Visual puns. Verbal puns. Puns say two things for the price of one.

We've all heard of the
"Sorry. Unintentional Pun."

Yes, but is there really such a thing as an intentional pun? Doubtful, really. No wonder puns are called the lowest form of wit. Verbal puns at any rate. Verbal puns are usually completely unwitting.

The best thing you can do is just watch out for puns - and make the most of them when they happen. Commit a pun and you still might be greeted with a groan rather than a guffaw.

...But why not live dangerously? Puns have their uses. If you're a copywriter, a web writer, or for that matter any kind of writer, puns can be a godsend when you're really short of space.

Puns say two things in the space of one

Puns can be visual as well as verbal

VERBAL PUN

animated banner

This is an animated banner I made for a system to cure water sources of sulphur contamination. Afflicted wells smell of bad eggs.

SEMI VISUAL PUN

visual pun - mortarboard

This cartoon is a semi-visual pun because its second meaning is a textual punctuation mark. By the way, this pun too was a happy accident. I drew the owl's mortarboard tassle standing up in surprised disapproval, and realised it was an exclamation mark.

Space was tight because this was for a strip cartoon.

VISUAL PUN

visual pun - sunflower

There's even a kind of visual pun in this icon graphic. The white dots on the sunflower represent seeds. The spots came in handy to do double duty as a highlight, giving the centre of the flower a rounded look.

The best you can do is watch out for puns. ...And watch out when you've caught one. Puns can bite!

Say two things for the price of onewith a PUN

We've all heard of the "Sorry. Unintentional Pun."