Every day, Jason spends hours scouring the internet for the best and worst puns available. Here he will present three puns in various categories, and elucidate their humor.
Session #1: The internet's best: dog puns.
3. What is the difference between a well-dressed man and a dog? The man wears a suit, the dog just pants.
This bronze-medal winning dog pun is both simple and wonderful. The opening act begs a classic question. "What is the difference between x and y?" is a prototypical joke form. In this particular iteration, we are asked the difference between (x) a well-dressed man, and (y) a dog. The question mark allows for a break between acts, and gives the reader time to analyse the question. This time allows the reader to formulate their own answers to the question, which at a first look are innumerable. The punch-line to this joke relies on the homophone 'pants,' which ends the pun. We are told that the man is wearing a suit. Therefore it should follow that by 'pants,' the author is still referring to clothing, such as trousers. However, the true enjoyment of this witticism is in the double-meaning of 'pants,' which in this case refers to the rapid breathing, or 'panting,' of a dog.
Note of interest: Dogs only have sweat glands on their feet, and so cannot lose heat rapidly by perspiring from head to toe like people do. Instead, dogs sweat by panting, which removes body heat by evaporation from the surface of the tongue. Dogs also pant when they are nervous or excited.
2. It must be raining cats and dogs, because I just stepped in a poodle!
This is a very nice pun. It relies on the reader taking the common idiom 'raining cats and dogs' meaning 'raining very heavily,' and translating it literally. Then, the punchline in the final act is the word 'poodle,' which sounds like 'puddle.' The narrative of this pun tells the story of a person who realizes that cats and dogs are being rained from the sky when he steps on a poodle. This contrasts the more grounded telling of a person who realizes it is raining heavily because he just stepped in a puddle. The dichotomic interpretation is lighthearted and extremely appreciable.
Note of interest: The etymology of the phrase 'Raining cats and dogs' is widely debated. Among the possible origins are an old fishing myth that cats control the weather, or that dogs and wolves were attendants to Odin, the God of storms. The cambridge interpretation differs from these accounts. It states that in the 17th and 18th century, heavy rain would occasionally carry along dead animals, often including cats and dogs.
1. A three legged dog walks into a saloon in the Old West. He slides up to the bar and announces: “I’m looking for the man who shot my paw.”
This is a very funny pun, and a classic among punsmiths. The lead paints a picture that distracts the enjoyer from the upcoming pun. Why are we in the Old West? What does this have to do with our three leg protagonist? The reason lies in the final act of the pun. The dog states that he is looking for the man who shot his paw. The line "I'm looking for the man who shot my Pa." Is a classic western line first appearing in "The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok" (c.1951) However, in this case, the word 'Pa,' meaning Father, has been replaced with the homophone 'paw,' a type of mammalian foot. This hearkens back to the very first words of the pun, wherein we are informed that the dog only has three legs. In this case, though it sounds as though the dog is looking for the man who shot its' Father, it is in fact searching for the man who shot its' foot. This is, in my opinion, the apex of modern dog puns.
Note of interest: By directing your attention towards the clever play on the words 'Pa' and 'paw,' the author completely distracts you from further humor in this pun. Namely, that the dog can speak! Looks like I just gave this pun a new leash on life.
Thank you for reading. Hopefully we will have session two ready very soon. If you would like to request a certain category of pun, please do so in the comments below.
Jason.
"Don’t be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before we can meet again and meeting again, after moments or a lifetime, is certain for those who are friends. "
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