Incredibly Lame Pun: Difference between revisions

''"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."''

 

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]] — or, at least, bring a lawsuit against him for pun-itive damages. [[Rimshot]]s are completely optional.

 

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.''

** ''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.''}}

* [[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.}}

{{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.)

** 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.

{{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''? }}