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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"That's a harp he's playing, Nobby," said one of them, after watching Imp for a while.
''"Lyre."
''"No, it's the honest truth, I'm--" The fat Guard frowned and looked down. "[[I Always Wanted to Say That|You've just been waiting all your life to say that]], ain't you Nobby," he said. "I bet you was born hoping that one day someone'd say 'That's a harp' so you could say 'lyre', on account of it being a pun or play on words. Well, har har."''
|'''[[Terry Pratchett]]''', ''[[Soul Music (novel)|Soul Music]]''}}
A character (especially a [[Pungeon Master]]) makes a [[Pun]], that is claimed to be so obvious or disgusting, that it makes listening characters [[Suckiness Is Painful|wince]], [[Collective Groan|groan]] or even feel compelled to [[Dope Slap|inflict violence on the punster]]
Since puns are considered one of the lowest forms of humor by default, [[Tough Room|this claim can be made]] even if the pun in question is [[Crowning Moment of Funny|actually really, really funny]].
The chief purpose of this trope seems to be to allow a writer to deploy an awful groaner and still dodge the blame for it by pointing the karmic retribution at the character, or to use this acknowledgment as a piece of [[Self
For other puns that [[So Unfunny It's Funny|may or may not be bad,]] see [[Hurricane of Puns]] and [[A Worldwide Punomenon]]. For a character that always makes these, see [[Pungeon Master]]. For an index of punny trope names, see [[Just for Pun]].
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This may also warrant a [[Collective Groan]]. See also [[Visual Pun]] and [[Humor Dissonance]].
''If somebody ignored the advice [[Don't Explain the Joke]] and linked an actual pun to this page, go ahead and remove that link. This trope is about reactions to a pun, not a place to list the puns themselves.''
{{examples}}
== Advertising ==
{{quote|'''Ad''': One of our corn farmers has a saying: "You won't believe my ears!" We never said it was a good saying.}}▼
* An Australian beer ad featured some stereotypically blokey blokes out on a drinking-lots-of-beer-and-fishing holiday, cooking some fish in a wheelbarrow because they forgot the frying pan.▼
{{quote|'''Bloke 1''': What kind of fish is it anyway?▼
'''Bloke 2''': Yeh, it is. }}▼
* One Advertisement regarding a sale on May
== Anime and Manga ==
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* Fuuka of ''[[Yotsubato|Yotsuba&!]]'' makes the occasional pun, though only Asagi attacks her for it (Koiwai and Jumbo merely tell her off). Her father, on the other hand, appreciates the humor value.
* ''[[Persona 4: The Animation]]'' has a couple. In episode 9, Yukiko calls Chie's Persona a "Chie pet." As if that single pun wasn't enough for her, she then proceeds to go off an a ''whole tangent'' about Chie pets, all the while laughing her head off.
** Episode 15 has one that gets [[Lost in Translation]]. Teddie and Yukiko laugh at a pun on Kanji's name, "ii kanji," which means "good feeling/s." The subbers settle for using the pun that was used in the game, "Great Kanjecture." For bonus points, the latter isn't just
* One of the main characters from ''[[Shaman King]]'', Chocolove, is rather famous for his puns so horribly obvious that the others tend to freeze in awe for a few seconds before continuing the conversation, often turning completely white in the process (in the anime, at least). Other times he just gets attacked by someone, usually Ren.
* Tamahome throws one out in ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]''. In an attempt to cheer Miaka up, he tells her that after causing some trouble, '''Tasuki''' will probably be taken to '''task''' (in the Japanese version, the word used for the pun is ''tasukete'', or "help" in English). He acknowledges the lameness of his pun himself and blames his [[Money Fetish]] for it.
* In ''[[Prince of Tennis]]'', on the team of Rokkaku, Amane 'David' Hikaru is frequently kicked for making many lame puns. Many people know him as "that pun guy" instead of his real name.
* ''[[Darker
{{quote|'''Kiko:''' I knew you were going to say that. It wasn't even funny.}}
* In ''[[Kamichama Karin]]'', Karin makes one of these ("Wait, a god (''kami'') just [[Close-Call Haircut|burned]] my hair (also ''kami'')??") and then chastises herself for it.
* In ''[[
{{quote|'''Haruka''': What a hideous face. What is that?
'''Yukino''': I believe it's a kelp grouper, Haruka.
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* In the English dub of episode 7 of [[Magical Doremi]], when Caitlyn (Poppu in Japanese) has to go to the bathroom, Dorie (Doremi) says "Oh no! Nature's calling, and I must answer." She said "No way! She has to go to the toilet? It's because of the ice cream!" in the Japanese version.
* In the [[Archie Comics]] ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' Sonic is known for his many lame puns. Apart from the obvious Eggman jokes, he has also fought Knuckles when the latter was Enerjak, calling him Ener-Joke. This prompted Knuckles to yell, "Are you quite finished?!" Sonic, smug as ever, then said, "Actually... Jumping-jak. Ener-tube. Flap-jak. Ener-state. Ener-jak-in-the-box. And come to think of it... "Enerjak" sounds like some kind of sports drink. Now I'm finished." Knuckles threw him into a wall afterward.
* In ''Squadron Supreme'', toddler Hyperion is startled by his new pet dog and incinerates it with his heat vision. One of the two guards watching him over security camera remarks "I guess Spot was kind of the right name after all." His partner lays him out for that one, in a cross between this trope and [[Dude, Not Funny]].
* [[Batman]]'s Robins have such a [[Pungeon Master|propensity]] to this, it's been suspected it's a tacit requirement to being Robin.
{{quote|'''[[The Comically Serious|Batman]]''': You still haven't gotten over the puns?
'''[[Sidekick Graduations Stick|Nightwing]]''': Oh shush. You love it. }}
* In the [[Don Rosa]] story "Return to Plain Awful," [[Donald Duck]] and Scrooge McDuck visit the [[Lost World]] of Plain Awful, a [[Utopia]] where square things are prized, round things are illegal, and the people live "on good cheer" with no financial interests. Eventually, Scrooge does manage to interest the people in his
{{quote|'''Donald''': Well, they made their billion by being [[Catch Phrase|tougher than the toughies and smarter than the smarties]]! And you know what else?
'''Scrooge''': Oh, ''no'', nephew! Don't say it! ...''Please''!
'''Donald''': That's right! They made it ''square''! }}
* Rhonda Bleenie's fruit salad love story in ''[[Amelia Rules]]'' ''The Tweenage Guide to not Being Unpopular'' is a [[Hurricane of Puns|hurricane of incredibly lame puns]].
{{quote|'''Dracula''': Psst .. Amelia .. look! (''points to his sandwich'') [[The Count of Monte Cristo|The Count's Monte Christo!]]
'''Frankenstein's Monster ''': RRR... PUN BAD! }}
* In ''[[Mega Man (comics)|Mega Man]]'', when Mega Man is first facing Cut Man, he spends the entire fight giving off [[Pungeon Master|puns involving cutting]]. So when he's defeated:
{{quote|'''Mega Man''': Sorry, I didn't mean to ''cut'' you off. Ha... [[Lampshade Hanging|that was lame]].}}
== Film ==
▲* Another example from a Heinz ad for corn:
▲{{quote|'''Ad''': One of our corn farmers has a saying: "You won't believe my ears!" We never said it was a good saying.}}
▲* An Australian beer ad featured some stereotypically blokey blokes out on a drinking-lots-of-beer-and-fishing holiday, cooking some fish in a wheelbarrow because they forgot the frying pan.
▲{{quote|'''Bloke 1''': What kind of fish is it anyway?
▲'''Bloke 2''': It's, ah... [[wikipedia:Barramundi|barra]].
▲'''Bloke 3''': That's terrible.
▲'''Bloke 2''': Yeh, it is. }}
* ''[[The Land Before Time]] 2''. When a pair of egg-stealing Struthiomimuses arrive at the Great Valley after a long trek, one of them says that he's just "egg-xausted". His partner kicks him in the face in response.
* ''[[Yellow Submarine]]'' is liberally sprinkled with puns, but one in particular, when the submarine's motor dies, falls into this category:
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'''Ringo:''' Yes, dear. }}
* ''[[The Princess and the Frog]]'': An Incredibly Lame Pun is uttered by Ray the firefly when he faces the [[Living Shadow|shadow]] [[Familiar|demons]]: "Don't make me light my butt!" [[Dude, Not Funny|Not funny]].
* ''[[Duck Soup]]'': Chicolini's suggestion that Freedonia maintain a standing army, "because then we save money on chairs", provokes Firefly to give him the bum's rush from the room (and apparently worse, judging by the [[Offscreen Crash]] that follows). This is a pun so bad that ''Groucho'', the man who once took pictures of the native girls and was waiting for them to develop, felt it necessary to chase Chico.
* In ''What's Up, Tiger Lily?'', hero Phil Moskowitz and his girl assistant, tied up, think they've been abducted by bad guy Shepard Wong, but it turns out to be a second bad guy, Wing Fat, who introduces himself: "I am Wong's competitor." Phil quips, "Well...two Wongs don't make a wight!" Wing Fat smiles and says, "For that joke you should only drop dead."
== Literature ==
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** ''The New [[Discworld]] Companion'' tells the story of Monsieur Pune, creator of the Fool's Guild:
{{quote|''"Q. When is a door not a door? A. When it is ajar (a jar)" - one of his early puns for which he was tarred and feathered and left for dead.''}}
** A running joke in ''[[
* [[Dave Barry]] is not fond of puns, and rarely uses them without heavyweight [[Lampshade Hanging]]. Take, for example, this passage in ''Dave Barry Slept Here'':
{{quote|But now he could sit back and relax as the reaper roared through as many as ten acres per hour, reaping the living hell out of everything that stood in its path, occasionally spitting out bits of mule fur or farmhand clothing, which could easily be reassembled thanks to the sewing machine, invented by Elias Howe. "Don't ask me Howe it works!" he used to say, over and over, until finally somebody, we think his wife, shot him in the head with a revolver, invented by Samuel Colt.}}
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{{quote|The history of Ireland dates back a long time to the original inhabitants, the Picts, who were a fun-loving tribe known for their wit. "You sure Pict a winner that time!" is the kind of thing they were always saying, until finally a neighboring tribe called the Celtics got sick and tired of it and came in and, in 432 B.C. on October 8, defeated the Picts in the Battle of Defeating the Picts when John Havlicek sank two free throws in overtime.}}
* In Piers Anthony's ''[[Xanth]]'' series, much of the wildlife and magic are literal puns, such as a mango being a human-shaped fruit that makes you urinate immediately upon eating it. Most of the characters dislike the puns, particularly a winged centaur whose name is a pun (Karia, who starts floating helplessly away whenever she hears her name.)
* Inverted by the characters in Spider Robinson's ''[[Callahan's
** The time traveler who tried to sell them 4 (fake) high tech gems on the 4th of July. [[Don't Explain the Joke|Get it, 4th jewel lie.]] This was also incredibly cruel since one of the gems made a paralyzed man think he could walk.
* ''[[The Marvelous Land of Oz]]'', the second [[Land of Oz|Oz book]], sees H.M. Wogglebug T.E. make a joke about the Sawhorse, noting that if he rode him, it would be a "horse-and-buggie". Jack Pumpkinhead covers up his permanently-smiling mouth, and the Tin Woodsman threatens the Wogglebug with his axe.
* In ''[[Harry Potter and
{{quote|'''George:''' You see... I'm holy. ''Holey''. Fred, geddit?
'''Fred:''' Pathetic. Pathetic! With the whole wide world of ear-related humour before you, you go for ''Holey''? }}
** And that's when everybody knows George is okay!
* In ''[[X Wing Series|Starfighters of Adumar]]'', [[Funetik Aksent|Rad Flat]] (Red Flight) meets regularly with a reporter who wears a recording unit on her shoulder that looks like the head of a protocol droid, making her appear to have two heads. Once, she complained that it was malfunctioning and she couldn't seem to fix the problem.
{{quote|[[Man Child|Janson]] grinned at her. "Some days make you just want to beat your heads against a wall, don't they?"
[[The Eeyore|Hobbie]] said, "Maybe not. The young lady might not have her heads on straight, after all."
[[The Stoic|Tycho]] said, "Still, I think she ought to get her heads examined."
[[The Captain|Wedge]] looked at them, appalled. }}
* The [[Doctor Who]] [[Eighth Doctor Adventures]] novel ''The Slow Empire'' has an instance of a character making a pun so lame even he gets embarrassed:
{{quote|"I'm Fitz. Just Fitz."
"And it fits you admirably," said Jamon de la Rocas,<ref>he's one to talk; for whatever reason, [[Bilingual Bonus|his name means "ham of the rocks"]]</ref>
For a moment everybody [[Not-So-Innocent Whistle|gazed up in the air and whistled]], avoiding each other’s eyes at what could not even be dignified as a pun. }}
** The [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel ''Lungbarrow'' has one for the Hand of Omega.
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* An implicit, somewhat slyly-given example in [[Star Trek: Ex Machina]]. Two crewmen - an Eeiauoan and a Caitian - are mentioned to have started fighting. Given that both races are feline, we have a literal [[Cat Fight]]. They’re told to “groom and make up”.
== Live
* The Cryptkeeper in TV version of ''[[Tales from the Crypt]]'' is a master at making these.
{{quote|"Cryptkeeper" Oh hello kiddies, you're just in time for your driving lesson. Today we'll be learning about scare-lell parking. }}
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'''Xander''': Maybe it's a vampire bat.
'''Everyone''': *stares* }}
* On ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|Mash]]'', Hawkeye and B.J. were prone to these.
{{quote|'''Hawkeye''': In fact, you might say that all of us together [[Invented Individual|made up]] Tuttle.
''(Cut to eyeroll from Radar.)'' }}
** That's amateur night compared to the one B.J. brought out while telling the story of [[Androcles' Lion|Androcles and the Lion]] to a group of orphaned kids:
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'''Rose''': My head! its killing me!
'''Nine''': I think you need a doctor. }}
** In ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S31
{{quote|'''Doctor''': And the final score is no [[Time Machine|TARDIS]], no screwdriver, two minutes to spare *outstretches arms* WHO DA MAN?
*No-one laughs*
'''Doctor''': Alright, I'm never saying that again. Fine! }}
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdjYzd2izD0 This] Jinnai Tomonori skit includes a Japanese Incredibly Lame [[Bilingual Bonus|Bilingual]] [[Stealth Pun]] (with helpful explanation provided in the subtitles) and the proper response (starts at 3:27).
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* This from ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'':
{{quote|'''Arthur Name''': What's brown and sounds like a bell? Dung!}}
* From ''[[Community]]'' episode "[[Community/Recap/S2
{{quote|'''Jeff:''' I have a date to catch, or, should I say, a catch to date.
'''Britta:''' Oof, I hope you just came up with that.
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* ''[[QI]]'' has a few, but the most memorable was when Stephen Fry ended up making a pun on Corsica.
{{quote|'''Stephen Fry:''' Can you tell me what sort of person kisses five times? 'Course I can!
''**[[Beat]], [[Collective Groan|audience groans]]**''
'''Alan Davies:''' ...I think you have to leave now. }}
* ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' has a [[Running Gag]] where Ted and Robin will salute after phrases including military ranks. Major Baggage. General Knowledge. Private Conversation. Major Inconvenience. Colonel Stuckinmyteeth.
* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' had a habit of making [[Who's on First?]] jokes using the System Lord Yu. When newcomer Dr. Elizabeth Weir first heard of Yu, she started to make one but Daniel Jackson cut her off, explaining that every possible variant had already been done and it wasn't funny anymore.
== Music ==
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* "Cows With Guns" by Dana Lyons has a lampshaded one:
{{quote|Cows gathered around 'cause the steaks were so high. *guitar strumming* Bad cow pun.}}
* Young Money's "Bedrock" contains the lyrics "Call me Mr. Flintstone, I can make your bed rock."
* Kip Addotta's [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l1GvDWtccI "Wet Dream"] has a fish-related pun in every line. For example:
{{quote|'''Kip Addotta:''' I said, "Hi Gil!" You have to yell; he's hard of herring. }}
** His [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_Umy19k5hI "Life in the Slaw Lane"] does the same for fruits and vegetables:
{{quote|''I got there just in lime to catch the nine-elemon as it plowed toward the core of Appleton,
''A lentil more than a melon-and-a-half Yeast of Cloveland.}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXwMgIlmoaM "Twisted"] by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross (later covered by [[Joni Mitchell]]) slips one in so fast that you might miss it if you weren't paying attention:
{{Quote|''Well I heard little children were supposed to sleep tight
''That's why I got into the vodka one night.}}
== Newspaper Comics ==
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{{quote|'''Pig''': So if at "Farce" you don't suck seed, try dry again?
'''Rat''' (to author): Have some pride. }}
** Also, [https://web.archive.org/web/20111113073754/http://keckeley.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/pearls-its-a-moray.gif this]. ''Ow''.
** Averted, HARD, in [http://gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2010/11/21/ this]. [[Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped]]?
* ''[[FoxTrot]]'', being as [[Troperiffic]] as it is, gives a double-[[Shout-Out]] to the pun strips in ''[[Pearls Before Swine]]'' and the [[Noodle Incident|noodle incidents]] in ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'' in [http://thedailyfunnies.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/12-06-09-foxtrot.gif this strip.]
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"Because von Gooturm deserves another!" (''Orchestral sting)''. }}
== [[
* This is practically [[Tim Vine]]'s entire ''schtick''.
{{quote|Crime in multi-storey car parks? That's wrong on so many levels.}}
* [[Bill Hicks]] once ended one of his lengthy rants on the [[John F. Kennedy|Kennedy assassination]] with this:
{{quote|There's no fucking way, man! Not unless Oswald was hanging by his toes, upside-down from the ledge... surely someone would have seen this?!? Either that or some pigeons grabbed onto him, and flew him over the motorcade! You know, there were rumors of anti-Castro pigeons seen drinking in bars the night before the assassination. Someone overheard them saying "Coup, coup!"}}
* The myriad of [[Firesign Theatre]] albums are just chock-full of them.▼
** From ''Nick Danger, Third Eye''▼
{{quote|'''Announcer''': ...he crosses Macarthur Park and walks into a great sandstone building!▼
'''Nick Danger''': [thump] Oh, my nose! }}▼
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'': The Revised Edition game manual included Richard Garfield's account of the creation of the game. He mentions that the pre-release version used placeholder art for the cards, including a few of these. For example, "Heal" was a photograph of someone's foot, while "Power Sink" showed [[Calvin and Hobbes|Calvin]] sitting in a toilet, "because what ''is'' a toilet except a power sink?"
== Theatre ==
* [[Gilbert and Sullivan]], ''The Grand Duke'':
{{quote|'''Notary''': When [[Painful Rhyme|exigence of rhyme compels]],
Orthography forgoes her spells,
And "ghost" is rhymed with "goest".
'''All''': With what an emphasis he dwells
Upon "orthography" and "spells"!
That kind of fun's the lowest. }}
* In ''Rent'' Roger and Mark are burning old concert posters and screenplays to keep warm and as they are burning them they sing:
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** '''Roger''': The narration crackles and pops with incendiary wit!
* In ''The Complete History of America (abridged)'', private detective Spade Diamond is being grilled by two toughs on what [[I Love Lucy|Lucy Ricardo]] was doing on the day of JFK's assassination. (This [[Makes Just as Much Sense in Context]].) His alibi: she was with him, but wasn't seen with him because she was disguised. One of the toughs snaps back, "So, [[The Beatles (band)|Lucy was disguised with Diamond]]," and all three do an [[Aside Glance]] as the audience groans. ("I should've seen that coming," Spade confides to the fourth wall.)
== Video Games ==
* ''[[Animal Crossing]]'' will make your character crack a bad joke whenever he/she catches a fish or bug and this is occasionally [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]]:
{{quote|'''[[
* ''[[Sacrifice]]'' brings us this little gem, aimed at a servant of the god of earth who's made of living rock:
{{quote|'''Zyzyx:''' Now Grakkus here is none too quick on his feet. It may be because he leads such a... ''Sedimentary'' lifestyle!
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{{quote|'''Chosen One:''' Why do they call him Frog Morton?
'''Sheriff Marion:''' His name's Morton, and they call him Frog 'cause he croaks people. Ready to go get 'im?
'''Chosen One:''' [[Suckiness Is Painful|Ohhhh. Ouch. That's terrible. The pain, the pain!]]
'''Sheriff Marion:''' Hey, I didn't make that one up - he did. [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|With puns that bad]], [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|I'd say that gives you just one more reason to kill 'im]]. }}
* There is an optional scene in ''[[Persona 3]]'' where Akihiko, trying to get over his shyness around girls, practices his pick-up lines in secret. Reading that a sense of humor is vital, he makes an utterly horrid pun ("Want to go to that Beef Bowl place?... I hope I 'meat' you there!"), then promptly chastises himself:
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** In the sequel, the player can launch probes to discover missions and distress signals on planets. [[Anal Probing|One of the planets you can probe is Uranus]]. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-CDNLYZ0zA EDI is not amused by this at all.]
* [[Phoenix Wright]]: 'Why am I, Phoenix Wright, such a good lawyer? Because I'm "Wright" all the time!' It's actually a pretty good pun, Maya just doesn't think so.
** She warms up to it eventually, as does Moe the Clown, ''master'' of the
* ''[[Icewind Dale]] II'' has an enemy boss utilizing trained war bears. Before fighting him, if asked how his own bears don't tear him to shreds, he points out the magical collars they 'bear'. The main character [[Deadpan Snarker]] is quick to point out the slip up, at which point the boss essentially disowns the pun with embarrassment claiming it unintentional.
* [[Final Fantasy XIII]]: when the group is being chased through the air by a monster on Pulse:
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'''Palutena:''' I guess I just don't SEE the problem with a little levity.
'''Pit:''' Agh! You're killing me here! }}
{{quote|'''Pit:''' That's right, you tentafool!
'''Palutena:''' Tentafool? Uh, nice one, Pit. }}
* ''[[The Very Big Cave Adventure]]'' is basically ''[[Colossal Cave Adventure]]'' reworked to contain as many puns as a (presumably) class full of kids could come up with.
** A stream rises from a spring next to a small fence. The fence buys anything valuable and doesn't ask questions, and the spring can be used to bounce back to the previous location.
** Later on, {{Quote|The bull eats the bomb and promptly explodes in a most inelegant manner. It is A BOMB IN A BULL.}}
== Web Comics ==
* [[Dominic Deegan]] is a frequent offender, as are the rest of his family, and anyone else who spends too much time with them.
** In one case, Siggy does this on purpose to elicit groans from hiding thieves and give away their position.
** In another, Dominic's father uses this to incapacitate Jacob's Quilt Man.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090901195507/http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=34&issue=13 This page] of ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]''.
** [[Alt Text|He makes you wear an old diving suit, of course he just said that.]]
** [http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/5p40 this page] as well. "[[Alt Text|If the internet were an auditorium, I'd be on stage grinning proudly against]] [[Collective Groan|a chorus of groans]]."
* The ''[[
** [http://www.xkcd.com/410/ Math Paper] takes it even further.
** Then there's the mouse-over text for [http://xkcd.com/431/ Delivery].
** And [http://xkcd.com/594/ Period] has another groaner.
** Statistically significant. [http://xkcd.com/539/ Ha]. (The reaction is in the mouse-over text.)
* And in ''[[Scary Go Round]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20120916140100/http://www.scarygoround.com/index.php?date=20070627 "You were wrong. Puns don't help."]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150604134251/http://captainosaka.deviantart.com/art/DOUBLE-K-026-106195125 This page] of ''[[Double K]]''. In the words of the writer: "KAMINA just pissed away every cool point he earned over the last 25 pages, way to go buddy".
* King Astos of had been shaping up to be the major antagonist in the Elfland subplot of ''[[8-Bit Theater|Eight Bit Theater]]''. Just before the [[Final Battle|assumed climactic battle]] would transpire, an incredibly lame pun by Red Mage wrecked the tension. The following pun by Black Mage was so lame that King Astos ''[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2003/06/21/episode-298-a-natural-response/ died]'' immediately upon hearing it. (The author of the
** Also, when it finally sinks into Fighter's thick skull that Thief is actually the Prince of Elfland:
{{quote|'''Fighter:''' Wait, let me get this straight. So Thief is [[Prince|the elf formerly known as Prince]]?
'''Black Mage''': Killing you is going to be the greatest moment of my life. }}
* ''[[Between Failures]]'' shows [http://betweenfailures.com/2009/01/21/406-menses/ Nina insulting Reggie] with one of these.
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{{quote|'''Elan''': "C'mon, Nale, don't be a sword loser!"
'''Nale''': "Ugh, that was horrible! I swear, I'm going to kill you, then pay a cleric to raise you, and kill you again, just to make you pay for the puns!" }}
* In the
*
* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'': Torg and Riff tend to encourage each other into a [[Hurricane of Puns]]. None of the other characters are amused, and some are even injured by them.
** On the other hand, Torg hates it when somebody else is doing it.
** All of the Stick Figure Theater interludes are full of them, with some storylines written specifically for the ''pun''chline.
* ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]!'', full stop.
** To date,{{when}} there have been ''twenty'' puns on the word [http://irregularwebcomic.net/search_result.php?d=hobbit&t=2&in=s 'hobbit'] ''alone''.
** We've been told many times that German sausages are the wurst.
** [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1000.html Strip #1000] is "full of humour".
* In [http://danielscreations.com/ola/comics/ep0127.html this comic] of ''[[Our Little Adventure]]'', the male Wight makes a pun when talking to Julie about what kind of undead they are. This earns him a smack upside the head from the female Wight he's with.
* The comic [[Freaking Awful Puns]] was built around this trope.
* ''[[Bob and George]]'': Mega Man managed to make a ''broom'' to wince in pain with [http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/040527c his explanation] of the [[Rule of Funny]], and Bright Man (who has a lightbulb for a head) [[Idea Bulb|having an idea]] prompted Kalinka Cossack to collapse to the ground, protesting to her father that "I thought you loved me!"
* In [http://tabmok99.mortalkombatonline.com/comic-kombat.html these] ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' webcomics, every time [[Pungeon Master|Reptile]] turns up, you'll see one.
* In ''[[The Dreadful]],'' Kit likes to trade them with Boozloaf, much to Liz's [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2011/06/17/the-dreadful-032/ annoyance].
* In ''[[Rusty and Co.
{{quote|'''Mimic''': Yoiks! Who're you?! We don' wanna hurt youse!
'''Ghost knight:''' I... was once... the White Knight.
'''Mimic:''' A'ight, well, ''now'' we wanna hurt youse. }}
* ''[[Bobwhite]]''. Marlene's Jewish bluegrass band is trying to come up with a new name for the band. Something that will get people to take them seriously.
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'''Marlene:''' You're out of the band. }}
* Milton from ''[[Tweep]]'' [http://www.tweep.com/comic/?date=01-10-11 justified his repetition of an old joke with one.]
* In ''[[Thornsaddle]]'', a comic that takes place in the ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' universe, one character makes a pun on the word "[
* ''[[Laser Feet]]'': Puns appear regularly, and are always painfully obvious, including such gems as [https://web.archive.org/web/20120702024644/http://www.thelaserfeet.com/comic/003/ please "bear" with us] and [http://www.thelaserfeet.com/comic/009/ Late-ser Feet]{{Dead link}}
* [http://gunshowcomic.com/282 This rage-inducing groaner] in ''[[Gunshow]]''.
== Web Original ==
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* The web fiction serial [[Dimension Heroes]] is notorious for bad puns, which usually lead to whoever says them getting smacked.
* ''[[Dragonball Z Abridged]] Parody'' includes this little gem:
{{quote|'''Krillin and Piccolo''': Multiform technique! [[Naruto|Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!]]
'''Nappa''': Vegeta! I can't ... [[Verbal Tic|Believe it!]]
[[Beat]]
'''Vegeta''': *[[
* [[Eddsworld]] often features puns, mainly from the title character, but from other sources, too.
{{quote|'''Tom:''' ''Hey. What did our neigh...BOORS want?''
'''Edd:''' ''You and the water are very similar, Matt. You're both SHALLOW!'' }}
* In [[The Spoony Experiment|Spoony's]] Let's Play of Phantasmagoria 2, he made more than a few horrible puns and then smacks himself for doing so.
{{quote|"''Look, a 'bicurious' jacket. [[Don't Explain the Joke|Get it? Its a straitjacket and he's bicurious.]]''"
(After a letter vaporizes into a bunch of sparks) "Hey look; electronic mail... I'm sorry, I'll do it again." [[Dope Slap|*slap*]] "I'm a [[Pungeon Master|bad boy]]..." }}
** He manages to make the "Beyond Thunderdome" joke from ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' in his review of ''Strike Commando'', followed by an [[I Always Wanted to Say That]] moment.
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* It happens constantly in ''[[The Annoying Orange]]''.
* Self-inflicted one in ''[[Freeman's Mind]]'', in which Gordon comments about the ceiling, with "What's up with the ceiling?" after which he realizes that he just made a pun and groans.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130529112109/http://bash.org/?917681 OH! Shit it's your birthday, isn't it.]
* The [[SCP Foundation]] features among a variety of bizarre things, a kind of tomato who reacts violently to lame puns, sometimes resulting in death.
* [[Red vs. Blue]]: The Reds try to make themself pass as Freelancers by adapting their [[Location Theme Naming]].
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'''Film Brain:''' I never thought such a thing could be accomplished. }}
** Not that's he's blameless either:
{{quote|'''Film Brain:''' Did he just [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|break the fourth wall?]]
'''Linkara:''' Don't worry - we're [[Atop the Fourth Wall|atop]] it!
'''Audience''': [[[Collective Groan]]]
'''Caption:''' ''Channel Awesome would like to apologise for that pun. The writer has been flogged for his sins''. }}
* Coach Z from ''[[Homestar Runner]]'', who commonly dresses up in Hip-Hop costumes for Halloween, once dressed up as a sheet of paper in 2010. When prompted, he stated he was ''(w)rapping paper''. Que [[Collective Groan]] from the rest of the cast.
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{{quote|'''Nerd''': Sonic Boom to the moon and Hadouken up Uranus.}}
* The leader of [[The League of STEAM]] is named Crackitus Potts. [[Don't Explain the Joke|Crackpot, get it?]] (Also an allusion to Caractacus Pott from ''[[Chitty Chitty Bang Bang]]''.)
* FTA pulled one during the [[Hellfire Commentaries]] ''[[Sonic Unleashed]]'' playthrough. Averted when
{{quote|
FTA: [[Dean Martin|When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie]], ''that's'' [[Trope Codifier|a moray.]]
* [[Phelous]]. All the time.
* You'll find quite a few lame puns around [[TV Tropes]] at times, some of which are [[
* ''[[Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic]]'' [http://yafgc.net/comic/2397-pun-on-a-mountain/ had] one orc indulging in these.
== Western Animation ==
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'''Warden:''' Ain't no air 'n space!
'''Homer:''' There's an Air 'n' Space Museum. *grins like an idiot, and then is thrown out of the prison* }}
** Also, there was one emitted by Homer when commencing a roast against Mr. Burns for his birthday (and in case you're wondering why it fits, its because shortly afterwards, he drops his pants and proceeds to moon Mr. Burns and the audience, a characature of Burns' face is on his butt, and he tries to quote Mr. Burns).
{{quote|'''Homer:''' Now here's an impression of Mr. Burns that is incredibly... ''cheeky''.}}
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* In ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' episode "Meet the Beat-Alls", Mojo justifies stealing eggs and other white items because "it's all right as they're all white!". The terrible pun prompts Princess to drop the eggs and groan in disgust.
** Which is ''very'' far from the worst joke in that episode. "Sunday monkey won't play piano song. Play piano song."
* One of the ''[[The Fairly
** During a history lession, mention is made of the "Declar-Ape-tion of Independence". AJ comments along the lines of "If that wasn't historically accurate, I would say it was the most horrific pun ever."
* ''[[Kim Possible]]'' fought the Mathter, a Riddler [[Expy]] who specialized in math-themed crimes, with the appropriate math-themed puns, like "Time to ''subtract'' you from the ''equation''!", or "Let me throw some ''numbers'' at you,"(as he tossed digit-shaped grenades), or "I've left your boyfriend with a ''new problem'' to solve." Finally, an irate Kim shouted, "Okay, one more lame-o math reference, and I am going to LOSE IT!"
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'''Stan''': A sixteen-hour flight for a bad pun? ...yes. Yes. }}
* While the entirety of the ''[[Animaniacs]]'' episode "This Pun For Hire" is a [[Hurricane of Puns]], a couple are singled out as particularly bad by Dot:
{{quote|'''[[Hello, Nurse!]]''': Why do I always get the [[Buxom Is Better|booby]] [[Double Entendre|prize]]?
'''Dot''': [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|I'm not touching that one]]. }}
** Later:
{{quote|'''[[Hello, Nurse!]]''': Stay back! I'm packing a heater!
*Her suitcase opens up, revealing a [[Visual Pun|miniature radiator]]*
'''Dot''': [[Little Miss Snarker|Can't argue with that one. It's too stupid.]] }}
* In the [[Timon and Pumbaa]] episode "Brazil Nuts", a [[Balloon Belly|rather fattened Timon]] says "Sheesh! How long could it possibly take to gather a bunch of measly ANTS?? Must be gettin' the uncles, too! Ha!" Timon notices no one heard the pun.
** Later, when Timon and Pumbaa advertise an imaginary fast food chain to Eddie and Ralph (the two snakes who tried to eat them), Timon said, "That's two cans for you and me!" when toucans were shown.
* Done by Billy in [[The Grim Adventures of Billy
{{quote|'''Billy''': Snot a problem!
''(Billy's half of his nose comes alive and smacks him with a steak in annoyance)'' }}
* In ''A [[DuckTales (1987)]] Valentine'', Huey, Dewey and Louie find a chest in a sunken Greek temple. When they wonder what the inscription on the lid is supposed to mean, Launchpad quips "It's Greek to me!" There's an awkward pause, after which Launchpad says defensively "Well, ''somebody'' had to say it."
▲== Other ==
▲* The myriad of [[Firesign Theatre]] albums are just chock-full of them.
▲** From ''Nick Danger, Third Eye''
▲{{quote|'''Announcer''': ...he crosses Macarthur Park and walks into a great sandstone building!
▲'''Nick Danger''': [thump] Oh, my nose! }}
▲* One Advertisement regarding a sale on May 4th for ''[[Star Wars: The Old Republic]]'' has the tagline "May the 4th be with you".
== Real Life ==
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** This may be a [[Beam Me Up, Scotty]], as the first written record of it is in the diary of an Edwardian schoolgirl who'd recently learnt that bit of colonial history.
* Paul Merton and Ian Hislop, the team captains on [[Have I Got News for You]], both adore puns, and will throw out dozens of them at the slightest opportunity. The studio audience often can't decide whether to roar laughing or groan.
* A great deal of commentary on the professional basketball player Jeremy Lin involves
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Tropes of Legend]]
[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]
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[[Category:Punny Stuff]]
[[Category:Language Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Incredibly Lame Pun]]
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