THE
THE lowest form of wit
Jinn Park, Year 10, Sarah
However much Shakespeare loved his precious puns, I personally find them quite annoying. There is no such thing as the ‘right’ occasion to use a pun as entertainment; unless you are desperately bad at making jokes that you actually have to memorise them to generate some pity-laughter. Many people do point out my overly cynical view upon this lowly form of joke. Some of them even try to convert me into a FPL - Fun Pun Lover - with their ambitious puns. On one occasion, a very good friend of mine (a fanatical FPL), in a poor attempt to suppress her laughter, came up to me and said, “What was the name of the first group of female astronauts?” When I didn’t react appropriately, unable to contain herself she blurted out- “Space Girls!” I seriously thought about giving her a high-five. In her face. Why do I hate puns so much? Well, as Samuel Johnson once famously quoted, ”Puns are the lowest form of wit.” The only reason I find puns annoying is because they are very often unnatural and almost always artificial. Of course, there are great poets and writers in the world who come up with punchy, original puns. However, most of the time, puns are used by the lazy people who just don’t bother to be creative. The world is flooded with meaningless puns, and I just cannot appreciate them. I mean no offence to the FPLs by any means; I completely respect their love for the little jokes that charms our frequently dull lives. It’s just when people mindlessly jabber about their learnt-off-the-internet puns that I get frustrated. Puns are a wonderful way to generate laughter, but not in that way. If used with a touch of sarcasm or irony, I would appreciate them a whole lot much more. So if you ever do come up with a cunning, charming pun, please feel free to try converting me into an FPL.