Editing Word play

{{short description|Form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work}}
{{redirect|Wordplay}}
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[[File:ABOVE wordplay from LIMA PERU.JPG|thumb|Artist Tavar Zawacki painted a site-specific wordplay painting in [[Lima, Peru]], commenting on the [[cocaine]] [[Illegal drug trade in Peru|crisis and exportation]].]]

'''Word play''' or '''wordplay'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/wordplay?view=get |title=definition of wordplay |publisher=Oxford Dictionaries Online |access-date=6 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811041808/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/wordplay?view=get |archive-date= Aug 11, 2011 }}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> (also: '''play-on-words''') is a [[literary technique]] and a form of [[wit]] in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or [[amusement]]. Examples of word play include [[pun]]s, phonetic mix-ups such as [[spoonerism]]s, obscure words and meanings, clever [[rhetoric]]al excursions, oddly formed sentences, [[double entendre]]s, and telling character names (such as in the play ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest]]'', ''Ernest'' being a [[given name]] that sounds exactly like the adjective ''earnest'').

Word play is quite common in [[oral culture]]s as a method of reinforcing meaning. Examples of text-based ([[orthography|orthographic]]) word play are found in languages with or without alphabet-based scripts, such as [[homophonic puns in Mandarin Chinese]].

== Techniques ==
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;[[Tom Swifties]]: A form of humorous writing where adverbs are chosen to reflect the nature of the situation in a [[pun]]ning way. "Hurry up and get to the back of the ship", Tom said [[stern]]ly.
;[[Wellerism]]s: Using [[Fossilization (linguistics)|linguistic fossils]] and [[set phrase]]s. Example: "We'll have to rehearse that", said the undertaker as the coffin fell out of the car.
:[[Unpaired word]]s: Deliberate use of unusual or obsolete antonyms, such as "I was well-coiffed and sheveled", ([[back-formation]] from "disheveled").
;[[Spoonerism]]: An accidental and often humorous transposition of initial letters or sounds, such as "a flock of bats" instead of "a block of flats" or "a bunny phone" instead of "a funny bone".
;[[Malapropism]]: Replacing a word with a different word that sounds similar, either unintentionally or for comedic effect. For example, saying "He is the very pineapple of politeness." instead of ''pinnacle''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sheriden |first=Richard |title=The Rivals |publisher=Dover |year=1998}}</ref>
;[[Anthimeria]]: Altering a word's regular part of speech. This can occur naturally with the evolution of a language, but can also be done for emphasis or comedic effect. For example, saying "The thunder would not peace at my bidding." using the noun ''peace'' as a verb,<ref>Shakespeare, William. ''King Lear''. Dover, 1994.</ref> or "The little old lady turtled across the street."
;[[Double entendre]]: Words or phrases with multiple meanings are used ambiguously with a humorous or sexual (or both) result. For example, Mae West's "Marriage is a fine institution, but I'm not ready for an institution."<ref>Byrne, Robert. ''The 2,548 Best Things Anybody Ever Said''. Touchstone, 2003.</ref> and the Groucho Marx line "If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?"<ref>''You Bet Your Life''. Created by John Guedel. John Guedel Productions, 1950.</ref>
;[[Portmanteau]]: Combining two words to create a new word, such as ''smoke'' and ''fog'' to make ''smog''.

== Examples ==
[[File:UNPieceCleaners.jpg|thumb|Many businesses use word play to their advantage by making their business names more memorable.  This business is located near the [[United Nations Headquarters]] and plays on the term [[UN Peacekeepers]].]]
[[File:Emanuel at Ramat Aviv Mall in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.jpg|thumb|This business's sign is written in both English and Hebrew. The large character is used to make the ’N’ in Emanuel and the ‘מ’ in עמנואל. This is an example of orthographic word play.]]
Most writers engage in word play to some extent, but certain writers are particularly committed to, or adept at, word play as a major feature of their work . [[Shakespeare]]'s "quibbles" have made him a noted punster. Similarly, [[P.G. Wodehouse]] was hailed by ''[[The Times]]'' as a "comic genius recognized in his lifetime as a classic and an old master of farce" for his own acclaimed wordplay.<ref>"P. G. Wodehouse", ''The Times'', 17 February 1975, p. 14</ref> [[James Joyce]], author of ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]]'', is another noted word-player. For example, in his ''[[Finnegans Wake]]'' Joyce's phrase "they were yung and easily freudened" clearly implies the more conventional "they were young and easily frightened"; however, the former also makes an apt pun on the names of two famous [[psychoanalysis|psychoanalysts]], [[Carl Jung|Jung]] and [[Sigmund Freud|Freud]].

An [[epitaph]], probably unassigned to any [[grave]], demonstrates use in rhyme.
:Here lie the bones of one 'Bun'
:He was killed with a gun.
:His name was not 'Bun' but 'Wood'
:But 'Wood' would not rhyme with gun
:But 'Bun' would.

[[Crossword|Crossword puzzles]] often employ wordplay to challenge solvers. [[Cryptic crossword]]s especially are based on elaborate systems of wordplay.

An example of modern word play can be found on line 103 of [[Childish Gambino]]'s "III. Life: The Biggest Troll".<blockquote>H2O plus my D, that's my hood, I'm living in it</blockquote>

Rapper [[Milo (musician)|Milo]] uses a play on words in his verse on "[[Plain Speaking Album|True Nen]]".<ref>{{Citation|title=Scallops hotel – True Nen|url=https://genius.com/Scallops-hotel-true-nen-lyrics|access-date=2021-12-03}}</ref>

:Keep any heat by the fine China dinner set
:Your man's caught the chill and it ain't even winter yet

A farmer says, "I got soaked for nothing, stood out there in the rain bang in the middle of my land, a complete waste of time. I'll like to kill the swine who said you can win the [[Nobel Prize]] for being out standing in your field!".

The ''[[Mario Party]]'' series is known for its mini-game titles that usually are puns and various plays on words; for example: "Shock, Drop, and Roll", "Gimme a Brake", and "Right Oar Left". These mini-game titles are also different depending on [[Video game localization|regional differences]] and take into account that specific region's culture.

Many of the books the character [[List of Wallace & Gromit characters#Gromit|Gromit]] in the [[Wallace & Gromit#Gromit|Wallace & Gromit series]] reads or the music Gromit listens to are plays on words, such as "Pup Fiction" ([[Pulp Fiction]]), "Where Beagles Dare" ([[Where Eagles Dare]]), "Red Hot Chili Puppies" ([[Red Hot Chili Peppers]]) and "The Hound of Music" ([[The Sound of Music (soundtrack)|The Sound of Music]]).

== Related phenomena ==
Word play can enter common usage as [[neologism]]s.

Word play is closely related to [[word game]]s; that is, games in which the point is manipulating words. See also [[language game]] for a linguist's variation.

Word play can cause problems for translators: e.g., in the book [[Winnie-the-Pooh (book)|''Winnie-the-Pooh'']] a character mistakes the word "issue" for the noise of a [[sneeze]], a resemblance which disappears when the word "issue" is translated into another language.

==See also==
* [[Etymology]]
* [[False etymology]]
* [[Figure of speech]]
* [[List of forms of word play]]
* [[List of taxa named by anagrams]]
* [[Metaphor]]
* [[Phono-semantic matching]]
* [[Simile]]
* [[Pun]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
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* [http://www.questrel.com/records.html A categorized taxonomy of word play composed of record-holding words]

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