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Fine Dictionary

punning

WordNet
  1. (n) punning
    a humorous play on words "I do it for the pun of it","his constant punning irritated her"
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
  1. (n) punning
    The practice of making puns.
  2. punning
    Given to making puns; exhibiting a pun or play on words: as, a punning reply.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
  1. (ns) Punning
    the act or habit of punning
Quotations
A man who could make so vile a pun would not scruple to pick a pocket.
John Dennis
Charles Lamb
A pun is not bound by the laws which limit nicer wit. It is a pistol let off at the ear; not a feather to tickle the intellect.
Charles Lamb
A quotation, like a pun, should come unsought, and then be welcomed only for some propriety of felicity justifying the intrusion.
Robert Chapman
Etymology

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary Ety. dub.; prob. to beat words=pound, to beat, from A.S. punian, to pound.

Usage in the news

In the Orange County Thai-dining world, regional specialists such as Bangkok Taste and Thai Nakorn battle for dominance over their for-the-masses brethren, most of whom name themselves after a pun involving the use of the word "Thai". ocweekly.com

New album brings second coming of Jay Pun and Morwenna Lasko. c-ville.com

The visual and verbal puns break all land-speed records. philly.com

But even those can get you in "hot water" (pardon the pun). fueloilnews.com

And yes, that pun was totally intended. militarytrader.com

Cast of 'Downton Abbey ' Realizes Pun Potential, Takes Subway Downtown. tbx.com

The Aroma of Tacoma – it may be our city's most time-honored pun. blog.thenewstribune.com

To revive a cheesy pun that never gets old, we're wondering why they weren't slated to go down in Flushing but anyway if you're interested in potty-humor read on. amny.com

Of course, if New Jersey wins its case, you can bet — pun intended — that every state will rush to pass similar legislation. nj.com

Binding Arrrrr-bitration (It's A Pirate Pun). longislandpress.com

There are plenty more of these puns at New York Magazine. chicagoreader.com

Cast of 'Downton Abbey' Realizes Pun Potential, Takes Subway Downtown. tbx.com

A majority of Puerto Ricans voted to become the 51st State, just in time for the late Big Pun 's Birthday. blk.com

Sometimes a pun is too good to pass up. agweb.com

Insert Your Own Clever Bubblesort Pun . ddj.com

Usage in scientific papers

What must be shown is that the Markov chain with transition probabilities (7.11) will visit no states (m, z ) at which the denominator Pun−m (x − z ) is zero.
Occupation Statistics of Critical Branching Random Walks in Two or Higher Dimensions

This is accomplished by noting that as long as Xm−1 is at a site z such that un−m+1 (x − z ) > 0, then by Lemma 34 the denominator Pun−m (x − z ) > 0, and so there is at least one site y among the nearest neighbors of z such that un−m (x − y) > 0.
Occupation Statistics of Critical Branching Random Walks in Two or Higher Dimensions

Pun−m−1 (x − w) note that for large values of n − m the parameters βm (w) are uniformly close to 1/2, because un−m (x − w) is bounded by the probability that the branching random walk will survive for n − m generations.
Occupation Statistics of Critical Branching Random Walks in Two or Higher Dimensions

This construction is extremely interesting, for the group A is in fact extremely amenable (no pun intended).
Martin-Lof randomness, invariant measures and countable homogeneous structurs

Since an is a linear combination of ℘punq, ℘˚ pun q, spunq and 1punq, we clearly have anΩq “ Ψq pan qΩq ` γ ep,q punq for some γ P C.
Limit distributions of random matrices

Usage in literature

It was their old-time pun upon the foreman's name. "Overland Red" by Henry Herbert Knibbs

You may grow puns, like tobacco, until the soil is utterly worn out. "The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 80, June, 1864" by Various

But that is just a family pun. "Ethel Morton's Holidays" by Mabell S. C. Smith

I confess that I don't see why a good pun should be thrown aside after it has served as the soul of a single sentence. "The Continental Monthly, Vol. 2, No. 2, August, 1862" by Various

Robert Grace, a young gentleman of some fortune, generous, lively, and witty; a lover of punning and of his friends. "Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin" by Benjamin Franklin

If ye get us 'ut of thus, we'll gev ye a pun' note, and as much dhrink as ye can bear. "My New Curate" by P.A. Sheehan

The word "a-li'-pun" is used among them to express such social condition. "Negritos of Zambales" by William Allan Reed

His puns were lugubrious. "The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 83, September, 1864" by Various

SIR WILLIAM DAWES, Archbishop of York, was very fond of a pun. "The Jest Book" by Mark Lemon

The following may be given as an example of a punning epitaph. "Notes and Queries, Number 184, May 7, 1853" by Various

Usage in poetry
She says she does not care for verse
(But praises all I write);
She says that punning is a curse,
(But then mine are so bright!)
"'Twas a great liberty to take!"
(I fired up like a rocket).
"He did it just for punning's sake:
'The man,' says Johnson, 'that would make
A pun, would pick a pocket!'"
"The third is its slowness in taking a jest.
Should you happen to venture on one,
It will sigh like a thing that is deeply distressed:
And it always looks grave at a pun.
"The third is its slowness in taking a jest.
Should you happen to venture on one,
It will sigh like a thing that is deeply distressed:
And it always looks grave at a pun.
Four subjects, and all of them male,
To BORRIA doubled the knee,
They were once on a far larger scale,
But he'd eaten the balance, you see
("Scale" and "balance" is punning, you see).
She's a captivating dresser, and her parasols are stunning,
Her fads will-take your breath away, her hats are dreams of style;
She is not so very bookish, but with repartee and punning
She can set the savants laughing and make even dudelets smile.