boys that put coppers on the railroad tracks.—O. W. HOL MES, The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table
   

5. Far be it from me to insult the pun! I honour it in proportion to its merits—no more.—VICTOR Huoo, Les Miserables
   

6. A pun is a pistol let off at the ear; not a feather to tickle the intellect.—CHARLES LAMB, Popular Fallacies
   

7. It of ten happens a bad pun
   Goes farther than a better one.—W. S. LA NDOR, Last Fruit Off an Old Tree
   

8. How every fool can play upon the word!—SHAKESPEARE, The Merchant of Venice
   

9. I have mentioned puns. They are, I believe, what I have denominated them—the wit of words. They are exactly the same to words which wit is to ideas, and consist in the sudden discovery of relations in language.—SYDNEY SMITH, Sketches of Moral Philosophy