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Old 10-02-2003, 03:55 PM
Iris Cohen
 
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Default Off Topic, The Origin of Puns

As some of you have noticed, I have a Punomatic in my back pocket, which fires
off puns at the slightest provocation. See Genesis, 21: 27-31. As far as I
know, that is the first pun in Western literature. For those who don't know
Hebrew, the word for oath is the same as the word for seven, sheva or sheba.
Now I am sure that when Abraham trotted out the seven sheep, he was not trying
to be funny. To the ancient mind, words themselves had a magical quality, and
he probably did this to cement the treaty & assure it some additional good
luck. To this day, certain words or phrases in many cultures take on a strength
of their own. I would like to know, at what point did the pun stop being a
source of magic and become a form of humor?
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)
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Old 10-02-2003, 08:25 PM
Iris Cohen
 
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Default Off Topic, The Origin of Puns

aqueous humor or vitreous humor?

Awright! I've got my eye on you.

Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)
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