Monday, May 30, 2005

Bad Pun

Probably the worst pun in the history of the English language was penned in July of 1944 by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas when he wrote, "We were two months near Beaconsfield, where Chesterton sat on his R.C." [The Collected Letters, New York: Macmillan, 1985, p. 517]
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1 comment:

Dr. Thursday said...

All of which suggests we owe a long belated thanks to those unknown persons (probably living in ancient Egypt) whose puns gave us writing:

"[writers of "caveman" stories] have never put the spirit of youth into their descriptions of the youth of the world. It follows that amid all their primitive or prehistoric fancies there are no jokes. There are not even practical jokes, in connection with the practical inventions. And this is very sharply defined in the particular case of hieroglyphics; for there seems to be serious indication that the whole high human art of scripture or writing began with a joke. There are some who will learn with regret that it seems to have begun with a pun."
GKC, The Everlasting Man CW2:198

12:55 PM

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