Wordplay or A Play on Words, More Pun Fun

(sentences that illustrate the manipulations of words with one meaning into different applications)

wordplay (s) (noun), wordplays (pl)
1. Witty, clever, or humorous verbal exchanges or presentations:
With woe he shouted, "Whoa!" as rain
Without a break did reign.
To brake, he pulled the rein, and like
A shattered pane, he felt pain.
—Richard Lederer in
The Miracle of Language; Pocket Books;
New York; 1991, page 42.
2. Etymology: a word that dates from the mid-1850s which simply means "playing with words."
A pun or a play on words.
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Clever or verbal wit with words.
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Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.

Here are several examples of wordplays for your pleasure.

  • Irene changed her iPod's name to Titanic because it's syncing now.
  • When chemists die, others barium.
  • Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.
  • Adam knows a guy who's addicted to brake fluid. He says he can stop any time.
  • How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it.
  • Jane stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on her.
  • This girl said she recognized Jim from the vegetarian club, but he said that he never met herbivore.
  • Lisa is reading a book about anti-gravity and she just can't put it down.
  • Tom did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words.
  • The doctor wrote in his medical report that Mike had type A blood, but it really was a type O mistake.
  • The students are going on a class trip to the Coca-Cola factory and they hope there's no pop quiz.
  • Sam didn't like his beard at first, then it grew on him.
  • Did you hear about the cross-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn't control her pupils?
  • The nurse told Henry, "When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble."
  • Sam's pencils keep breaking every time he tries to sharpen them; so, he has quit doing it anymore because broken pencils are pointless.
  • Irene tried to catch some fog, but she mist.
  • What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.
  • England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool.
  • Mark used to be a banker, but then he lost interest.
  • Paul dropped out of communism class because of lousy Marx.
  • All the toilets in New York's police stations have been stolen and so now the police have nothing to go on.
  • Elizabeth got a job at a bakery because she kneaded dough.
  • Haunted French pancakes give Liza the crêpes.
  • Velcro — what a rip off!
  • A cartoonist was found dead in his home. Details are sketchy.
  • Venison for dinner again? Oh deer!
  • The earthquake in Washington obviously was the government's fault.
  • Ann was told that her father's will was a dead giveaway.
—Source is from a friend;
however, its origin is not known. If you know where it
it came from, please let me know via e-mail at
words@wordinfo.info so proper credit can be provided.