The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-04-22
pUNS AS WIT.
From the Philadelphia Press.

Some people think not, and Or. johnson
said that man who would make a pun
would pick pocket. But the fact Is that
the general objection to puns is because
of their frequent lack of wit; that Is to
say, 1t Is directed to bad puns. We do
not want to discuss bad puns--or even to
hear them. The point Is, whether good
puns are admissible as legitimate and
commendable expressions of humor. 1t Is
of no use to say, like Sydney Smith, that
puns ought to be in bad repute, and, al
though one finds an incorrigible punster-
often, 1t Is true. an incorrigible. bore-in
every little circle OF social life, one does
not find the race of pickpockets to be in
creasing alarmingly In numbers. Nor do
the statistics Of crime seem to bear any
relation to the productions of Planchet or
Brough, or Of Gilbert, to the spread Of
burlesque and the cultivation of Bab-bal-
ladist opera.
1t is probable that there are few. even
In these days Of culture. capable of APP
De Quincy discovered in the jests for
which poor Aelius Lamia was put to death
by Domitian.
II we want to argue the legitimacy OF
cid discussion as to the difference between
wit and humor. The definitions are legion
al, or course. but not one Of them iswholly
satisfactory. knowledge comes and wis.,
dom fingers" Tennyson says. and perhaps
some APPROACH to truth-that wit sparkles
and humor permeates. But there Is little
profit to be got In analysis of this kind.
What Is funny isn't necessarily witty. but
ed by It, some Of the essence Of humor.
Thus, Charles Lamb was not so far wrong
when he said that the most far-fetched
and startling puns are the best.
first apple was eaten by the first pair?" is
far-fetched. but one cannot deny the hui
NOR Of 1t. Again, In the conundrum, "Why
is blind mans buff like sympathy"'-"Be-
cause 1t is a fellow feeling for fellow
which is also unquestionably humorous.
Then. as another example of pun which
Is absurdly apparent, there was Douglas
JerrOld's remark about q man to whom he
had repeatedly written, in vain, for some
money.
II have written him." said Jerrold to an
acquaintance, "but got nothing"
strange" said the other. for he is q
kindness"
A pun which requires explanation in
brackets is indeed simply intolerable. The
| Oxford scholar who, meeting porter,
carrying hare through the streets, asked:
'Prithee, friend. is that thy own hare or
wig?" required no commentator. The
same story Is sometimes attributed to
Charles Lamb Nor did Tom Hood. who,
when all Is aid and done, remains the
prince Of British punsters. He puns as
naturally as he laughs-a babe can see the
point Of his Jokes, and the crustiest dry
as-dust cannot resist them.
More subtle and more polished Is the
humor Of ITO Minerva" one verse Of
which Is inimitable:
My brain is dull, my sight is foul,
| cannot think on what I've read,
Then, Pallas. take away thine owl
And let us have lark instead.
Theodore Hook Is thought by many to
be equal to Hood as a punster but Hook
was labored and slow in comparison.
There Is an impromptu air about Hoods
| ouns which Is Incompatible, and an unex-
| pectedness, even when you are looking
for them. that is delicious. Frederick
Locker once or twice seemed to have
| Hoods unconscious ease, as thus:
He cannot be complete in aught
Who Is not humOrOusly prone;
A man without merry thought
Can hardly have a funny bone.
John Hill Burton relates a legal Joke
which, to the legal mind, has all the charm
Of a pun. One day a bailiff, serving a
writ. had been compelled by the defendant
great agitation and anger the officer
rushed ino court. over which Lord Nor
bury was presiding, to complain Of the in
| dignity. He was met by the expression Of
HIS lOlusulv > tlIil INC VIII was UOI
returnable in this court
Bret Harte, by the way, is not usually
regarded as a professional wit, and yet
| among the good things which cling to one S
memory Is the couDlet In the "Heathan
| Chinee:"
Concealed In his nails, which were taper,
| What Is common in tapers-thats wax"
| Somebody has written parody, in
which candidate for examination even
| beats the record of the Mongolian:
Concealed in his palms, which were spa
What is common in palms, and that's
dates.''
Speaking OF palms recalls the famous
pun of the Bishop Of oxford. who, when
| asked by a lady why he was nicknamed
"Soapy SAM" replied: Because, mad
anne, l am always getting into hot water
and always coming out with clean hands. -
Perhaps it might be said that some Of
these examples are not true puns; but a
| pun Is not necessarily a twisting and a
| contortion of syllables, as the writer's Of
burlesques. and comic papers seem to
think. 1t Is play upon words, and tp be
really entitled to be considered witty
should play both upon the sound and the
| sense II possible.