Friday, November 12, 2010

NEW BLOG

http://shawonpunston.tumblr.com/

Monday, October 18, 2010

not an endorsement

What do you call the beginning of a quest to find the best root beer?

The embarqation.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

thanks dfw

What do you call a bunch of Jewish songs broken up into smaller segments?

A cantor set.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

this should really be a tumblr, shouldn't it?

What do you call a bawdy playwright?

Rakespeare.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

-work sucks -i know

i'm not even going to bother trying today, but i think a cool tribute band would be one that records all their songs in mono and calls themselves wink 364

Monday, October 11, 2010

and look at that ugly vowel cluster too

What's the most titillating way to profane a Muslim house of worship?

Mosqueulation.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

make of this what you will

What do you call a militarily sanctioned massacre?

A spree de corps.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

besides rice krispies of course

What cereal is the most communicative?

Koko Puffs.

for real this time i swear

What do you call a government that stores its annals in unchangeable public records?

ROMmunism.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

meh i have math homework

What do you call someone who throws a hissy fit whenever he misses a deadline?

A juvenile delinquent.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

And, we're back!

Summer's more or less over. Here we go again.

What do you call it when the QB misses up a flea flicker?

A faux pass.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

yay for umlaut

Where do ceramics enthusiasts vacation in Germany?

Potter's Köln.

Friday, June 18, 2010

more like marcus licentious

Which triumvir was the most boorish?

Crassus.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Happy Bloomsday!

What do stout Irish opera singers wear for activities?

Molly Bloomers.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

sigh

Who betrayed Jesus from overhead?

Judas Iscarryon.

Monday, June 14, 2010

i hope you are all watching fußball

Who is the stronghold of the German attack?

Bastion Schweinsteiger.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

joplin' for something usable here

What do you call a very mechanical violin player?

Raganini.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

sorry no skaggerak

What kind of encased meat cuts through Jutland?

Kielbasa.

Friday, June 11, 2010

israeli humor maybe?

What do you call someone who likes to see teeth returned to their original location?

An irredentist.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

what

What do you call very terse psychoanalysis?

Lacanic.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

the rest of you can look it up when you get home

What do LeRoy Carhart and Fatboy Slim have in common?

Both made money with the weapon of choice.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Monday, June 7, 2010

arid schmarid

What do you call a computer program that maps deserts using satellites?

Google Dearth.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

relevancy factor: 4

What did Congress do when pastries became fatally bad?

They enacted torte reform.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

a word i like, sadly more archaic than "seldom"

What do you call someone who loves to curse?

Profain.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

i may be hitting a creative dry spell, meh.

What do you call a child who is constantly upset about not having a Wii?

Unconsoled.

Monday, May 31, 2010

why am i not asleep yet

What do you call someone who knows a lot about herbs?

A sage.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

in poor taste, of course

I'm back from HSNCT, that was fun. Here's one I came up with on the airplane.

What was Anne Frank's favorite literary dialect?

Attic Greek.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

i dreid to be grosch in my operation

What did critics of avant-garde Weimar Berlin music think of the Threepenny Opera?

They re-Weilled it.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

gotta hook you in like

Why did the obnoxious singer repeat the same chorus over and over again?

He couldn't refrain from doing so.

Monday, May 24, 2010

jews only for this one

What do Biblical commentators call it when one is struck with so great an awe for God that he turns around and runs?

A reversing wow.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

also applicable to tombstone carvers

What happened when the typesetter lost his box of diacritics?

It was a grave situation.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

OBSERVATION

"Hova?" in Hungarian means "Where to?". So if Jay-Z ever went to Hungary, he could get in a taxi and even the cab drivers would be calling him by his name.

VAGUELY RELATED PUN

How does a canine cartoon character map out his plans despite not having opposable thumbs with which to hold a pen?

Using Blue prints.

Friday, May 21, 2010

fun fact: the spektor of regina has been dominating my musical tastes as of late

What do you call someone who peels and sells rotten corn at exorbitant prices?

A [s]huckster.

[whoops.]

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

who cares about oatmeal

What cereal changes least when blended?

Runny Bunches of Oats.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

he'll have to adopt a new position

What do you call a ward of the state given to a baseball team?

A roster child.

Monday, May 17, 2010

woo back in nyc

Where do poets hang out in New York City?

Rhymes Square.

Friday, May 14, 2010

fyi i have a linear algebra final tomorrow

What do you call a farmer who controls his entire range?

Master of his codomain.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

toffuti snooty

What do you call an erroneously made frozen dessert?

A pop[sic]le.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Monday, May 10, 2010

packing up things is a pain

What's the hottest time of day in Beirut?

Lebanoon.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

partial cred to my roomie david emanuel for making this joke by accident

What cake do baseball players eat after advancing a runner?

A sacrifice bundt.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

no more stallin

Which poet wrote juicy epigrams about all his friends?

Gossip Mandelstam.

Friday, May 7, 2010

yesss bilingual puns

What did Louis XV say after a particularly sloppy kiss?

"Après mwah, le déluge."

Thursday, May 6, 2010

In honor of the election

What do you call a Eurosceptic fish?

A UKIPper.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

[ınsert tıttle here]

Which dictator has the most replay value?

Slo-modan Milošević.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

or should the b just move entirely?

What do people from Charleston call cirrhosis?

Bourbon blight.

Monday, May 3, 2010

yay it defaults to pst so it's still yesterday

What was Justinian's favorite cocktail?

A Byzantini.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

in honor of b. eve corman

How do you represent a program that simulates apocalyptic nanotechnology?

With a gray GUI.

Friday, April 30, 2010

short and somewhat sweet

What do apocalyptic horses say?

"The end is neigh!"

Thursday, April 29, 2010

whatever i'm tired

What do you call a tuba-playing midget?

An oom-pah Loompa.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

a novel concept

What do you call a two-volume novel?

A roman à cleft.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

a very palpable twit

What do you call it when you start to believe pernicious rumors about yourself?

Being hoisted by your own canard.

Friday, April 23, 2010

have fun at spring weekend guys

What do you call it when you get so drunk you can't stress vowels?

Schwasted.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

this doesn't really work, says my floormate. well i think she's wrong kinda?

How do prostitutes relay their nightly deeds to their pimps?

A debriefing.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

so this is obscure but i like it too much to forsake it

What did Lemminkäinen cry as he was drowning in the river of Tuonela?

"Louhi, Louhi, lama sebachthani?"

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

so here i am studying for a linear algebra midterm

What mathematical tool models the evolution of mammals?

A furrier transform.

Monday, April 19, 2010

just peachy

A farmer in Georgia wants to plant the most lucrative crop, and he has wheat and cotton seeds. He had heard that both grow quickly, but each have pests that attack violently and damage much of the crop. After some investigation, he determines that the cotton pest is worse. So he plants wheat, because that involves the lesser of two weevils.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

this is almost a tweet

A man always used to listen to music on his really good speakers while spending time with his girlfriend, so that all his senses could be better enhanced. Soon, though, he became conditioned—the mere sight of those speakers sent him quivering with delight. He had managed to inextricably link Bose and eros.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

hitting the ball pall-mall and all

Where do solid golfers serve in government?

Par-liament.

Monday, April 12, 2010

and monarchs gather taxes in levy-a-thons

Sorry for the hiatus, I was off winning a national championship.

What sea creature is nasty, brutish, and short?

A Hobbester.

Friday, April 9, 2010

hope i don't bollix this one up

What operating system is the best for imperial courts?

Eunuchs.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

guest puns are the best puns

Here's a guest pun from Daniel Solomon.

What is required for effective governance in Central Europe?

Czechs and Balances!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

oh my god this is awful

What branch of math best suits mermaids?

Algae-bra.

Monday, April 5, 2010

it's right there in the setup

What do you call a sailor with a good command over punctuation?

A commadore.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

it's baseball season guys!

What are the most lucrative pastries?

Profiteroles.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Friday, April 2, 2010

the ban on love kinda?

What did Wagner call his opera about tragic infidelity?

Trystin' and Isolde.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

a pun in hell, brought to you by arthur marimbaud

What do you call a kitschy xylophone?

A schlockenspiel.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

pay to byrsa

What poem takes place in the Carthaginian kingdom by the sea?

Hannibal Lee.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

and what's the deal with pommel horses?

Why did the imperfect gymnast give up his professional career?

It was untenable.

Monday, March 29, 2010

knife in hell

What did Matt Groening call his show about surgeons in the 30th century?

Suturama.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

otto rank and file

Why are hospitals in Western Australia so full?

The Trauma of Perth.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

he saw tirane out the window, sitting on his yggdrasill

Who is the ancestor of all Albanian squirrels?

Ratatosk.

Friday, March 26, 2010

"oh, oh oh oh oh oh. that is sad." --my father

What kind of eggplant can you find all around the world?

A globergine.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

berlin's meard!

What do Germans sing when they're waiting for their pickles to be ready?

Watch on the Brine.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

purls before swine

What do you call a knitted automobile?

A cable car.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

midterms have lain waste to my wordsmithy

Why do barbarians fear paradoxes that stop them from shooting their arrows at Athens effectively?

Because they're Zenophobic.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

this joke is more tasteless than a dude with a cold

I want to release a card-based strategy game based on suicide. I'll call it Splat-O-Matic.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

oh whoops i forgot to post yesterday my bad

What do you call Hungarian cockroaches?

Budapests.

Monday, March 15, 2010

did i spell that right?

Which basketball coach is the most high-strung?

Lute Olsen.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

isLAMEy

Which Russian composer is the starchiest?

Mealy Balakirev.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

i blame the lateness on daylight savings

What vow did the triplet competitive eaters take before facing off against their rivals?

The Oath of the Voracii.

Friday, March 12, 2010

warchan

What do you call it when /b/tards flood hapless forums with witty comments?

Drolling.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

yeah this is terrible whatever

Sorry for the skipped day; I've been a bit sick recently. On that note:

Which disease is the most expensive to eradicate?

Dollara.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

plato the line

Which pre-Socratic philosopher is the stupidest?

Heraclitus the Slack-Jawed Yokel.

Monday, March 8, 2010

pimento mori

Out of all the fruits and vegetables, which are the most diverse?

Sundry tomatoes.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

duck and cover

What do ducks like to smoke?

Quacky tobacky.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

this one's somewhat on the arcane side i guess?

What aria did Puccini write at Yankee Stadium?

"O mio bambino caro".

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Thanks to Becca Corman for inspiration

What was Mandy Moore's best experience at a Chinese restaurant?

A Wok to Remember.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

general tsober

What do you call it when you savagely eat your Chinese food?

Wonton destruction.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

and he eats jacob barley

Where does Tiny Tim cram for exams?

In a Christmas carrel.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Lost and Foundry

What do Old West towns have in common with fonts?

The worst ones are sans sheriff.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

mope-a-dope

What do you call someone who mopes all around the city?

Peripathetic.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

que tara tara

What would you call Katharina Blum if she had grown up in Alabama?

The belle of the Böll.

Friday, February 26, 2010

sorry for being so lat-e as to not post yesterday

How do you overwork American conductors?

Send them on a baton death march.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

yitzchak rabid disapproval

Which Israeli contains the most text?

Tanachem Begin.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Aesir what you did there

Flying Norse farmers must live off a wing and a Freyr.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

romani fever

Which dog is the best at playing gypsy guitar?

Django Lassie.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Caves and Graves

What do you call rock formations poking out of the floor of POW camps?

Stalagmites.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

And a bonus

How does John McEnroe, newspaper editor, reject comic strips?

YOU CANNOT BE SERIAL

Český vtip

Here's a little something I came up with in Czech today.

„Karaoke je zpívat s pivem.“
Literally: Karaoke is singing with beer.The last two words pronounced, of course, "spivat spivem". Hilarious, I know.

Monday, February 15, 2010

orthography jokes

What's a Greek writer's favorite cured meat?

Gammon.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

The Road to Wigennui

What did George Orwell call his chronicle about that time he was too tired to get out of bed?

Homage to Catatonia.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

And did that feat in modern times

A well-stocked expedition goes into the desert to find a mythical river. Six months later, they return, tired, hungry, ragged, and out of materials.

The investigation ruled it dearth by misadventure.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Schmuckers: It Has to be Good

Where do Jewish housewives store their condoms?

In shtupperware containers.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Ukraine Wife

Here's a guest pun from Matt Grossman.

Why did the fisherman move to Odessa?

He wanted his business to be in the Black.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Brno stoppin me now

What happens when you go restaurant hopping around Moravia for a year?

You pick up the Czech.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Roll for Constitution Hall

What do you call it when nerds dress up like a society woman from a fantasy novel?

DARping

Monday, February 8, 2010

GOLD, JERRY, GOLD

What candy wafers are the most ornate?

Art Necco

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Oh no, I am nearly half an hour late

I made something of this ilk a bunch of times already today. Whatever.

What do you call it when Reggie Bush scores a touchdown?

A saint goes marching in.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

On the fringes of society

What do observant Jews wear when singing Spem in alium?

A Thomas Tallis.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Another Puntry

Where can you get the best encased meats on Borneo?

Brunei Darussalami.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Brown in-joke?

How is diffusion like a Brown student switching from physics to classics to English to ethnic studies to modern culture and media?

Both involve sliding down the concentration gradient.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

What did Cleisthenes use to expand x from 400 to 500?

Boulean algebra.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Boa and Arrows

What kind of snake overthrows governments?

A usurpent.

Monday, February 1, 2010

The Murder and Life of Punsters

What do you call features of neighborhoods such as safety and traffic on sidewalks, mixed primary usage, and ability to band together on important issues against corporations?

Jacobian determinants.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

BARRAGE OF PUNS

Which linguist is the most decorative?
Gnome Chomsky.

Which linguist is the hungriest?
Noam Chompsky.

Which linguist goes downhill the fastest?
Noam Chomski.

Which linguist has seven hills?
Rome Chomsky.

Which linguist has the longest, most flexible nose?
Edward Tapir.

Friday, January 29, 2010

lowest common denominator whatever

What's the drunkest former SSR?

Boozebekistan.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Invoking Ire

What causes Irish republicans to nonetheless support Northern Ireland?

Ulsterior motives.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Yurts are funny

Here's a guest pun from an anonymous contributor. Enjoy!

Why is a Mongol invasion a piecemeal process?

They like to do it steppe by steppe.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

What happened when customs on the Straits of the Johor became really easy to get through?

The borders became Singaporous.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Peter Pan now has wifi, guys

What did Greyhound get when they accidentally loaded one of their charter vehicles with short-range guns?

A blunder bus.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Cocklofts and actual height notwithstanding

When they stacked up all sitcom actors, who came out on top?

Brad Garret.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Drinking vassals

First woodwinds rule their own private fifedoms.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Serious Literary Analysis!

Why did The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana consist of 300 pages of simply describing midcentury Italian popular culture?

It was written by Umberto Echo.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

As virtuous men pass jello-moldly away

What poem compares death to eating a nice dessert?

Flanatopsis.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

LINGUISTICS PUN THE SECOND

The Gaelic lenition system is completely insane. They use everything but the kitchen sink. In short, they've really pulled out all the stops on that one.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Despatches from the Dogpile

How do you find Platonic solids on the internet?

You use the Lycosahedron.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Destiny and Hope being, of course, entirely theological concepts.

Whose butterflies fly away when a Jesu song is on?

Miley Prioress.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

LINGUISTICS PUN THE FIRST

How does the government of Linguistics Land make its money?

It levies on verboten grammatical constructions a sin tax.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Ars Poetica

A poet is late for his deadline on a new collection of poetry, so his publisher hounds him, asking him why he hasn't submitted his stuff. When the publisher finally finds him, the poet merely shrugs his shoulders. This infuriates the publisher, because he has neither rhyme nor reason.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Highways

What do you call it when the HOV lane merges into the regular lane, causing a traffic jam?

Carpool tunnel syndrome.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

First Synagogue of Guernsey

What's a cow's favorite part of Shabbat services?

The Moo-saf.

And which prayer in the Moo-saf does a cow like best?

The Cud-dish.

Friday, January 8, 2010

My mom told me about this scene in "Tootsie" where a mime is pretending to walk on a tightrope and Dustin Hoffman's character pushes him

What happened when the lollipop entered a boxing match?

He took a licking.






BONUS PUN: He had to be a real Dum-Dum to do it. Nonetheless, he managed to Charm the audience before he received his first Blow.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Autointelligence

What's the smartest car ever made?

The Model T; it's a Turing car.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

North Polaroid

Why did Santa send a Sámi elf to the department store when he was too tired to go himself?

That way kids could still sit on his Lapp.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Those crazy Belgians

It's the 17th century in Belgium, and the king of Belgium is in a snit because he had sent five envoys to the Vatican, only to have them killed in a religious controversy. So the king turns to his Minister of State, Harry, and he says to Harry, "Harry, there must be some way to get retaliation on these dastardly Catholics! I can't suffer them in my kingdom any longer." And Harry says, "Don't worry, Mr. King, I'll talk to the clergy, and we'll take care of it."

A few months later, a mysterious illness sweeps across the nation. All of the Catholics in Belgium catch a cold and die. The king is jubilant, and he goes back to Harry, and he says, "Harry, how did you do it? How did you manage to make this attack even more successful than what Rome could ever do?" So Harry turns to the king, and says, "Well, Mr. King, nobody expectorates the Flemish Inquisition."

Introduction

I come up with a lot of puns in my daily life, so finding one good pun a day to post shouldn't be too herculean a task. Some may be long-form; most will probably just be a sentence or two. My reference space may be large and varied. Maybe I'll explain some if they're particularly arcane.

They say that puns are the lowest form of entertainment. Like Veronica Lake and Robert Preston, the least I can do is gun for higher.