Get Thee to a Punnery

by Richard Lederer, Bill Thompson (Illustrator)

The Pun Is Mightier Than The Sword...
Richard Lederer has great puns. And you don't have to take vows to enjoy them. Just Get Thee To A Punnery and laugh yourself int a state of grace. Sinners will be punished with such gems
-Old Milkmaids never die -- they just kick the bucket.
-Drunk drivers are people who put the quart before the hearse.
Whether you like 'em hot or cool, straight-up or low-down, here are puns of every color, stripe and persuasion to suit your every whim. Even if you don't know that your humerus is your funny bone, this is the book for you.--This text refers to the Paperback edition

Genres: Humor, Language, Nonfiction, Reference

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

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 and his current book, The Gift of Age. He has been profiled in magazines as diverse as The New Yorker, People, and the National Enquirer and frequently appears on radio as a commentator on language. He has been named International Punster of the Year and Toastmasters International's Golden Gavel winner.

He is the father of author and poet Katy Lederer and poker players Howard Lederer and Annie Duke.

Reviews

[Manybooks]

Well, Richard Lederer's Get Thee to a Punnery: An Anthology of Intentional Assaults Upon the English Language is certainly full full full of sometimes laugh out loud funny and always divertingly deliberate English language puns. But be that as it may, it must also and equally be pointed out that the sheer massive volume of presented, of featured puns does indeed tend to become more than a bit dragging and tedious as Get Thee to a Punnery: An Anthology of Intentional Assaults Upon the English Language progresses and moves on (or at least this has certainly been the case with and for me). And yes, this particular scenario is also precisely why I do not usually tend to read books on language based jokes and word plays straight through but rather in bits and pieces, in small and manageable chunks (which for me keeps the presented humour relatively fresh, relatively lively, and equally avoids monotony and one-sidedness, and even with regard to puns).

However, while as an anthology, Get Thee to a Punnery: An Anthology of Intentional Assaults Upon the English Language is solidly three stars, is loads of reading fun if approached prudently (and if one also chooses to ignore the included quizzes, which I personally have not enjoyed AT ALL), considering that Richard Lederer obviously sees and considers himself as a linguist, as a language specialist, I most definitely was expecting considerably more from Get Thee to a Punnery: An Anthology of Intentional Assaults Upon the English Language than simply lists upon lists of puns and more puns.

Because yes indeed, that Richard Lederer presents no informational chapters in Get Thee to a Punnery: An Anthology of Intentional Assaults Upon the English Language on jokes and humour in general and on puns in particular (and especially regarding the English language which because of its tendency towards homophones is very prone to both accidental and deliberate punning), the complete absence of this, I do both personally and academically consider this a major lack and oversight. And thus, only two stars for Get Thee to a Punnery: An Anthology of Intentional Assaults Upon the English Language and for Richard Lederer himself, as for me puns are an important aspect of humour as a genre, and that in my opinion, ANY book featuring puns should also be presenting a section or even a number of sections about puns, about their linguistic history and how they fit into theories of humour.

[Charles]

I think it was quite clever, and parts were certainly fun. It's an interactive book that asks you to fill in blanks with puns of your own devising, given some guidelines and some constraints by Lederer. I'm not exactly the audience for this since I love language but do not necessarily admire the art of the pun and its relatives. Still, for those who do, I bet they'd love it.

[Evelyn]

Examples of accidental puns, mistakes, etc. that are fun to read.

[Jennifer S]

Skip bought this for me on the kindle. Fun read (probably 3.5 stars) but hard to flip back and forth between the puzzles and their answers when reading electronically. Might have to take it out of the library to play more with the word games. Happy to see "Prinderella and the Cince" - though I still prefer "Loldigocks and the Bee Threars"!

[Kim Bondy]

This book is basically about the history of puns and bad jokes. It's cute if you are into that kind of humor.

It does contain tons of puns that are presented as games for the reader to solve. (The answers are contained in the back of the book.)

[Jess Candela]

I loved it, but nothing else quite comes close to the joy to be found within the pages of Anguished English: An Anthology of Accidental Assaults Upon Our Language

[Natalie]

I was expecting a more funny book or a book explaining why puns are funny or how to make puns. But instead, this had a couple of instructional things but was mostly a workbook.It was, for lack of a better word, boring

[Ryk Stanton]

Yeah, pretty good stuff. He talks about how puns are created, and he has many games/riddles to help you practice. I can use it in school if we are ever allowed to teach fun things like jokes and puns. I could probably use the quizzes as bellringers.

[sharon van etten]

learn the proper usage of puns and laugh and you won't feel alone in the world of cheese...

[Heather]

i wish i still owned this.

[Melody]

Silly and fun.

[Jared]

Disappointing, after reading Anguished English and More Anguished English.

[Shannon]

Fun stuff - I just look Lederer's books ... :)

[MissJessie]

2/12/2010

[Ginger Hill]

It had it's lol moments. It was a great book to have at the airport when you want something to read, but you don't want to get too involved in a story.

[Nancy]

there is always time
for a good pun

[Kelli]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12387155

[Richard]

The facts about puns were very interesting. The puns were very funny. I laughed a lot. However I didn't care for the quizzes.

[Deb Marks]

Skimmed, not read, but enjoyed the informative aspects. Some puns were cleverly constructed, others were primary school groan worthy.

[Emmannuel]

What can I say, I love puns.

[CeAire]

Lederer has a lot of fun with this book. Be prepared to laugh!

[Meredith Walker]

lots of fun for lovers of language. interesting and funny, a light, easy read.

[Sheila Coldiron]

This book has given me an increased for daily laughter. Great book if you want to laugh.

[SaraKat]

Parts of this book were really fascinating. I liked reading about the different types of puns and other types of word play. As a dictionary of puns, it really works and has a lot of good examples. Sometimes there were too many examples and I really didn't want to read through them all. Some of the puns relied on knowledge that someone born around the time this book was published simply wouldn't have. There were many references to people and topics that simply aren't known much anymore, so the book has a very dated feel. Some of the games were fun and matching up words with answers revealed some funny jokes. I took the quiz and made a 79 out of 100. Yay! I will happily take that C.

[Scott Ravede]

Get "Get Thee to a Punnery" on the double!

Ordinarily I might apologize for that “double” double entendre. But this is a book about puns after all, so I won’t. “Get Thee to a Punnery” is the bible of puns. You will find herds of puns in here that you never heard of such as spoonerisms, double-sound punnery, and the high-flying pun. There are also exercises and quizzes in this book to help you sharpen your own punnery skills. Expect to be an expert when you’re done.

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Idaho, Alaska.

[Ben Smith]

If you're looking for a book of funny puns, you may want to look elsewhere.

The wordplay in the book is very dated, and in many cases it is forced. It does more to try and show different kinds of wordplay than to actually showcase good wordplay.

It is an activity book, but the dated-ness and forced nature of many of the puns they use detract from the potential enjoyment.

[Kathryn, the_naptime_reader]

Who knew there were so many different kinds of puns? For anyone who is a fan of word puzzles, jokes that make you groan, or Dad humor, this is the book for you. This book has become a little bit dated so some puns didn’t make sense because of changes in language usage and pop culture references. I like that there were lots of puzzles for the reader to try.

[Linda]

A great collection of the different forms of puns, with quizzes and fill in the blank sections to hone the reader's ability to participate in a punning contest anywhere. In 2021 some of the puns used might be considered racist (jokes about Asian or Italian accents), but in the light of when the book was written, they are just plain fun.

[Danni Green]

This is more of a book OF puns than a book about puns, though some punformation is interspersed. There are many fill-in-the-blank exercises to test your punfulness, which would be fun to do if you're into that.

[elstaffe]

3.5 rounds up to 4 stars. Enjoyed the interactive punning but not enough to hang onto it (particularly with the sprinkling of racist puns)