Skip to main content

I Used to be Good at Word Play, Once a Pun a Time

The Importance of Puns

Everyone loves a good pun. However, a pun is an amazing example of the humor theories and how one particular theory does not represent the essence of what makes society laugh. Laughter is a remedy and is a common occurence in everyone's day to day life. For example, the inherent and perceived incongruities theory is usually the most prominent out of all the theories, however comedy often has many layers and cannot be determined by one simple factor. This theory states that humor can often be caused by the social norms and societal influences behind the joke. Using puns as my example, it was not until recently that puns were a widespread phenomenon and everyone was thinking of these types of jokes to tell. I believe that this is based on social norms that impacted this type of humor to spread around the world. People became more "relaxed" and society began to shift into where were are today, which caused the shift in humor as well. Society's reaction to puns has been very postitive, however jokes pertaining to the incongruity, superiority or relief theories can sometimes be found not humurous to certain people. This case depends on the demographics of that individual including social class, sex, gender, age, and religious status.


Here are a few examples:









Comments

  1. I am in-pun-e to pun humor; it can't make me laugh at all.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sociological Perspective: Lead Blog Post

Human Interactions I am going to follow in the same direction as Paige, except take a more sociological approach. I analyzed this topic briefly in my blog post that was in response to Paige's lead blog post, however, I find human interactions very fascinating. Sociology studies human behavior and human interactions, and laughter is a significant part of interactions between individuals. We often study how humor is used to make fun of people (superiority theory) or to relieve stress (relief theory) however, laughter can also help alter people's perspective on important things in our lives. Humorous interactions seem to not be a top priority when people seek out comedic television shows or turn to political satire for their news. However, human interactions among other things shape our beliefs, behaviors, and overall opinions of the world. For example, two friends are interacting through conversation and one says jokingly, "we need to show compassion for the mentally ill...

Response to: Alex's Comedy Blog

The Need for Laughter Most people find Friends funny. It is one of those shows that have been around forever but it is also one of those shows that you can watch multiple times and laugh just as hard as you did the first time you heard the joke. I completely agree with all of Alex's points on the basis that the three theories thoroughly encompasses the humor behind the show, however, the one that hit close to home was how integrated the relief theory was and how the characters use humor to handle some emotional setback in their life. First off, I believe that the relief theory can be understood in two different ways. One, watching a hilarious show like Friends can be therapeutic in a way and can be emotional for those who are watching it. Secondly, the relief theory can be incorporated into the show and how the characters use humor to distract themselves from their own problems and issues. In Alex's post, she says "m aking people laugh gives one a complete turn around ...

Friends: The One With The Cop

FRIENDS SEASON FIVE EPISODE SIXTEEN The One With The Cop short clip:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2u0sN9stbA This is most people's all-time favorite episode from Friends but that is just because it is a classic. In this episode, Ross purchases a new couch but refuses to pay for delivery because the service costs nearly as much as the couch. He asks Rachel to help him carry it all the way to his apartment. The two get stuck trying to carry the couch up the stairs so Rachel decides to bring Chandler for help, but even the three of them can do nothing except manage to get the couch stuck. Eventually, the couch sustains so much damage that it ends up cut in half. Ross takes a chance and returns it to the store, but can only obtain $4 in store credit for exchange, which he accepts.  Comedy and to make people laugh is the main focus behind the Friends show. Each character has a specific personality that they portray that is geared towards the maximum amount of laughte...