ADVERTISEMENT

Some people believe that puns are the lowest form of comedy possible. We humbly believe that these people are wrong. In our opinion, puns are fantastic because they’re a quick way to improve someone’s mood while showing off your linguistic skills, as well as the power of your imagination.

One of our favorite puntastic joke categories is “what idiot called it X and not Y,” where a word that everyone knows is taken and a punny alternative is suggested to replace it. Simple but effective and almost guaranteed to improve your mood and crack a smile.

So scroll down, enjoy, and share with your friends and family to spread the joy. Let us know in the comments if you know of any similar jokes and remember to upvote your faves in this list.

#3

What-Idiot-Called-It

lordoftheshibs Report

Add photo comments
POST
mmuriett avatar
ann_m_rosa avatar
ryu_bakura avatar
Ryo Bakura
Community Member
4 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Some stepdads can be better fathers than the biological ones, so while they might not share genetics, they wouldn't be considered "false", either. Also, since "faux pas" has been adopted into English, it'd be pretty dang confusing to introduce your friends to your "embarrassing act".

ashrita-padigala avatar
View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

According to Howard Richler on The Senior Times, plenty of well-known and respected individuals have had a go at puns. Like neurologist Sigmund Freud, who thinks that they’re cheap, and the former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Oliver Wendell Holmes, who thought that puns were “verbicide.” Ouch.

Plenty of English writers living in the 17th and 18th centuries (John Dryden, Daniel Defoe, Joseph Addison, others) thought that puns were ambiguous, created confusion and prevented the English language from finally being perfected.

Though we use the term ‘puns’ quite interchangeably, the fact is, there are many different types of puns. For example, for homophonic puns: the humor lies in the fact that these jokes treat homonyms as though they are synonyms. “Why is it so wet in London? Because so many kings and queens reign there,” is a perfect example of this.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Besides homophonic puns, there are also homographic puns (“Did you hear about the optician who fell into a lens grinder and made a spectacle of himself?”). And if you combine the two, you get homonymic puns: “She was only a rancher’s daughter, but all the horsemen knew her.”

There are also compound puns (“Where do you find giant snails? On the end of giants’ fingers”) and recursive puns, in which the second part of the joke depends on you understanding the first part. An example of this would be: “A Freudian slip is where you say one thing and mean your mother.” What's your favorite types of pun? Let us know in the comments!

ADVERTISEMENT
#14

What-Idiot-Called-It

GabbyEpstein1 Report

Add photo comments
POST
ryu_bakura avatar
Ryo Bakura
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Same person who knew vets treat other animals besides dogs? Let me fix this one: What idiot called it a veterinarian instead of a peterinarian?

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#15

What-Idiot-Called-It

aquafreshXTREME Report

Add photo comments
POST
quinnalexander avatar
Quinn Alexander
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Actually thats where the word Lunatic comes from; Luna, meaning moon, for the believe that it was the power of the moon that made a person crazy the same way a full moon messes with cats and dogs.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
See Also on Bored Panda
#18

What-Idiot-Called-It

LmaoEdit Report

Add photo comments
POST
jksimm515 avatar
Koalamonster
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know this isn't what this is about but Jet Ski is actually a name brand like Kleenex. It's actually called a "personal water craft"- which is... not a cool name. I learned that recently and now you're stuck with it too- I'm so sorry you read that.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#20

What-Idiot-Called-It

Report

Add photo comments
POST
wh4ok avatar
Jon S.
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That sounded so good, I wondered if there was a lawn fertiliser with this name already. There isn't but there is a bio fuel company that makes its product with grass!

View more commentsArrow down menu
#21

What-Idiot-Called-It

Pyonta_Ship4 Report

Add photo comments
POST
kaisu-reinikainen avatar
Kaisu
Community Member
4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No but it actually is called that! Ilion is a name for Troy and thus Iliad means pretty much Troy Story

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#30

What-Idiot-Called-It

hayley_daragon Report

Note: this post originally had 49 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda