OK, I have a friend who wrote me about being a "cereal" something or other, what he was referring to was not nearly as interesting as his use of "cereal," which he did serially during the course of his note. I love puns, and this seemed the perfect set-up for a series of them. I have recently, half in jest, been talking about the "403 Words Every Smart Person Should Know," but I am becoming interested in collecting words for punning.
In pursuit of that, I googled "puns" recently. There, I found--I am not making this up-- among the first three entries, a reference to "Understanding PUNS." It turns out this is a government-created program in the state of Illinois. Only a governmental employee could create a program whose acronym of PUNS and not walk away for a few hours until he or she could come up with a different name for the program. What would make you plunge ahead? The program has some complexity to it, so the helpful state employees designed a web page to help people who might be eligible for the PUNS program to understand it better, hence the Understanding PUNS listing. Can it be that no one noted the problem here? It turns out this is a serious process devoted to helping people with developmental disabilities obtain needed assistance and support. But some humorless nincompoop gives it a title that results in an acronym like PUNS. Well, I for one am richer for it, but, really, doesn't it make you wonder?
But back to the topic at hand. Puns can be adapted to almost any event. Here are a few I liked on first cite: Do you know what a clock does when it's hungry? It goes back four seconds. Having enjoyed my holidays a little too much, this one fit better than my pants do today. The roundest knight at King Arthur’s table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from far too much pi.
If you have been following the news for the past few weeks you probably already know where bills are passed into law--incongruous. In trying to avoid the fiscal cliff back in 2012, I am sure their discussion of raising estate taxes brought this one to mind--what is the definition of a will? It's a dead giveaway. Of course, now it's more of a taxing situation, which is another case where the government has its hands in your pocket, even in your grave.
I have been described as a "cereal" punster at times, and have been accused of "bowling" people over with my efforts. I have "milked" this one since breakfast today, with no appropriate chex on my excesses. With this little note, I finally decided to "pour" them on you, if you aren't a fan of puns, I'm sorry. I am working on it, really. But I am a bad combination--a punster and a pessimist.
I'm doing something about it, but I know change is always difficult, especially for a pessimist like me. So I don't see how much can be done about it. Why don't I think I can really change this? Punning is in my blood, and you know a pessimist's blood type is always b-negative.
With most areas of your life that need shoring up, you begin with self-awareness--noticing the situation, then self-assessment--taking a closer look, finally, you decide on a path of action--self-improvement. I have noticed my weakness for puns--self awareness. I am planning on taking a closer look over the next few weeks (it might take months or years--even a lifetime before I can decide on an action--who knows?) Punny how things go sometimes.
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