Do Puns Exist in Every Language? A Look at Global Wordplay.
Content Idea 1: "Lost in Translation: Untranslatable Words & Concepts (and Why They Matter)"
- Recurring Problem/Question Type: People often ask, "What does [foreign word with no direct English equivalent] mean?" or "How do you say X in Y language (when there's no perfect fit)?" They express fascination or confusion about words like "hygge," "saudade," and "schadenfreude."
- Content Idea: A series (blog posts, short videos, Instagram carousels) exploring words from various languages that don't have a single-word equivalent in English (or other target languages).
- Each piece would introduce the word, its language of origin, its nuanced meaning, and cultural context.
- Could include discussions on why some concepts are so culturally specific they resist direct translation.
- Might also touch on how borrowing words enriches a language.
- Why it could be viral:
- Curiosity: People are fascinated by the limits of their own language and the unique perspectives other languages offer.
- Relatability: Many have experienced the frustration of not finding the "right" word.
- Shareability: "Wow, I never knew there was a word for that feeling!" – perfect for social sharing.
- Educational & Engaging: Combines learning with cultural insight.
- Target Audience: Language learners, linguistics enthusiasts, travelers, culturally curious individuals, writers, anyone interested in human expression.
- Example Hook/Title: "ELI5: What 'Saudade' REALLY Means (And Why English Needs a Word For It!)" or "10 Beautiful Words With No English Translation You Need to Know."
Content Idea 2: "The Algorithm Explained: How Your Favorite Apps Actually Work (Without the Jargon)"
- Recurring Problem/Question Type: Questions like "How does TikTok know what I like?" or "Can someone explain how recommendation algorithms work?" often come with confusion, suspicion, or a desire for control. People also wonder, "Why am I seeing ads for this?" or "What does 'the algorithm' even mean?"
- Content Idea: A series simplifying how algorithms on popular platforms (social media, streaming services, e-commerce) curate content, make recommendations, and target ads.
- Use analogies and simple visuals to explain concepts like data points, machine learning basics, engagement metrics, and feedback loops.
- Address common misconceptions or fears about algorithms "listening" or being "all-knowing."
- Could offer tips on how users can (to some extent) influence what they see.
- Why it could be viral:
- Demystification: Taps into a widespread desire to understand the invisible forces shaping online experiences.
- Relevance: Directly impacts daily life for billions of users.
- Empowerment: Gives users a sense of understanding and potentially some agency.
- Relatability of Confusion: Many feel perplexed by algorithmic behavior.
- Target Audience: General internet users (especially active social media users), people curious about tech, those concerned about privacy or digital manipulation, students.
- Example Hook/Title: "Confused by Your Feed? Here’s How TikTok’s Algorithm Actually Decides What You See (ELI5)" or "Is Instagram Listening? Decoding How Ad Algorithms Really Work."
Content Idea 3: "Cultural Etiquette 'Fails' & Fixes: Navigating Social Norms Around the World (or Even Next Door!)"
- Recurring Problem/Question Type: People often ask, "Is it rude to [do X] in [country Y]?" or "Help! I offended someone by [action] – what's the custom?" They also wonder, "What are the unspoken social rules for [situation/group]?" or "Confused about tipping culture in..."
- Content Idea: Content that explains common but often unstated social etiquette, customs, or taboos in different cultures, subcultures, or specific social situations.
- Could cover everything from dining etiquette and gift-giving to communication styles and public behavior.
- Can be framed as "What NOT to do in..." or "A Beginner's Guide to..."
- Include personal anecdotes (user-submitted or hypothetical) of faux pas and how to recover.
- Why it could be viral:
- Preventative & Problem-Solving: Helps people avoid embarrassing situations or understand past ones.
- Humor & Relatability: Social awkwardness is a universal experience.
- Educational & Practical: Useful for travelers, people in multicultural environments, or even just navigating new social scenes.
- Story-Driven: Can easily incorporate engaging narratives.
- Target Audience: Travelers, expatriates, people working in international business, students studying abroad, anyone interested in cultural understanding or simply improving their social graces.
- Example Hook/Title: "You Won't BELIEVE What's Rude in Japan! (Avoid These Travel Fails)" or "Someone Explain Tipping in the USA ELI5 – I’m So Confused!"
Origin Reddit Post
r/askscience
Do puns (wordplay) exist in every language?
Posted by u/the_jules•05/27/2025
Mixing words for nonsensical purposes, with some even becoming their own meaning after time seems to be common in Western languages. Is this as wide-spread in other languages? And do we have
Top Comments
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/[deleted]
[deleted]
u/[deleted]
[deleted]
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/tashkiira
Better: some puns work properly *translated.*
Where do cats go when they die? *Purr*gatory.
This pun riddle works in quite a few Romance languages, including Spanish, Italian, and Portugue
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/[deleted]
[deleted]
u/PatdogTv
It’s because In Japan, KitKat is licensed out to companies that want to make these unique flavors, whereas In America every single KitKat is made by one company
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/Zinsurin
The magician prepared himself for his final act. "Uno, dos..." and then he disappeared without a tres.
Tres (three) and trace.
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/Ben-Goldberg
I was taught to use S O C K S to ask what is the word for whatever im pointing at, ¿Eso Sí, Qué Es?
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/hgrunt
Yup! Chinese has a limited phoneme set and a LOT of homophones
I just read up on the crab-wearing-watches...that's a hilarious double-level pun. It's sort of like those "literal memes" like
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/medisherphol
The different flavours of KitKat are also regionally restricted so businessmen tend to give the unique flavours as gifts when they travel.
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/PatdogTv
It’s because In Japan, KitKat is licensed out to companies that want to make these unique flavors, whereas In America every single KitKat is made by one company
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/[deleted]
[deleted]
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/[deleted]
[deleted]
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/PatdogTv
It’s because In Japan, KitKat is licensed out to companies that want to make these unique flavors, whereas In America every single KitKat is made by one company
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L
u/[deleted]
[deleted]
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/[deleted]
[deleted]
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/[deleted]
[deleted]
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/[deleted]
[deleted]
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/[deleted]
[deleted]
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/Teledildonic
Similarly for French:
3 cats walk along a frozen lake. The ice breaks. Un, deux, trois, quatre (cat), cinq (sink).
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/PatdogTv
It’s because In Japan, KitKat is licensed out to companies that want to make these unique flavors, whereas In America every single KitKat is made by one company
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/PatdogTv
It’s because In Japan, KitKat is licensed out to companies that want to make these unique flavors, whereas In America every single KitKat is made by one company
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/LawlzBarkley
"¿Como se dice 'un zapato' en inglés?" — "a shoe" — "Gesundheit!"
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/[deleted]
[deleted]
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/brownnoisedaily
Do you have an example for English sounding like Spanish?
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/jackslack
What do you call 4 Mexicans in quicksand? Quattro cinco
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/PatdogTv
It’s because In Japan, KitKat is licensed out to companies that want to make these unique flavors, whereas In America every single KitKat is made by one company
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/PatdogTv
It’s because In Japan, KitKat is licensed out to companies that want to make these unique flavors, whereas In America every single KitKat is made by one company
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/hgrunt
Yup! Chinese has a limited phoneme set and a LOT of homophones
I just read up on the crab-wearing-watches...that's a hilarious double-level pun. It's sort of like those "literal memes" like
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/hgrunt
Yup! Chinese has a limited phoneme set and a LOT of homophones
I just read up on the crab-wearing-watches...that's a hilarious double-level pun. It's sort of like those "literal memes" like
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/PatdogTv
It’s because In Japan, KitKat is licensed out to companies that want to make these unique flavors, whereas In America every single KitKat is made by one company
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/[deleted]
[deleted]
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/[deleted]
[deleted]
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/-Quiche-
A Swedish/Norwegian example would be:
"It's not the fart that kills you, but the smäll/smell"
Fart means "speed", and smäll/smell means something akin to "a sudden impact".
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/PatdogTv
It’s because In Japan, KitKat is licensed out to companies that want to make these unique flavors, whereas In America every single KitKat is made by one company
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/[deleted]
[deleted]
u/PatdogTv
It’s because In Japan, KitKat is licensed out to companies that want to make these unique flavors, whereas In America every single KitKat is made by one company
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/PatdogTv
It’s because In Japan, KitKat is licensed out to companies that want to make these unique flavors, whereas In America every single KitKat is made by one company
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/italvs
Similarly, Nissan racing cars in ads have the number "13" on them since 1 is "ni" and 3 is "san".
ETA I've been fooled! It should be 23, thanks for the kind corrections
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/PatdogTv
It’s because In Japan, KitKat is licensed out to companies that want to make these unique flavors, whereas In America every single KitKat is made by one company
u/[deleted]
[deleted]
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/[deleted]
[deleted]
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/Kiyohara
There's a Japanese anime called *Urusei Yatsura* that had massive difficulties in being translated to English because a huge portion of it was related to puns in Japanese. Not only in how the
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/perkiezombie
A woman gave birth to twins and unfortunately had to give them up. The boys went to different families, one went to a family in Egypt where they named him Amal and the other Spain where he wa
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/[deleted]
[deleted]
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/Weasel497
The one I use a lot is I'll say "socks" for "it is what it is". Because in Spanish, that phrase is "eso so que es" or S O C K S.
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/ninjamullet
There aren't any natural languages without puns because every language has some syntactic ambiguities and words that sound the same. The closest is probably Lojban, a constructed language wit
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/CyraxisOG
Not only in other languages, but wordplay also exists across different languages too, there are many English to Spanish play on words where certain Spanish words will sound like English and v
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/RhynoD
I was taught some American Sign Language puns:
The sign for Ohio is the O hand shape at shoulder height and then raised to head height. O, high O.
The sign for milk is squeezing your fist l
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/mr_poppycockmcgee
In Thai they “laugh” by typing 55555 because 5 is pronounced “ha” in Thai and similar languages.
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/314159265358979326
I'd like to bring up [Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den). Not puns, but some excellent wordplay that I think will be appreciat
u/qwerty_ca
There's actually a _four_ language wordplay joke as well.
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are all standing watching a street performer do some juggling. The juggler notic
u/SyrusDrake
Things you might call puns do exist in Akkadian cuneiform. Since the unholy amount of symbols all have about half a dozen readings each, and the system is logo-syllabic, it's pretty easy to a
u/ajappat
I'm Finnish and while wordplay definitely exists, it's a bit different and more rare in everyday life than in English. Feels like in English it's common to have several different words soundi
u/[deleted]
[removed]
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/CMcAwesome
I hate to be pedantic but I believe "fish fish fish fish" is actually "fish, that other fish go fishing for, themselves also go fishing"
u/Ochib
She said she'd like to bathe in milk, he said, "All right, sweetheart,"
And when he'd finished work one night he loaded up his cart.
He said, "D'you want it pasturize? 'Cause pasturize is b
u/PatdogTv
It’s because In Japan, KitKat is licensed out to companies that want to make these unique flavors, whereas In America every single KitKat is made by one company
u/smallof2pieces
Similarly, writing "3 9" is Japanese texting short hand for thank you, because 3 is pronounced "san" and 9 "kyu" so 3 9 = "san kyu" which sounds like the Japanese pronunciation of "thank you"
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L
u/314159265358979326
Or the even more absurd English "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." Indeed, any sentence of the form (buffalo )^N, N=1,2,3... is meaningful in English.
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/Lethalmouse1
Kit Kat bars are big there, because the name of the candy sounds like their "good luck" wishes. So they have become a staple gift to those doing things where you would wish luck.
The Japan
u/obiworm
A German man is on vacation in the UK. He gets hammered at a local pub and takes a piss in an alley. A local girl walks by, sees him, and exclaims “gross!”. The German turns and says with a g
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/Kempeth
A while back someone posted an Ad from a lawyer that said: Avocado at law
(Abogado being the spanish word for lawyer)
English German examples
* drive savely in German is "gute fahrt"
* get
u/Chiperoni
That's so cool! I always wondered why there were so many varieties in Asian markets. I always thought KitKats were a peculiar choice of candy to be popular outside of the US.
u/Tucancancan
That's like the French phrase for the green worm goes towards the green glass "le ver vert va vers le verre vert"
u/PatdogTv
It’s because In Japan, KitKat is licensed out to companies that want to make these unique flavors, whereas In America every single KitKat is made by one company
u/Alimbiquated
Chinese is extremely punny.
Fish and abundance are near homonyms, and abundance is used in a common New Year's greeting. So giving fish at the New Year is traditional. Separate sounds like
u/SomeAnonymous
You can do similar chains in English with "fish". "Fish fish fish fish" ≈ "fish, which go fishing for fish, go fishing".
Though I'd hesitate to say these are *meaningful* sentences, even if
u/SorryCantHelpItEh
An ex co worker of mine used to work for a nissan dealership, and told me that the default code for the keyless entry on the cars from the factory was 5523; "Go Go Ni San"
u/AliasMcFakenames
I know that there are lots of puns in sign language. Even aside from the bilingual English-ASL puns like “past your eyes” milk I know that a lot of signs for names are puns or inside jokes. L