Best puns & wordplay books according to redditors
We found 83 Reddit comments discussing the best puns & wordplay books. We ranked the 32 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 83 Reddit comments discussing the best puns & wordplay books. We ranked the 32 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
/u/The_Messiah is absolutely correct. I studied sociolinguistics is grad school (now my hearing is rubbish so it's no longer a career option). Many, or even most, people think the dictionary is a book which gives the language a guide to 'correct' words or 'correct' grammar or usage. The thinking seems to be that if it isn't in the dictionary but exists in usage, the word somehow isn't 'correct'. And then when the dictionary updates (see the literally kerfuffle), people get all upset that these 'incorrect' words and usages are being let in - as if the Oxford dictionary dictates what words should and should not exist and how words should and shouldn't be used.
I'm sorry to tell you prescriptivists this, but that's not actually what a dictionary does. 'Correct' usage or existence isn't determined by the dictionary. The existence or usage of a word - ANY WORD - is whether it is used, and how it is used. Language evolves all the time. If we use the word 'twerking' to describe that frightening butt grinding dance that Miley Cyrus did at the VMAs while sticking out her alarmingly large tongue, then that's what the word 'twerking' describes. And you know what's awesome about that? We have ONE WORD that perfectly conjures up the same image in your mind that my long explanation did. See how handy language is? Dictionaries cannot ever determine 'correct' usage. How would that work? Would they get every English speaker in Earth to vote? The impractical nature of that is why a dictionary's job is to describe how words are used, not to dictate.
My advice is to relax and stop looking to the dictionary to tell you what's 'correct' and what isn't. Maybe read this Stephen Pinker article. Language is beautifully complex and the fact that we have the ability to make up new words and add to our personal lexicon is mind-blowingly awesome. If you're curious about why linguists don't think English is 'going to the dogs', I really recommend Language Myths and I promise it's not full of linguistic jargon about isoglosses and whatnot. :)
They're called speech disfluencies. Everyone uses them and they have always been around.
I'm quite sympathetic to the argument that the Rationalist community often behaves in worryingly irrational ways, extending in-group status to Neoreactionaries being a prime example...
But damn, son; go pick up a copy of Pinker's Sense of Style, or Strunk and White's The Elements of Style. Even a quick read through Scott's recent post on nonfiction writing will be of enormous benefit to you.
You vacillate wildly in tone between "snarky Youtube comment" and "dry, academic college essay", your paragraphs are bloated with cliches and banalities like "But if I might be so bold as to suggest" or "But there’s another angle that must be considered" (a quick read of some Orwell might cure you of this) and you resort to unimaginative insults like "vicious little shit" and "banal edgelords". Insults in general are usually a bad idea in an actual published work, but if you're gonna use them at least put a little creativity into them.
I've spent the last couple days in bed with a cold and I've been filling the hours by reading Reddit comments. An excerpt from an upcoming book should not be the worst prose I've seen in that time.
I don't have much to add to /u/rusoved's comment beyond if you want further reading, check out the book Language Myths, available here. The two applicable chapters are "Italian is Beautiful and German is Ugly" and "They Speak Really Bad English Down South and in New York City". The basic gist of both chapters are the same: Our perceptions of accents are colored by our perceptions of the people (we think) speak those accents. Southerns are "stupid" and "friendly", so we say Southern accents sound "stupid" (but also "friendly"!). Most of the media representations we run into in the United States of Germans are of Nazis, and we have stereotypes of German efficiency, so we say that German sounds "harsh" and "mean" and "angry" and "clipped".
You would probably love this book: Akira Okrent - In the Land of Invented Languages. She's a linguist who goes about trying to learn some of a bunch of different conlangs and the communities that speak them. It's a really interesting read and quite fun.
I've studied a bit of Esperanto and absolutely adore it for its ease of use.
Punderdome. You're welcome. :P
Here’s the article the author keeps referring to
and here’s the book the article is about
I picked this one up from The Superior Person's Book of Words many years ago, along with postprandial (after-dinner) and napiform (turnip-shaped).
The Oatmeal, an online comic, has tons of hilarious and snarky posts about grammar.
Grammar Girl's quick and dirty tips is fun, but it's more topical than comprehensive. She also has a podcast that might be more interesting than just reading something.
That said, /u/meggawat recommended some great fun books that are easy reads.
I'm also fan of Woe Is I by Patricia O'Conner.
An important thing to keep in mind as you approach this vast and exciting grammar excursion: there is no universal, all-correct grammar. Grammar is socially constructed and often varies from user to user, from style guide to style guide and from one context (writing online to a casual audience) to another (writing a formal cover letter for a job application). Don't get too hung up on your "weak grammar." Words are for using and expression. Sure, grammar can afford some clarity, but even as I make my living off of its "correct" (or consistent) use, I question the prominence we place on "strong" grammar.
TL;DR: Have fun, but don't get too daunted by the details.
I can only recommend the book "Gems of Japanized English" by Miranda Kenrick. It also features explanations of where these mistakes come from and some nice pictures depicting the situations.
xkcd's comic on standards is applicable here: https://xkcd.com/927/
You may be interested in this book, which among other things, describes a Esperanto meeting and the struggles that arise: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Land-Invented-Languages-Arika-Okrent/dp/0812980891
You're INFP, yeah? In addition to creativity, you've got inner values that make you somewhat rebellious and individualistic. Embrace them!
When writing, doubt anything that comes out a little too easily. If it's an idiom, it may be a cliché. If it's a witty turn of phrase, you may have heard it somewhere else before. If it's a word, don't worry; just go with it. Unless you're doing it deliberately, you run the risk of losing your originality.
Think slowly and read and re-read your writing to ensure that it evokes over and again the precise feeling you want it to, or stirs the thoughts you want it to. Whether through wordplay or painting the picturesque, poetry depends on precision in vocabulary, richness in vision, and an eye and an ear for detail.
In matters of technique, to make your words so effective they flutter off the screen and slap you in the face, I recommend brushing up on your rhetoric; there are books that break down the subject a bit easier, and for the past couple months one of the mods at r/OCPoetry has been running a "Poetry Primer" on specific rhetorical devices and poetic forms (et al) using examples from the subreddit.
And whenever you can, practice! Practice makes perfect. Perfect makes poetry. And poetry makes power.
Woe Is I is a great one. I use it all the time when I'm preparing for class.
If you're interested in this topic, I HIGHLY recommend this book on the topic:
http://www.amazon.com/Land-Invented-Languages-Adventures-Linguistic/dp/0812980891/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289340641&sr=8-1
"In The Land of Invented Languages" by Arika Okrent
It's a history of invented languages and goes in depth on some of the more interesting examples and more. Nicely written and fun to read.
Oh God! Don't give them Language Files. Start them with Language Myths.
If you wish to write with sophistication, or with a plainspoken, bulleted style, there are books on that.
If you want something more general purpose, there is this
http://www.amazon.com/Language-Myths-Laurie-Bauer/dp/0140260234
This uses little linguistic terminology, so I think it works as "entry level" material.
Yes! There's even a form of 'um' in American Sign Language.
Michael Erard wrote a book about this, called Um. (http://www.amazon.com/Um-Slips-Stumbles-Verbal-Blunders/dp/1400095433/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1376790146&sr=1-1&keywords=Um+Michael+Erard) Very interesting read if this is something you want to look into more. He does talk about languages other than English.
From Merriam Webster:
um interjection
\ a prolonged m sound , əm\*
Definition of um
—used to indicate hesitation
well, um, I don't know
Examples of um in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
​
Um, see you in theaters, because that has the makings of cinematic genius.
— Lilian Min, Cosmopolitan, "Leo Meets His Ultimate Casting Match in a Leonardo Da Vinci Biopic," 14 Aug. 2017
Gabriel averaged an obscene 11.8 yards per target last season and scored touchdowns on 17.1% of his catches, making him an obvious candidate for regress– …um, for worse numbers than last year.
— Pat Fitzmaurice, [SI.com](https://SI.com), "Atlanta Falcons Fantasy Football 2017 Preview: Jones, Freeman Are Top Picks," 2 Aug. 2017*
​
Um is a rhetorical device. It is used to convey a hesitation to broach a subject. In short... to soften a blow.
Now, I have NO idea what fault you found with it. It is a time-honored portion of English, and dates back to before Columbus discovered America. Further, as every language has the equivalent of "um" in it, it is believed that the word serves a natural function of language--i.e. it is critical to convey a human thought which is both universal, and required for effective communication.
I would refer you to perhaps the best work on this interesting part of language:
Um. . .: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean
by Michael Erand, Anchor Press, 2008
​
https://www.amazon.com/Um-Slips-Stumbles-Verbal-Blunders/dp/1400095433
Here's a list of some of my favorite books on writing:
Or not. All of its advice is either vacuous or ignorant, and not even the authors follow their own arbitrary, petty, uninformed rules. Instead, read a guide by someone who actually knows what they're talking about.
I also had the same question, I just couldn't resist the temptation to catch you on your example. I want to take this chance to recommend Language Myths. It's accessible, easy to read, introduces the reader to a lot of basic sociolinguistic concepts, and also explains why you shouldn't be a prescriptivist asshole who thinks AAVE speakers are inherently less educated. I'm pretty sure the 'Southerners speak slow because it's hot' example is specifically addressed there.
Regarding the genesis of the gay accent, I also would like to know but I don't personally know of any such studies. Fortunately, questions of linguistics and sexuality have been recognized as important ones, and we'll probably start seeing a lot more material regarding this theme in the coming decades. Unfortunately, as an oppressed population, we may be hard-pressed to discover definite roots, since the older the speaker is, the more homophobic and repressive of a culture they lived in.
No problem. I suggest you continue your reading if you're interested in linguistics and want to learn some of the most common misconceptions about language(s). Unfortunately, a lot of the myths are reinforced by grammarians... but yeah. This book has been recommended to me numerous times. I've yet to read it, but you might enjoy it. Let me know if you'd like something a bit more academic.
You should read this book, specifically chapter 20, entitled "Everyone Has An Accent Except Me".
Ugh. This was funniest when I believed the lie. Way to be, tickld.com! Anyway, if you like the idea, check out Anguished English: An Anthology of Accidental Assualts Upon Our Language by Richard Lederer.
Reminds me of Anguished English, first published in 1989, apparently, with a few sequels/related texts since. Some of the funniest stuff I've read. I highly recommend them.
A few more come to mind, less literature but more about stylistic and analytic skills you'll require in your advanced years in the Humanities.
People say to read a good style guide like Strunk & White, which is just okay. But I'd highly recommend Pinker's A Sense of Style--he also unpacks some of the problems with Strunk & White's core edicts.
Stanley Fish is just a great person to read in general. From his op-ed stuff in the NY Times to his class How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One. I'd also highly recommend reading the full introduction of the Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticism or the introduction to Rifkin & Ryan's Literary Theory: An Anthology. When it comes to the lit theory stuff there are some good torrents with a lot of anthologies and canonical texts lumped together as PDFs. I also find a lot of good stuff with my Scribd membership.
How to Reassess Your Chess - If you can only read one book this is the one to read. Third edition is insanely cheap, but if you want to fork over the extra 20 get the 4th edition.
https://www.amazon.com/How-Reassess-Your-Chess-Chess-Mastery/dp/1890085006/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483020174&sr=1-2&keywords=how+to+reassess+your+chess
Chess and the Art of War is a fun read. Easy and precise.
https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Art-War-Ancient-Wisdom/dp/0785832815
The books Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Guide to Better Writing and Woe Is I helped me learn the parts of speech. They both break things down pretty simply and are easy to follow. Both use lots of examples, which I found helpful!
by Billy Mernit
by Keith Giglio
by Sheldon Bull
by Scott Dikkers
by William Rabkin
by Jack Epps Jr
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The only non Screenwriter on the list are Scott Dikkers, Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward.
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I'm Currently going through:
And want to read:
*Yes, you are right. What do I need to do to improve it?
Here are several links to books that might be helpful:
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
read this
> In any case, and at its core, Sun Tzu wrote a treatise on asymmetrical warfare, which doesn't translate in any meaningful way to symmetrical games, like pool or chess.
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/for-those-who-study-sun-tzu-quotthe-art-of-warquot
https://www.amazon.com/Art-War-versus-Pool-billiards/dp/1625052154
https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Art-War-Ancient-Wisdom/dp/0785832815
http://www.uschesstrust.org/sun-tzus-the-art-of-war/
Or the thousands of other games/jobs/situations to which people have applied the philosophy.
Your failure to understand the connection isn't the book's fault, and I'd advise you to read the whole thing and reflect on it w/r/t your game—even if you've read it before, you probably weren't ruminating about pool.
Or don't—it won't change how glad I am that I did.
I just keep a small notebook with me and write down any words that give me trouble. Got the idea from something similar that Bill Bryson does. I also cheated and bought this book to get a headstart.
Have you seen this book of famous quotes attributed to you? Or this one about Reasons to Vote for you? How do you respond to such flattering published material?
Aristotle's Poetics is where my literary criticism course started. You might also look at Longinus' On The Sublime and Burke's A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. If you want to get more specific on mechanics of pleasant writing that isn't so philosophically dense, you might look at Strunk & White's Elements of Style, Pinker's Sense of Style and my personal favorite, Stephen King's On Writing (The first half is biographical but the second part is an interesting commentary on the act of writing).
I've been writing on and off for the past 12 years, and I'm not sure I have even one piece worth sharing. I struggle with voice and syntax, like everyone.
You might find this style guide helpful. It's one of the better writer helpers I've come across.
but yeh, you should probably buy this
Paging Oakes.....we do a game/card night with a bunch of friends of our and all our kids. Little kids run around, adults drinks, it’s fun.....
Anyways they got this game below, basically a cards against humanity type game where you have to make up the best pun using random words. You would have dominated....
https://www.amazon.com/Punderdome-Card-Game-Pun-Lovers/dp/1101905654/ref=asc_df_1101905654/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=265963853955&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12812607233657350643&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9014875&hvtargid=pla-565117638135&psc=1
While I couldn't find a pdf of the book, I found a much cheaper (although still quite expensive) listing on Amazon. I don't understand why so many linguistically oriented books are priced this way. Why are you interested in this book, though? Perhaps there's another more reasonably priced option that would be helpful. Have you tried In the Land of Invented Languages? Both seem to cover a similar thrust.
>> It works like: "we as philosophers have decided that the term atheism means the belief there is no god". That was a wrong decision because it does not reflect the position that actual real wrold atheists hold.
>
> This is circular reasoning because it presupposes something that you're using the word 'atheist' for.
No it doesn't. The meaning of the word, as is the case for all other words, is determined by the way that people use it. If academics use a different definition for the same word they run the risk of ridicule because their conclusions will not relate to the real world.
> The group follows from the position, not the other way around.
It is the other way around in the real world. Usage in the real world gets to define language, not academics in ivory towers.
>> Just because they have been wrong for a long time
> Nobody was using the word any other way back then.
It has been used that way for a long, long time.
> What makes you think that you can just come up with a new definition and suddenly that's the correct one?
I didn't come up with it, real world usage has come up with it. That is the way language actually works.
How Language Works: How Babies Babble, Words Change Meaning, and Languages Live or Die
Language does not work by academics deciding on a meaning that nobody uses.
Are you asking whether you could learn new language with this method? Its best you follow a language learning system for that.
It worked for me with english because I grew up learning it from childhood and obsessively read nearly hundred or more novels in my teen and young adult phase.
>What did you do/what was your method?
To put it in simple words, its basically taking great writers work, and imitate their content. For example here's
from the book The scarlet pimpernel first paragraph, chapter 3:
>Feeling in every part of England certainly ran very high at this time against the French and their doings. Smugglers and legitimate traders between the French and the English coasts brought snatches of news from over the water, which made every honest Englishman's blood boil, and made him long to have “a good go” at those murderers, who had imprisoned their king and all his family, subjected the queen and the royal children to every species of indignity, and were even now loudly demanding the blood of the whole Bourbon family and of every one of its adherents.
Now rewrite this paragraph to your own liking randomly like this:
>In nearly every part of new york, the feeling of tiredness ran very high against the southerners and their army. Runaway slaves and legitimate human traffickers between the two high parts of texas bought news from over by carts and by doves, which increased the animosity of the northerners towards the slave owners and made the northerners blood boil, and some of them even wished to have "good go" at those war mongers, who had imprisoned even the little black children in dark slave rooms, subjected their parents and the northern soldiers who tried to save them with every known piece of indecency, and were even now demanding the blood of the whole confederate army and every one of its supporters.
Yeah, this doesn't make much sense if you read it too much, but as you can see, I imitated that paragraph with few things added and few things removed. This is how you learn to write effectively. The more you imitate the great writers, the more your own writing will improve.
>How did you use this for English?
The only way you could have mastery over writing is to seriously finish reading books like these and apply its concepts everyday until you get better:
This is a classic book on sentence writing and gives you tons of examples and explanations, although it can get quiet challenging to read it in first try.
This book is quite challenging read and at times very hard to comprehend, but read it one chapter at a time slowly.
Next, this book gives you a basic introduction to the field of rhetoric, which is something that writers in this sub don't usually talk very much, but its one of the biggest things you should focus on if you want to improve your writing to the advanced level from basic and intermediate level.
Finally, this book is the one you should definitely read, and this book is the one that basically inspired my initial comment.
The Elements of Eloquence is a book about writing style and the elements of rhetoric and written language. I'm not sure how much they apply to other languages (if at all), but it certainly covers English (which you asked about :p )
It's a fun and easy read, whether or not you're a writer, and might be a useful toolbox for someone starting out in the language.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/042527618X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_RXduDbKF09DTY
I go through phases. Sometimes I read poetry (nothing in particular, usually a trip to the library looking for collections instead of one single author). Sometimes I read fiction. Sometimes I read non-fiction.
The other part of the equation is to make sure you're reading actively. It doesn't matter how much you read if you don't really understand it. Pay attention to the way the author says things.
An issue I have with just reading nonfiction books on a particular subject (ie. philosophy as you've stated) doesn't really help if the books are dry. You're wanting to learn how to turn a phrase--you don't get that from a lot of non-fiction. The philosophy part might help you look at the world differently or become more aware of things outside your own point of view, but they don't usually help you understand how to write a crafty sentence (or lyric). In other words, it might give you something to write about, but not how to write about it!
Something else that might help is to read books about writing. Not textbooks, but books about grammar and style. I also recommend books written by successful authors on their own writing.
Two books that I have next to me pretty much always are:
https://www.amazon.com/Sin-Syntax-Craft-Wickedly-Effective/dp/0767903099
and
https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Eloquence-Secrets-Perfect-Phrase/dp/042527618X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483465760&sr=8-1&keywords=elements+of+eloquence
Of course, you can also enroll in a creative writing course. Having guidance and feedback is worth more than most people think.
With people I don't know I can be social enough to fill in the blank spaces of a conversation well. With people I've known for a long time or familiar with it's easier to lighten up and let the jokes fly. My office played Punderdome for a year and we had a blast. The three of us are introverts so our inside jokes and roasts were all the better because we'd probably never do that in front of other people.
There is a new book coming out that reformats the Elements of Style:
The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century by Steven Pinkner
On that note, my boss bought a set of these books for the lab. It's an enjoyable read and helped me write a recent research proposal.
I'd add The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century
I actually prefer it over Elements of Style...and the book's description explains why in a nice summary...
> Rethinking the usage guide for the twenty-first century, Pinker doesn’t carp about the decline of language or recycle pet peeves from the rule books of a century ago. Instead, he applies insights from the sciences of language and mind to the challenge of crafting clear, coherent, and stylish prose.
> In this short, cheerful, and eminently practical book, Pinker shows how writing depends on imagination, empathy, coherence, grammatical know how, and an ability to savor and reverse engineer the good prose of others. He replaces dogma about usage with reason and evidence, allowing writers and editors to apply the guidelines judiciously, rather than robotically, being mindful of what they are designed to accomplish.
--------------
Emphasis mine.
Thanks, nice article!
I'd like to point out jonase/kibit for brevity concerns. Figuring out the brief form of a long expression is as much a matter of skill than a matter of taste in my opinion. For those of us that are lacking in any of those departments, automation brings a limited answer.
 
Also, since there's a dinoZORRR in the room (Strunk and White), allow me to recommend The Sense of Style by Steven Pinker, the best english style guide I've ever read.
OK I will just make points to prevent wall of texting.
Grammar =/= rules of language. It is one part of the whole thing. Grammar is also descriptive, and the rules are derives based on empirical study of the usage of native speakers. It can change, and does, naturally over time.
Beowulf was written in old english. It is a substrate precursor of middle and modern English, while an older form of french is a largely lexical contributor. I could have talked about Shakespeare, but I wanted to make more of a point. That language changes over time, even without outside pressures.
English is an evolving language that is completely unrelated to swahili, what you saying is equivalent to the crocoduck argument (http://wiki.ironchariots.org/index.php?title=Crocoduck).
Your definition of a language is pretty colloquial and quite different to the definition given by linguists, who are essentially language scientists.
This might help you http://ielanguages.com/linguist.html
I have read many books on language, sounds like you have read a school textbook on "grammar", maybe take a class in linguistics or read a book on it or something. Most of the "rules" you learn in school are heuristics and are in most cases incorrect descriptions of English syntax.
I would recommend you read this book.
http://www.amazon.com/How-Language-Works-David-Crystal/dp/158333291X
It is by David Crystal. He is considered to be a leading world expert on English Language especially British English and it's evolution over time.
He also wrote this book
http://www.amazon.com/Txtng-The-Gr8-David-Crystal/dp/0199571333
Which argues that text speak does not have a negative impact on literacy. He has also written ~120 other books.
The Elements of Eloquence is neat. It basically a compendium of rhetorical tools you can use to make better sentences.
You might also be interested in free verse poetry, which, if we're being honest, is nothing but very carefully written prose. I'm currently going through this book and enjoying it.
I also want to second Francine Prose's Reading like a Writer, which someone else already mentioned. It's fantastic.
For the sake of some differentiation on the list:
The Languages of Middle-Earth" for the Scifi leaning people or vaguely interested folks who enjoyed the movies. Tolkien was a language fiend and created some extensive lexicons, syntactic systems, and phonology for every language in his universe.
"In the Land of Invented Languages" All on manufactured languages and the weird people who make them. Klingon, Elvish, Esperanto, etc.
William S Burroughs "Electronic Revolution" (a bit occult, though) on the power of language as a transmittable virus
Here are a few grammar books that are not only helpful but also very readable. Actually, a quick Amazon search brings up a lot of books, but these are the ones I recommend from firsthand experience:
Eats, Shoots and Leaves
Woe is I
Grammar Snobs are Great Big Meanies (<-- probably the most informal of the 3)
I recommend David Crystal's 'How Language Works'
https://www.amazon.com/How-Language-Works-Meaning-Languages/dp/158333291X
You're also completely misrepresenting grammar and language. Try looking into the field of linguistics. Here's a couple book suggestions for you. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0140260234 And http://www.amazon.com/The-Unfolding-Language-Evolutionary-Invention/dp/0805080120/ref=la_B001JOASIU_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1342795681&amp;sr=1-2
Seems to be cribbed from a book called "Anguished English" that my middle school teachers read to me ~10 years ago. That book is almost certainly a fake, by the way. "Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100 foot clipper" is just a bit too coincidental, don'tcha think?
http://www.amazon.com/Anguished-English-Anthology-Accidental-Assaults/dp/044020352X
Yes, they're purportedly American essay excerpts, hence the importance of Lincoln's assassination.