Puns Spooken Here: Word Play for Halloween

by Richard Lederer

Overview

Q. What's a skeleton's favorite food?

A. Spare ribs.

Q. What was the witch's favorite subject in school?

A. Spelling.

Q. What kind of horse does a ghost ride?

A. A night mare.

Q. How does an exorcist keep in shape?

A. He rides an exorcycle.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423610588
Publisher:	Smith, Gibbs Publisher
Publication date:	02/07/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Richard Lederer is the author of more than 35 books about language, history, and humor, including his best-selling Anguished English series. He is founding cohost of A Way with Words on public radio and his syndicated column, "Looking at Language," appears in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States. He lives in San Diego.

Read an Excerpt

You may well have heard the seasonal prey upon words "What do you call an empty hot dog?" Answer: A hollow weenie.

But you may not have realized how capacious is the tricky treat bag of Halloween puns. There's something about the lore of Halloween that inspires tour de farces at the highest level of punnery. What this book will offer you is a veritable Bill of Frights.

Punnery is largely the trick of compacting two or more ideas within a single word or expression. Punnery challenges us to apply the greatest pressure per square syllable of language. Punnery surprises us by flouting the law of nature that pretends that two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Punnery is an exercise of the mind at being concise. Punnery is a rewording experience.

Let's start by cooking up a punderful menu for Halloween. I know you won't be able to resist goblin up this full-corpse meal. Bone appetit!

Table of Contents

A Feast of Halloween Puns/11

II A Ghost Graduate Course/23

III Funny Bones/37

IV Lifestyles of the Witch and Famous/ 43

IV Word Prey in a Jugular Vein/55

VI Puns That Keep Us in Stitches/75

VII More Movie Monsters/81

VIII Ghoulishness/89