Transpositional pun: Difference between revisions
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{| class=wikitable | {| class=wikitable | ||
! style=width:50% | | ! style=width:50% | Transpositional pun | ||
!Original reference | !Original reference | ||
!Ref. | |||
|- | |- | ||
|[[Dieting]]: A waist is a terrible thing to mind. | |[[Dieting]]: A waist is a terrible thing to mind. | ||
|"A mind is a terrible thing to waste", the [[motto]] of the [[United Negro College Fund]]. | |"A mind is a terrible thing to waste", the [[motto]] of the [[United Negro College Fund]]. | ||
|<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Ronald D. |url=https://books.google.be/books?id=IrpGxphxD9gC |title=Strategic Planning for Public Relations |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-50676-2 |page=223 |language=en}}</ref> | |||
|- | |- | ||
|[[Hangover]]s: The wrath of grapes. | |[[Hangover]]s: The wrath of grapes. | ||
|''[[The Grapes of Wrath]]'' | |''[[The Grapes of Wrath]]'' | ||
|<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Oring |first=Elliott |date=1995 |title=Appropriate incongruities: Genuine and spurious |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/humr.1995.8.3.229/html |journal=humr |language=en |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=229–236 |doi=10.1515/humr.1995.8.3.229 |issn=0933-1719}}</ref> | |||
|- | |- | ||
| | |Sports officials: The souls that time men's tries. | ||
|"These are the times that try men's souls.", [[Thomas Paine]] | |"These are the times that try men's souls.", [[Thomas Paine]] | ||
|<ref>{{Cite book |last=Isaacs |first=Stan |url=https://books.google.be/books?id=16gDEQAAQBAJ |title=Out of Left Field: A Sportswriter’s Last Word |date=2024-05-14 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-05665-9 |at=[https://books.google.be/books?id=16gDEQAAQBAJ&pg=PT78 PT78] |language=en}}</ref> | |||
|- | |- | ||
|The [[oboe]]: An ill wind that nobody blows any good. | |The [[oboe]]: An ill wind that nobody blows any good. | ||
|"'Tis an ill wind that blows nobody any good." | |"'Tis an ill wind that blows nobody any good." | ||
|<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ammer |first=Christine |url=https://books.google.be/books?id=l_LxuR1jMVgC |title=The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, Second Edition |date=2013 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=978-0-547-67658-6 |page=222 |language=en}}</ref> | |||
|- | |- | ||
|[[Feudalism]]: It's your count that votes! | |[[Feudalism]]: It's your count that votes! | ||
|"It's your vote that counts!" | |"It's your vote that counts!" | ||
|<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carr |first=Paul R. |url=https://books.google.be/books?id=sL2kjQCGEsEC |title=Does Your Vote Count?: Critical Pedagogy and Democracy |date=2011 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-1-4331-0813-6 |page=xiv |language=en}}</ref> | |||
|- | |- | ||
|[[mercenary|Soldiers of fortune]]: Give chance a piece. | |[[mercenary|Soldiers of fortune]]: Give chance a piece. | ||
|"Give peace a chance." | |[[Give peace a chance|"Give peace a chance."]] | ||
| | |{{Citation needed|date=November 2025}} | ||
|} | |} | ||
Latest revision as of 22:58, 2 November 2025
Template:Short description A transpositional pun is a pun format with two aspects. It involves transposing the words in a well-known phrase or saying to get a daffynition-like clever redefinition of a well-known word unrelated to the original phrase. The redefinition is thus the first aspect, and the transposition the second aspect. As a result, transpositional puns are considered among the most difficult to create, and commonly the most challenging to comprehend, particularly for non-native speakers of the language in which they're given (most commonly English).[1]
Examples
| Transpositional pun | Original reference | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Dieting: A waist is a terrible thing to mind. | "A mind is a terrible thing to waste", the motto of the United Negro College Fund. | [2] |
| Hangovers: The wrath of grapes. | The Grapes of Wrath | [3] |
| Sports officials: The souls that time men's tries. | "These are the times that try men's souls.", Thomas Paine | [4] |
| The oboe: An ill wind that nobody blows any good. | "'Tis an ill wind that blows nobody any good." | [5] |
| Feudalism: It's your count that votes! | "It's your vote that counts!" | [6] |
| Soldiers of fortune: Give chance a piece. | "Give peace a chance." | Script error: No such module "Unsubst". |