No pun intended

[Mr. Dictator]

Whenever I hear someone say it, it makes me mildly angry. For one, I like puns. Sue me, but the worse they are, the more I enjoy them. They're badges of courage and a flag raised high in resistance to straight line conversations and boring talk about banal crap.

Also, the ambiguity of a good pun is something nice. Sometimes they slip out, unintended, and sometimes they're perfectly camouflaged to leave you wondering if they were or not. That ambiguity is ruined when you spill your beans.

I prefer "punintended" when I'm typing and find a pun. I merely grin when speaking, so people have to guess as to whether or not I'm the creator or amused observer of my own words.

Which brings me to another point, I really enjoy playing with words. I get the feeling that people are ashamed to play with words, but secretly enjoy it and try and cover it up with a pithy "no pun intended". If it was unintended, why draw the attention to it? Why not just let it go and admire that sometimes your brain does magical thinks when you leave it alone?

Bah, enough punditry on my part. What do you think of "no pun intended"?

 

[Artifis]

Can be occasionally amusing, but for the most part not very punny.

 

[Ajidica]

Sometimes puns are good, but whenever there is a bad one I feel compelled to say "That wasn't very punny".

 

[Arakhor]

If it's a woman and she cracks a bad yolk, you can always say, "get thee to a punnery!"

Then again, I once submitted ten puns to a newspaper joke contest. I wanted at least one to win the prize, but unfortunately, no pun in ten did.

 

[jtb1127]

I don't like it either. Often people will use no pun intended to draw attention to their pun that may have gone unnoticed.

 

[Flying Pig]

 

[Lillefix]

It's always fun when you read a serious book and you come over a "(pun intended)". I think the last time I came over it was when I read a book about Renaissance art. Can't remember what it was.

edit: Now I remember it. Sometimes when the authorities couldn't find the culprit for whatever reason, they hired artists to execute them in a painting.

That's a pun. Get it?

 

[aelf]

I think (pun intended) is even worse.

 

[uppi]

I think (pun intended) is even worse.

I agree. It feels like bludgeoning all readers with the pun while yelling: "See that awesome pun I made! Please congratulate me for all my punny puns.

 

[Monsterzuma]

covert puns > exhbitionist ones.

 

[Leoreth]

Was going to post that XKCD right when I saw the OP

I guess that whole habit started as a means to express one's own surprise at a genuinely accidental pun, which is okay in my opinion.

But somehow this has become so widespread that it transformed into an intentional way to draw attention to your puns, which I hate.

 

[jtb1127]

"I was in the bathroom and my mom yelling at me really pissed me off (no pun intended!)and blah blah blah..."

 

[Verarde]

I love puns. The worse, the better. Like Zack's below.

 

[Zack]

I agree, "no pun intended" is too mainstream. It was better when it was still fairly punderground.



God, that was awful. I should be ashamed of myself.

EDIT: Is that even considered a pun?

 

[Disgustipated]

I love puns, especially sexual puns.

But I admit I do say No pun intended. Maybe I'll refrain from doing that in the future. The thing is, often when I say there was no pun intended, I actually did mean the pun. Or sometimes I didn't intend the pun in the first place, but noticed it after the fact (usually when writing an email), but keep it in and add no pun intended. I especially do this with women. The no pun intended helps keep me out of hot water with them thinking I'm a pervert, or sexually harassing them.

 

[Glassfan]

Whenever I hear someone say it, it makes me mildly angry. For one, I like puns... I prefer "punintended" when I'm typing and find a pun.

I feel the same way about, "not to mention", when you are actually going to mention it. I use, "not but to mention," when I'm just going to mention it and move on. I got an angry red mark on a research paper once and now I use it as an act of rebellion ("badge of courage").

 

[azzaman333]

I'm really bad at making subtle puns, so I don't need to say no pun intended to draw attention to them.

 

[Mise]

I like puns but I prefer "no pun intended" to "pun intended" for similar reasons to what uppi said.

"No pun intended" may have become base and broad, but at least it still has a sense of irony about it. "Pun intended" is, as uppi said, bludgeoning the reader with the writer's "hilarious" pun.

Obligatory: I submitted 10 puns to a newspaper pun contest. They were pretty good so I expected at least one of them to get a mention in next week's paper. Sadly, no pun in ten did.

 

[azzaman333]

If it's a woman and she cracks a bad yolk, you can always say, "get thee to a punnery!"

Then again, I once submitted ten puns to a newspaper joke contest. I wanted at least one to win the prize, but unfortunately, no pun in ten did.

I like puns but I prefer "no pun intended" to "pun intended" for similar reasons to what uppi said.

"No pun intended" may have become base and broad, but at least it still has a sense of irony about it. "Pun intended" is, as uppi said, bludgeoning the reader with the writer's "hilarious" pun.

Obligatory: I submitted 10 puns to a newspaper pun contest. They were pretty good so I expected at least one of them to get a mention in next week's paper. Sadly, no pun in ten did.

 

[Mise]

Ok, fine, I skimmed the thread. HAPPY?!