| The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002. |
| |
| pun |
| |
| |
| A humorous substitution of words that are alike in sound but different in meaning (see double-entendre), as in this passage from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll: | 1 |
| “And how many hours a day did you do lessons?” said Alice, in a hurry to change the subject. | | “Ten hours the first day,” said the Mock Turtle, “nine the next, and so on.” | | “What a curious plan!” exclaimed Alice. | | “That’s the reason they’re called lessons,” the Gryphon remarked: “because they lessen from day to day.” |
| 2 |
| |
| | | The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
|
|
