15 People Who Knew Exactly What They Were Doing And Still Went For It

Many of the ideas here are cleverly, or not-so-cleverly hidden puns. As much as we groan at them, puns have a long, titled history. The ancient Greeks and Romans were aware of them as comedic templates, and indeed, the word pun itself has Greek origins, though that isn’t saying much when one considers all the Greek loanwords in English.

Often we associate puns with groan-worthy dad jokes, but even masters of the language, like Shakespeare, use them frequently. Shakespeare himself used over 3000 puns in his plays, significantly more than can be listed in this article. Indeed, until recently, pun use was seen as a form of literary sophistication. After all, puns require the knowledge that certain words have multiple meanings or similar-sounding counterparts. The writer must then also create the context where the reader or listener can understand which version is being referred to. 

Now most non-visual jokes are a form of storytelling. There is a setup, normally of some information, then a punch line as a finisher. The setup should be vague enough that the punch is unexpected, which humans tend to find amusing. We like it when we are surprised, and often this is achieved by subverting certain expectations. Many of the jokes in this list work in a similar manner, we see lasagna puns in a Wikipedia article about a football player which is not where we expect Italian-food-based puns.

So clever joke writers will use the setup to mislead us, so the punchline can be even more unexpected. Deadpan humor goes a step further by never acknowledging that there is a joke. Now the ability to confuse us isn’t always benign. Mall architects use this to great effect. Have you ever been in a store or mall where the layout and variety of options quickly overwhelmed you? More often than not, this design is intentional.

This is called Gruen transfer or the Gruen effect. Retailers know that once a person has made the effort to come to a mall, they will probably spend some money. But if they can be confused or distracted, they will often visit stores they don’t need and spend money on things not part of their shopping list. This effect was named after Austrian architect Victor Gruen and, in a case of classic misdirection, he was highly opposed to the practice.

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