It is May once again, and while the whether, I mean weather, tries to make a decision on what it needs to be this month, I finally decided that I need to wrap up my April challenges, and did so with a post earlier this week! And now, looking ahead to a punny event, I bring you the punorama – a form I came up with that focuses on the punderful world of wordplay or puns.

Before I continue with this post – A GREAT BIG THANK YOU – to all of you, who visit, read, and comment, and keep me blogging!!

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Poetic Sundays: Here’s the Punorama: Punderful & Puntastic

So, the O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships is a yearly spoken word competition that takes place every May at the O. Henry Museum in Austin, Texas. This year, it is on the 13th of May. I grew up reading and loving O. Henry’s stories and books. While his ‘The Gift of the Magi’ is among the most well-known, my personal favorite is ‘The Last Leaf’ that never fails to leave me misty-eyed (no matter that I have read it a zillion times over already).

Though these stories mentioned are of a more serious nature, even they contain clever and unexpected twists within them. O. Henry was also known for clever wordplay in his stories. Thus – the O. Henry Pun-Off contests! And thus – my attempt at a pun-filled poetic form. And thus – the punorama (an attempt at wordplay in the name of the form itself).

So What is the Punorama™?

To put it simply, it is a new short poetic form that specifically focuses on puns. To keep it simple, I made it a poem of four lines where the only requirement is that each line contains at least one pun. There are no other requirements for rhyme or meter (left to the punster-poet!).

The Punorama’s Characteristics

At its most basic, the punorama’s characteristics are that it is:

• Stanzaic: has at least one 4-line stanza
• Pun-tastic: with at least one pun in each of its lines
• Free of other requirements: There are no specific requirements for rhyme or meter, allowing for freedom and creativity. Poets can choose to employ specific syllabic counts per line if they wish to, and rhyme (or not!)

Note that you could choose to make it your own – a series of quatrains, or make it triplets instead if you wish; rhymed or not; metered or not; but the one thing that we need here is to be punny!!

What is a Pun?

A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words. Puns are often used for humorous or witty effect, and they can add an element of surprise or cleverness to a statement or a piece of writing. They rely on the ambiguity or double entendre of language to create a play on words, and can range from simple and straightforward wordplay to more complex and layered forms of linguistic humor.

Types of Puns

1. Homographic puns exploit words that are spelled the same but possess different meanings or sounds.  For example, “the tear in her dress formed a tear in her eyes” or “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.” – Groucho Marx
2. Homophonic puns: Words that sound alike but have different meanings and often spelled differently. For example: “Give peas a chance” or George Carlin’s line “Atheism is a non-prophet organization.” (Instead of non-profit)
3. Homonymic puns: Words that are both homophones and homographs, meaning they sound the same and are spelled the same but have different meanings. For example: “I used to be a baker, but I couldn’t make enough dough.” Here, “dough” refers to both money and bread dough, creating a clever wordplay.
4. Compound puns contain multiple puns in the same sentence, and rely on the whole to make sense. For example: A short psychic broke out of jail. She was a small medium at large..
5. Visual puns: These puns rely on visual cues or images to create wordplay. They often involve the use of images, signs, or symbols to create a play on words. For example, an image of a computer mouse wearing sunglasses can be a visual pun on a “cool mouse.”

Then there are Paraprosdokian puns, which are more phrases and sentences with unexpected twists or endings. For example: “A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.” We also have Tom Swifties; these are puns that playfully connect an adverb to a speaker’s statement, creating a humorous effect. For example: “I need to go on a diet,” Tom said light-heartedly.

Tips for the Punorama

1. Choose a theme or subject-matter: Decide on the theme of your poem. It could be anything from love, nature, or food to a particular event or situation.
2. Brainstorm puns: Once you have a theme, brainstorm a list of puns related to it. Use a thesaurus or pun dictionary to come up with different wordplay options.
3. Mix and match: Experiment with different puns and see how they fit together.
4. Play with language and grammar: Experiment with language by using wordplay, puns, and other linguistic devices. Use punctuation to break up words to create something novel; for example, consider this statement from Nabokov’s Lolita – “We had breakfast in the town of Soda, pop. 1001.”
5. Play with rhyme and meter to create a musical effect.
6. Remember, keep it light and playful: They are puns, after all, so don’t take them too seriously!

My Attempt at the Punorama

A Reader’s Life
I enjoy novel approaches to living, but oof – those plot twists leave me reeling!
Love dictionary reading, a wordy habit indeed, but the many definitions! Now my head’s spinning!
Checked out a book about hands that turned out to be quite the page-turner
While the book on teleportation – not materialized yet – that sure is a bummer!
~ Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites

References and Further Reading

• Pun Intended (Writers.com)
• What is a Pun? (BoxofPuns.com)
• Wikipedia’s Pun Page

Recently

At Home and On My Blog

Home has been filled with just the regular stuff and the weather, like I mentioned has gone through a year of seasons this week already!! Now I am waiting to see what the coming week will bring.

On my blog this past week, I ended up with the two posts below:

• 13 Random Reflections on Blogging Challenges and More
• Swimming With Krill From Hydra to Timbuktu and More

Upcoming

On My Blog & Homefront

On the home front, it is as usual. And on my blog, a couple of posts will make their way here but I will work on visiting others from the April challenges.

This Week’s Punorama-ic and Other Celebrations

Literary Celebrations (close-to-it also!)

• Literary birthdays this week of May include: Edward Gibbon on the 8th; Alan Bennett, Charles Simić, J. M. Barrie, Joy Harjo, and Richard Adams on May 9th; Barbara Taylor Bradford and Christopher Paul Curtis on the 10th; Richard P. Feynman and Irving Berlin on May 11th; Edward Lear and George Carlin on the 12th; Daphne du Maurier on May 13th; Jennifer Niven and Robert Owen on the 14th
• It is Family Reading Week and May 11th (the Thursday of this week) happens to be
  Make a Book Day.
• May 12th is National Limerick Day
• And the 13th, as I already mentioned is O Henry Pun-Off Day

Foodie Celebrations

• It is National Coconut Cream Pie Day as well as Give Someone a Cupcake Day on the 8th of May
• May 9th is National Butterscotch Brownie Day and National Moscato Day
• The 11th is National Eat What You Want Day
• National Nutty Fudge Day is on the 12th!
• May 13th is International Hummus Day as well as National Apple Pie Day, National Crouton Day, and National Fruit Cocktail Day
• It is National Buttermilk Biscuit Day on May 14th

Other Celebrations

• The 9th of May celebrates one of the greatest mysteries of our world; it is National Lost Sock Memorial Day as well as National Sleepover Day
• May 10th is National Clean Up Your Room Day
• The 11th celebrates National Twilight Zone Day
• May 12th is International Nurses Day
• National Blame Someone Else Day is on the first Friday the 13th of the year (May 13, 2022)
• May 14 celebrates National Decency Day
• World Migratory Bird Day is celebrated on the second Saturday in May (and again on the second Saturday in October)

Related Reads

• Top Ten Punny Titles I Need to Read Now
• Word Play and its Wonders

Wrapped Up: My Sunday Scribblings

So dear reader, you have reached the end of this Sunday Scribblings! As always, I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions about this post. And do let me know if you plan to celebrate any of these mentioned celebrations this coming week/month?

Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon