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Adam's pun on 'tune a' and 'tuna' is homophonic, because it makes a joke out of the fact that they sound identical even though they mean totally different things. Homophonic puns play with words or phrases that are spelled differently but sound the same.Douglas Adam's pun about 'bass,' which references both the instrument (pronounced 'beyss') and the fish (pronounced 'bass'), is an example of a homographic pun because the words are spelled the same, but they sound different and mean different things. Homographic puns play with words that are spelled identically but have different meanings and are pronounced differently.All of them are based on words or phrases that either have multiple meanings or that sound similar:

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Here's how to pronounce pun: puhn Types of Puns

Puns are also-but much less commonly-referred to using the more technical term paronomasia.

The actual figure of speech is called a pun, while the verb form 'to pun' describes the act of making a pun.

The word 'pun' can be both a noun and a verb.

Puns are usually used to create humor, but can also be used in non-humorous ways.

Not only were they present as far back as the ancient Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations, but the writing systems of those civilizations, including Egyptian hieroglyphs, were in fact based on systems of punning. Unless of course, you play bass.' In the first sentence, Adams puns on the similar sounds of 'tune a' and 'tuna,' while in the second he puns on the two meanings of the word 'bass'-the musical instrument, and the fish. The comic novelist Douglas Adams uses both types of pun when he writes: 'You can tune a guitar, but you can't tuna fish. What is a pun? Here’s a quick and simple definition:Ī pun is a figure of speech that plays with words that have multiple meanings, or that plays with words that sound similar but mean different things.

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