What is a pun?
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As for the contrepèteries, one can say of the pun that "
the first who guesses it always finds it excellent and the others more or less bad, because of the time they took to guess it
": definition found in Le Supplement à l 'Encyclopedia, 1777.
For my part, this play on words and wit that is built on the difference in meaning between words which are pronounced in the same way: homonymies or homophonies (words which are written or are pronounced identically), paronymies (words whose writing or pronunciation is very similar) or polysemias (words with several meanings), I like a lot.
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From Balzac to Prévert
And too bad if some, and not the least, denigrate it, too bad if Voltaire said that it was "
the extinguisher of the spirit
" and Victor Hugo the "
dung of the spirit which flies
", since others did not hesitate to create one, the proof: Balzac: “
You must not run two lips at the same time.
»Alphonse Allais:«
Joke clover
»,«
Release the prey for London
». Paul Valéry: “
Between two words, you have to choose the lesser.
"Jean Cocteau:"
If you don't want me to die, don't talk to me about cypresses.
"Jacques Prévert:"
Of two things the moon, the other is the sun.
"
To get everyone to agree, allow me to end with this quote from Frédéric Dard: “
The pun represents the only point of junction between a fool and a genius.
"
Extract from
Literary walk among figures of speech
.
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