Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1906-02-04
PUNS AND PUNSTERs
A DEFINITION OF THE FORMER AND
EXAMPLES OF The LATTER.

of VITA Brilliant Coterie OF Brit
ish PunsterA.
Is the pun legitimate form Of wit?
Some people think moi. and DR.. John
son said that man who would make
pun would pick pocket. But the
fact is that the general objection to
puns Is because or their frequent lack
Of wit-tliht is to say, it is directed to
bad puhs. We do not want to discuss
bad puns or even TO hear them. Tho
point Is. whether good puns are admis-
sible as legitimate and commendaDis
expressions OF humor. 1t is of no use
TO say. Ike sydney Smith, that puns
ought To be in bad repute. ana. al
though one finds an incorrigiblc pun
ster-often. 1t is true. an incorrigible
bore-ln every little circlet of social
life. one does not find the race of pick.
pockets to be increasing alarmingly III
numbers.
Ii is probable that there are few
even in these days OF culture capable
OF appreciating the profound Witt
ciSm which De Quincy discovered Ill
the jests for which poor 4fYius I.amia
was pun TO death by Domtian.
lf we want 10 argue the legitimacy
OF puns we are obliged to fall back Oh
the OLD discussion as to the difference
between wit ana bumor. The defini.
lions are legional. of course. bul not
one OF them Is wholly satisfactory.
knowledge comes and wisdom lin.
gers" Tennyson says. and perhaps we
might found upon this parody. With
some approach To truth-that wit spar.
kles and humor permeates. But there
Is little profit to be got In analysis of
this kind. What is funny isn't neces.
sarlly witty, but what Is funny must
nave IN IL or suggested by il sOme of
the essence of humor. Thus Charles
Lamb was not SO fnr wrong when he
SAID that the most farfetched and
startling puns are the best.
The familiar inquiry lis Ii true that
the FIRST apple was eaten by the ir,r
phir!'' Is farfctched. but one canno,
deny the hulnor of IT, Again. In tue
conundrum. why Is blind mans buff
like sympathy:" Because Ii Is a fellow
feeling for fellow creature" there is
direct application which Is also nm
Questionably humorous. Then. as an.
other example of n pun which is ab-
surdly apparent, there was Douglas
Ierrold's remark about Il man to whom
he had repeatedly written in vain for
some money.
81 have written him." said Jerrod To
an acquaintance. but got nothing"
strange" said the other, "for he is
man full of Kindness.
Yes" rejoined Jerrold, '.unremittins
Kindness
pun which requires explanation in
brackets is indeed simply intOerable.
The Oxford scholar who, meeting n
porter carrying a hare through the
streets, asked, "Prlthee, friend. Is that
thy own hare or wig?" required no
commentator. Nor did Tom Hood,
who. when all is said and done, re-
mains the prince of British punsters.
lie puns as naturally as he laughs. A
DaOe can see the point of his Jokes and
the crustiest dry as dust cannot resist
them
Theodore Hook is thought by many
to be equal to Hood as punster. but
Hook was labored and slow in compar.
1soh. lhere is an irhpromptu mir about
Hoods puns which is Incompatible
and an unexpcctedness even when YOU
are looking for them that IL delicious.
Frederick Locker once or twice seemed
to have Hoods unconscious ease as
thus:
He cannot be complete I'm aueht
VINO is not humorously prone
man without merry thought
can hardly have funny bone
John Hill Burton relates legal Joke
which 10 The legal mind has all the
charm OF pun. One day bailiff.
serving Il writ. had been compelled by
the defendant to swallow the dozen.
ment In state of great agitation and
anger the officer rushed into the court.
over which Lord Norbury was presid-
ing, TO complain of the indignity. He
was met by the expression of his lord.
ships hope that the writ was mot re-
turnable in this court"
Bret Harte. by the way. WAS not usu.
ally regarded as IL professional wit.
ana vel among the good things which
chhs TO ones memory is the couplet IN
the Heather Chinee:"
Concealed in his nails. which we're taper.
WHAT is common In tapers-that's wax.
Somebody has written parody I'm
which candidate for examination
even beats the record of the Monaghan:
Concealed In his palms which were ,na
ciOus.
what Is common in paims-and that's
dates.
Speaking OF palms recalls the ia
nous pun Of the bishop of oxford, who