Saturday, April 2, 2022

Puns, Love 'em or Hate 'em?

 RHYS BOWEN:

Puns—you either love them or hate them!  I have to confess I’m a big fan. When I was growing up my best friend’s mother was the queen of puns. Ask her any question and you usually got a pun in reply.

“Is it breakfast time yet?”

“Eggs-actly.”

Of course we would groan which only encouraged her to make more and worse puns. I think that was my only experience until suddenly the concept of punning caught on in my village.  First the butcher put up “Happy to Meat You” over his shop, then the fishmonger next door replied with, “If you want fish, this is the plaice.”  And the coal merchant was not to be outdone with “One good ton deserves another.”  Even the barber became “A Cut Above.”

It was the same with book titles. When I read mysteries as a young person they all had titles like “Murder at the Vicarage, Death of a Peer, Death in the Air, On the Links etc.”

Maybe in the mid nineties puns started to appear in the titles of cozy mysteries. I believe Tamar Myers was one of the first.—Mean and Shellfish, Puddin’ on the Blitz, Tea with Jam and Dread.

Of course I added to the trend with Evans Above, Evan Help Us etc.  Sorry.

Now they are everywhere: for a while you couldn’t find a cozy mystery without a pun in the title. Grime and Punishment, Absence of Mallets, The Grim Reader (thanks to Kate Carlisle)  For Batter or Worse (Thanks to our Jenn) Devonshire Scream , Shades of Earl Grey (Laura Childs). And Lucy’s, of course!(A Scone of Contention.)

However, when I checked the bestseller lists today on Amazon I see that we have reverted to former cozy titles. Death in the Village, At the Manor House, At the Seaside etc etc. So… do you think the age of puns is over?  Have we run out of puns? Or is this part of the bigger picture? Is the cozy mystery—the true cozy with tea shops and cats, now in decline? What do you think?

And before I go I have to share one of my favorite puns:

It’s a WWII story, naturally! A train is going through wartime Poland. The blackout is in effect so it’s hard to know which station is which and it’s even harder to find fuel to keep steam trains going.  But they know if they can make it all the way to Danzig there will be a supply of coal waiting. The engine driver becomes confused as to which station is next and as they pull up to a platform he calls out to a porter standing there:

“Is this Warsaw?”

“No,” replies the man. “It’s Danzig in the dark.”

Which makes the engineer shout out “Danzig in the dark? Buy coal, porter!”

Sorry if you hate puns!  Let me know if you love them. And right now we need any sliver of humor we can get.  Have you a good one to share?

 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Ha!  Good one! Oh, I am not sure about puns titles. I love them in real life, sometimes they are so funny and multi-layered that I laugh and laugh. (And I think I am hilarious, but sometimes I am (somehow) the only one laughing. )

But some of the cozy mystery pun titles, I have to tell you, I just don’t understand. I think–what’s supposed to be funny about that? And I always feel baffled by it. 

But I guess one of my favorites is with Mr. and Mrs. Clause, at the North Pole. 

Santa Claus comes in and says to his wife, “Oh no! I’m not sure what the weather will be for Christmas, whether it’ll be rain or snow, and I am worried.” 

His wife says, “Why don’t you go ask Rudolph?”

And Santa says. “Why would I ask Rudolph?

And Mrs. Claus says “Because Rudolph the Red knows rain, dear.”

Or something like that. I can never tell jokes.

Which leads me to ask: does Mrs. Claus have a first name? Topic for another time.)

LUCY BURDETTE: I’m neutral on the subject though I like your jokes, ladies! Of course, being on the cozy end of the mystery spectrum, I’ve had to fight off some of the worst punny titles. I can live with, even appreciate, puns, but not sheer silliness. Somehow, it feels like those belittle the books. My first mystery ever, in the golf lovers’ series had an excellent title: SIX STROKES UNDER.

When I hear the question about whether cozies have gone out of fashion, I just have to sigh. Don’t you think half the predictions in the publishing business are manufactured? There will always be readers who adore cozies, especially when the world seems to be imploding, and others who prefer to read on the dark side. Always.

End of rant. Speaking of titles, I know very soon my editor will be asking for ideas for my WIP, fondly called the Scone Sisters mystery. I have NOTHING this time, so send on your puns!

HALLIE EPHRON: So clever! 

My husband was a genius when it came to creating visual puns, so while I had never appreciated punny lines, I cherish the cartoons he embedded them in.

Here’s an example… I’m guessing this coincided with a few unwanted guests in the house.



JENN McKINLAY: That’s hilarious, Hallie!

I’m a fan of puns. As Hank said, the best ones are multi-layered. I’m still bitter that my publisher discarded the title The Baking Dead for my cupcake bakery mystery set amid a zombie walk. It’s only been eight years. I’m sure I’ll get over it…eventually.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Jenn, I LOVE The Baking Dead! How could they not use it!

Jerry's cartoons are such treasures, Hallie. 

I do like puns even though I'm not very good at them. One of our local restaurants uses outrageous puns in their menus and newsletters and they always give me a good chuckle. The current menu features Everyone Loves Rellenos (chili rellenos, obviously) and Release the Quack-en for their citrus brined duck. (Their food is really good, too!)

RHYS: So what about you--who loves puns, who hates them? Any good ones to share?

66 comments:

  1. Thanks for the early morning chuckle!

    I am not good at puns, but I do enjoy good ones. Recently, I came across these two:
    What did the janitor say when he jumped out of the closet? SUPPLIES!

    I Renamed my iPod The Titanic, so when I plug it in, it says “The Titanic is syncing.”

    But my all-time favorite? Java nice day!

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  2. Since I do read a lot of cozy mysteries, I say "Yay for puns in titles"!
    It's too early (even for me) to come up with some memorable puns...so I will enjoy reading what others come up with.

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    1. Grace,

      There are many punny titles out there. It's early in the morning for me, though I can grab a book with a punny title if needed.

      Diana

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  3. I must admit I avoid books with puns in titles. But then I rarely read cozies, present company excepted.

    However I love well thought out puns as well as the groaners. When I worked in labor and delivery, I often told patients that C-section babies were a cut above!

    But my favorite came from a friend’s ten year old daughter. While eating fish and chips, she said she loved fish and that made her an aficionado! That one was a winner but absolutely brilliant coming from a ten year old

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    1. Ann.

      Love, love, love cozies. Though I am picky about the cozies. Different readers like different kinds of mysteries. Some love cozies. Some love suspense. Some love thrillers. Some love all of these.

      And I love puns.

      Diana

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    2. I began to feel that I might have not helped myself with the punt Even titles. The books were not that cozy and would have appealed to a wider sufiencd

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    3. Rhys,

      I may be in the minority here. I thought the titles were perfect because it always had EVABS in the title and Constable Evans was the protagonist. I do not know if the titles were "punny". I never thought the Constable Evans were humorous nor dark. At the time I discovered your Constable Evans novel. I had not heard of "cozy mysteries". I knew that I did not like graphic violence as in blood and guts type. I just loved the books. Perhaps I am partial to the Constable Evans novels because I loved revisiting Wales every time I read the books. Though I visited Wales once in my life, I loved the scenery and the beauty of that country. I also loved the characters.

      Trying to recall the genre of books at the time I discovered Constable Evans. I remember that Jennifer Weiner wrote "chick lit" at that time. I liked novels in that genre.

      On another note, I often dislike novels that end up on the "bestseller" lists. It's always surprising when a novel that I love is on the bestseller list!

      And yes, I kept ALL of the Constable Evans novels.

      Diana

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  4. I love puns and I loaded my science fiction series with them. The books are about a woman judge who rides an interplanetary judicial dcircuit in outer space. One that takes place on a water world is called "Scales of Justice." (Sorry.)

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    1. Ellen,

      SCALES OF JUSTICE is a great punny title. Love that!

      Diana

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  5. My Local Foods and Country Store mysteries series both have pun in the titles, and with the country store stories ongoing, I have to keep them going. But I am terrible at coming up with punny titles that also refer to food and cooking, so I crowdsource them on Facebook. Our own Grace Koshida came up with next year's title, which is, yes, set at St. Patrick's Day: Four Leaf Cleaver!

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    1. Thanks, Edith! I saw your FB message asking for title suggestions for your newest Country Store mystery. I was thrilled when I heard that one of my titles was chosen!!

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    2. Edith and Grace,

      Four Leaf Cleaver is a great punny title!

      Diana

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  6. My husband is a great one for puns, and now that our son is a grown man I find the apple didn't fall far from the tree. Between them, they keep me grinning (and groaning) with their excellent puns. Unfortunately like Grace, I'm responding too early in the morning to be able to recall any.

    I'm ambivalent about puns in book titles. I have read some excellent cozies that have puns in the titles, but honestly, if it is an author I don't know, I think am less likely to try a book with one. Also, it feels more acceptable if it is a book or series with a lot of humor in it, and something less attractive when it is an otherwise "serious" cozy. The latter gives me some kind of cognitive dissonance, I suppose.

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  7. I don't have a great dislike for puns but I'm not starting a tribute website glorifying them either.

    Some puns make you groan, some make you chuckle.

    But I will say that I love all the titles of the Maddie Day Country Store mysteries. They do give me a chuckle when I see the titles revealed.

    But like anything else, a title might make me look at a book but it is the story within that will determine if I buy the book.

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  8. Two or three friends can be counted on to post puns on Facebook, including the author Kaye George. I'm like Hank, I can never remember how the jokes go. Especially the long, involved, and frankly, tortured ones.

    Donna Andrews is another cozy author who puns in her titles, and they're all for the birds, with different species in each one. A few years ago she asked for title ideas online and got hundreds of them. Some were so clever, and I'm sure she would have to keep writing until 2300 to use them all.

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    1. Karen in Ohio,

      Yes, I remember the punny titles from Donna Andrews' birds series. They are perfect titles that fits the stories.

      Diana

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    2. We’ll always have Parrots is one of my favorites

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    3. One of those friends just posted a picture of Lucy from the Peanuts comic strip wearing a false nose and mustache, holding gems. The cutline: Lucy in disguise with diamonds.

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  9. Years ago I thought the first punny titles were clever. Now I am so over them all! It seems like a pun title is setting up the book to be humorous, even when it isn't.

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    1. Oh, that’s an interesting thought. Yes, I agree, it does feel like a book should be funny if it has a punny title.

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    2. That's a good point about punny titles. Yes, punny titles could set up a novel to be humorous. I get the impression that punny titles are setting up the novel to be less serious? less heavy? than a novel that is "darker"?

      Diana

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    3. Judi, if not outright funny, it should al least be lighthearted if the title an the cover give you that impression. Michael Connelly's The Dark Hours has a double meaning but you do not expect it to be a lighthearted story.

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    4. Agreed. But I expect humor in everything and am frequently disappointed.

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  10. I do like puns although I am not instantly attracted to books with punny titles. If I enjoy an author's books, the title doesn't matter to me. Not all puns are funny however. Buried by the Times is a book about how the NYT's placement of stories concerning the annihilation of Jews during the Holocaust effected what the public knew. In effect, the stories were buried.

    I will laugh out loud at good puns and so much humor is "play on words."

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    1. Oh, yes, that is chilling. (and certainly not funny. So…)

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    2. Agreed that is chilling and certainly not funny...

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  11. Wow! Many different opinions regarding punny titles.

    Rhys, I love the titles like EVANS HELP US. I remember picking up to look at the Constable Evans novel at your book event with Penny Warner many years ago. I loved everything about the cover - the goat and the Welsh mountains. When I read the description and saw that it was set in Wales, I wanted to read the book. I had just visited Wales recently and loved it there. It was so beautiful there.

    Diana

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    1. Diana, in hindsight I think the punny titles must have put off some readers as the series became less cozy as it went along. Evanly Bodies and Evans Gate were quite dark!

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  12. Jenn,

    Love the titles like CLOCHE AND DAGGER from your Hat Shop series.

    Diana

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  13. I love puns, especially if they make sense. I'm the worst joke teller and pun creator.

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  14. Lucy,

    Loved the title SCONE OF CONTENTION, which I thought was perfect for the story. Since Hayley and her crew travelled to Scotland, the story takes place there. Scone can refer to the name of the Scone Palace or the food Scone. That is my favorite book from your series since I am partial to Scotland.

    Diana

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  15. I love puns in general, but I’m not overly fond of them in book titles. If I’m a fan of the author I’ll read the book. If the book is recommended by someone whose judgment I trust, I’ll read the book.

    My favorite puns are the ones that require a long set-up. And of course I can’t remember any right this minute!

    DebRo

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  16. I'm not a big fan of cozies, but I do enjoy Donna Andrews's series with the bird puns in the titles. And in real life, if there is such a thing, I am an incorrigible punster.

    This morning I had to go to the Turkey Hill (local convenience store) for some ice. My wife got a new knee yesterday and our ice machine isn't keeping up with what she needs. I looked at the different sizes of bags of ice in the cooler and took the biggest one that wasn't frozen to the others. The cashier said something like, "Decisions, decisions, huh?" And I said, "When in doubt, I generally follow the big-bag theory." She gave me a look like, "really? At this time of the morning?" So I moved on to spread joy elsewhere.

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  17. BTW, when I heard the "Rudolph the Red knows rain" joke, Rudolph was a Russian diplomat.

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  18. I must add this. Punny titles, including Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds, approach mis-hearings. One of my favorite Beatles lines is, "The Girl with Colitis Goes By" and the line from Silent Night: "Round John Virgin..." And let us not ignore the Pledge of Allegiance, which includes, "and to the republic of Richard Stands" and ends, "one nation, under God, with lemon tea and biscuits for all."

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    1. Ah yes, Mondegreens. Great fun. 'Scuse me while I kiss this guy. When Katy Munger published a book called Bad Moon on the Rise a few years ago, I told her that if I had written it, somewhere in the book, one character would have said to another, "There's a bathroom on the right."

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    2. My sister and I sang it that way!

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    3. Edith,

      Speaking of "mis-hearings", I have a funny story to share here. After the 1989 earthquake in the SF Bay Area, my then two year old relative told her parents that she wanted to take the "fairy" over to San Francisco. She meant to say that she wanted to take the Ferry but it came out as "fairy". I thought that was a cute story.

      Diana

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    4. Those are homonyms in my (California) dialect!

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    5. ROTFL I love these. In songs, it is sometimes so hard to "get" the lyrics.

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  19. I love puns! I have less than zero memory for jokes, but I always enjoy them when I hear them.

    On the topic of punny titles - I don't mind them, but I do like them to somehow related to the story. I have read (and enjoyed) some books that left me scratching my head as to the title and wondering if I missed a storyline.

    Is the cozy dead? Dame Agatha would be spinning in her grave if that were the case. It may morph and change, but there will always be a place for the cozy. I cut my teeth in the 1960s on British cozies. They seemed to always revolve around a vicar, a police detective, and an amateur. The crime came late after the reader had a chance to get to know and care about the characters. Murder, death, or the like was always in the title. In the 1970s the cozy came to popular attention in the US and bam, the crime happened fast and the sleuths - mostly amateurs in small towns with incompetent law enforcement officers solved the crime. Titles began to be punny. Things evolved again after the cozy purge in what - 2015? 2016?. Readers made it known that reports of the cozy death was greatly exaggerated. We all rejoiced. Cozies are wonderful resting places in troubled times, and these days, they often touch on some serious topics.

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  20. I enjoy puns. Punny book titles are okay if they fit the tone of the story--like Meg Lanslow's.

    Hallie, Jerry's cartoons are wonderful--thank you for sharing them!

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  21. Hallie,

    Love Jerry's punny cartoons. Thank you for sharing them!

    Diana

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  22. Did you know that there are punny words in sign language?

    For example, the word "bye" was translated into the sign for "buy". A Deaf humorous friend would sign "Buy" when saying "bye"

    Diana

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  23. My mother's maiden name was Orr. One time my husband and I rented a canoe which was a first for us. I was in the front. After a few minutes he said "you're a pretty good paddler", i said "that's because I'm part Orr". ��

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  24. I love puns, especially the very clever ones. I've enjoyed reading through the ones in the post and in the comments. I'm a fan of alliteration, too, and often the pun titles of the cozy mysteries have that, too. I don't read a lot of cozies, but I was just talking to a book friend the other day and mentioned that sometimes a person just needs a cozy read. My brain is functioning well today, so no puns from me yet. I had about an hour of sleep and then the doggie wouldn't let me sleep into the morning because husband left out about 4:30 this morning for something. The dog wasn't going to miss her eggs husband cooks every morning for her, so I quit fighting it and just got up and fixed the damn eggs. She's not spoiled much at all. Hahaha!

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  25. I love puns but I can't think of any. I think some of the best "unplanned" puns come from my favorite comic strip school bus driver, Ed Crankshaft.

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  26. Hank - Mrs Claus first name is Merry.. and by now all the needles have fallen off the Christmas tree revealing one bullet. Merry said "Santa! do something! there is a cartridge in a bare tree.
    I'll go now.

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    1. Very good. If I had clap hands emoji available, I would applaud!

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  27. I love The Baking Dead and Topped Chef. I have often wondered how the punny titles came to be.

    My husband, Jonathan, and I were discussing puns this morning and he tells me that his name is a pun. ??? His father, a theologian, tells the story this way. God told King David that he would send him a gift. Shortly thereafter a person appears before David (Jonathan's comment here: I don't know HOW he got through the gates). David asks, "who are you?" and the response is I am Jonathan, a gift from God.

    So Jonathan is a gift from God. I asked him if I could share this and he commented that it would be fine, as long as I don't say that he thinks he is God's gift to (whomever).

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  28. Somehow, my contribution got lost when the blog was posted! Here's what I wrote:
    JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’m considered a witty person, but I have to confess I’m not good at puns. I’ll leave it to the reader to determine if the two are correlated!

    Rhys, I wonder if the return to the old cozy mystery titles has something to do with readers longing to escape the stressful present. Witness the enormous boom in historical fiction over the last decade. Maybe “The Wreck at Coombes Bay” sounds more like a getaway than “Wrecked Her? I Hardly Knew Her” (Told you I was terrible at puns.)

    This is the only knock-knock joke I can remember, and it’s completely unintelligible to anyone under the age of 60.
    Knock-knock
    Who’s there?
    Don Ameche.
    Don Ameche who?
    I’ll be Don Ameche in a taxi, honey, you better be ready ‘bout half-past eight.

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  29. I love a good pun. (And there is no such thing as a bad pun.) I'm not all that good at coming up with them, but I do appreciate them.

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  30. I love cozy mysteries and enjoy the punny titles. If you like puns, you should read Piers Anthony's Xanth series about a magical land built on puns. Some of his can be a little silly, though.

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  31. Maybe someone still reading will remember this one: Back in the '60s, President Syngman Rhee of South Korea was touring the U.S., and had a date to do an interview with Life Magazine. When the time came, he didn't appear--the poor guy was hopelessly lost in the streets of New York City. A search party went out, and at last a young policeman spotted him, ran up to him, took his hand, and said, "Ah, sweet Mr. Rhee, of Life, at last I've found you!" Well, I like it--and it's the only one I can remember. Lenita

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