Puns and Word Play Humor Trivia

1. When the Siberian-American woman sighed and told her husband she'd love to see the Taiga again, where did he take her?

From Quiz Puns and Word Play Fun

Answer: The zoo

Ah well, at least he loved her, even though he didn't know the difference between geography and zoology. The Taiga is a chilly area of the world in the high latitude areas such as Sweden, Finland, Canada, Siberia and Russia. It is notable for snow forests of pines and spruces and other beautiful forms of greenery that thrive in the cold. Can you imagine just how crisp and clean the air would smell there? It is home to some 80 different species of mammals, over 100 different species of fish and thousands of different species of insects which provide food for the birds and animals there, and all co-existing as nature intended. Listed as endangered on the IUCN Red list, the beautiful, BEAUTIFUL tiger once roamed widely from Turkey, Russia, the Himalayas, down to Bali, Southeast Asia and China - but by 2023, scientists have estimated there are only 5,574 left of these utterly exquisite creatures. Oh weep, world, for such a loss.

From Quiz Three for the Price of One

Answer: Walk Right In

"Walk Right In" is a country song written back in 1929 by Gus Cannon, a musician who also helped make jug bands popular back then. It has a really catchy tune, and easy to sing along, but with lyrics that don't particularly make much sense. Revived in 1963 by the Rooftop Singers, it became a world wide hit. Crocodiles are gruesome (that grew some more) reptiles native to tropical areas of Asia, parts of the Americas and the top end of Australia. They lurk, partly submerged in both salt and fresh water, waiting for their next meal to come along, and - SNAP! Struggling prey are then taken in a death roll by the crocodiles until they drown. When the crocodile visited the dentist with its sore tooth, he said the outcome was...filling.

From Quiz Puns and Word Play 7

Answer: Impressive flying buttocks

Mighty cathedrals, which have been built by man in various countries through the ages, often have large architectural offshoots from their sides, whose purpose is to give much needed support for the walls of the mighty edifices. Flying buttresses, as some are known, extend out at an angle from the walls of cathedrals, with the purpose of redirecting the weight from the height of those buildings down into the ground. Otherwise, they'd eventually collapse under the strain of their own weight. (I know the feeling). A streaker is someone who runs naked through crowds of people in different venues for the purpose of shocking same, or as an act of protest, or just for a laugh for the easily amused. The malapropism in the question is the substitution for the word "buttresses" with the word "buttocks", the unappealing backsides of naked streakers.

From Quiz Pun Fun

Answer: Portent

A clairvoyant is believed to have the power of divination, to be able to foretell the future, or to have specific feelings, good or bad, about various events or objects or people. The word itself derives from the French "clair" and "voyant", which together mean clear vision. Science, of course, pooh-poohs the idea of clairvoyance - but who knows? It's fun to play around with, or to poke fun of, but could be dangerous if taken too seriously. I have the power of clairvoyance, did you know that? Whenever I put anything in the oven to be cooked, I know it's going to be a disaster. The pun here combines the word "portent" (the ability to see into the future) with a poorly erected tent in a camping ground, ie, a portent.

From Quiz Puns and Word Play 5

Answer: Frayed Knot

Rope is fibre or strands of different material which have been woven together to form much stronger pieces of the same material. It can be used for just about anything requiring tugging, pulling, carrying, lifting, climbing, crossing, holding in place and so forth, and its use has been around since time began, once man first figured out how to manufacture it from the materials at hand. Even Neanderthals knew of its use, as evidenced from a 50,000 year old piece of twine found in France at a well known Neanderthal site. The ancient Egyptians were the first to create tools to make forms of rope from flax, leather and date palms, and it is thought this was used to pull the huge stones that went into the construction of their mighty edifices. The pun for this question combines the "frayed knot" ends of a piece of rope, with the words "'fraid not" to a question about one's health.

From Quiz Puns and Word Play 6

Answer: His Bill of Rights

The Constitution of the United States is described as the supreme law of that country. Since it came into being in 1789 after the American War of Independence from Great Britain, it has been altered (amended) on 27 different occasions. These amendments were enacted in order to meet the changes and needs of the developing nation, and the first ten of those amendments are known today as the Bill of Rights. The Constitution of the mighty United States is an inspirational, fluid ongoing work of the will of its people. And then we have Donald Duck, an anthropomorphic duck with a short fuse who always seems to be getting into bother, and who most definitely needs to be protected against himself by the law of his land - what else - his very own "Bill" of Rights. The pun for this question links a duck's bill with this document.

From Quiz Zumba Party

Answer: Rock

A geologist's work involves the study of all materials making up the earth, and other planets as well, and how these act upon planets, shaping and forming them. Their work also involves the search for oil, gas, and precious gems and minerals, as well as monitoring, and keeping the public informed of the possibility of disastrous events such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes. The pun for this question combines the meaning of the word "rock" - a major component of a geologist's work - with "rock music".

From Quiz Call the Copse

Answer: Malaria

Explanation for this pun just in case you didn't understand it: "Mal" is a prefix meaning bad - and a solo for an opera singer is known as an aria. Together you have Mal-aria, a mosquito borne illness that, if serious enough, can cause death. Symptoms include fever, nausea, vomiting, headaches, seizures sometimes, coma and death. Death, you could say, is the ultimate symptom. Opera singers are highly trained musicians who spend years doing endless hours of scales every day, learning new songs, refreshing themselves with others, practising the right emotions to express for the part, learning various language required for the different roles they play, and backing all that up with years of study of musical knowledge. This includes knowing all the different instruments in an orchestra, their range, their keys, their history, being able to read all forms of music and know all the different music directions, know how to transpose and play music as well as singing it, knowing all the great composers and their works, and a hundred other skills. But every single second is worth it when, stepping out onto that stage and starting to sing, you watch an audience becoming completely absorbed in the musical tales written by all the great composers of the world you are singing for them. Holding that audience in the palm of your hand, you can make them laugh - or cry - fall completely in love with your portrayed character - or long to see you receiving your just desserts. You become heroine, villain, lover, wife, narrator and are lifted to another plane of existence. When I die, I want "Once I sang" as my epitaph.

From Quiz Famous Painting Puns

Answer: A starry night

Post Impressionist artist, Vincent van Gogh, was born in the Netherlands in 1853, and, after a lifetime of rejection, poverty and mental illness, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in France, in 1890. He only sold one painting in his lifetime, but today his works are worth millions. Painted in June, 1889, "The Starry Night" depicts the evening view of the sky from the window of Vincent's room in the asylum at Saint-Remy-de-Provence. It is considered one of his finest works, but I much prefer the majority of his other works. "The Starry Night" is too disturbing. He painted this work during the day time hours and relying on his memory of night. The further back one steps from it, the more it begins to live. There is almost an element of creation about it, with the mighty and unbelievably mobile sky swirling far above the little man made village below. Van Gogh himself preferred the lower part of his work, and in a letter to his brother, Theo, he states that "All in all the only things I consider a little good in it are the Wheatfield, the Mountain, the Orchard, the Olive trees with the blue hills and the Portrait and the Entrance to the quarry, and the rest says nothing to me". It was as though this sad and lonely man had finally given up reaching for the stars. Would I hang this on a wall in my home? No. The sky is just too disturbing. It overpowers the viewer.

From Quiz Puns and Word Play 3

Answer: He soared

The famous carpenter soared too. Soaring is a word usually associated with a wild, free and beautiful bird flying high in the heavens, unfettered and uncaged as all birds should be. Even a few moments of that glory would surely be worth a lifetime in a wired enclosure. Dear me, pardon that poetic spurt. I've just had breakfast. Fencers - the sports people, not the kind who build lovely picket edifices around your property - use swords of various shapes, sizes and names in their sport. These are known as foils, epees or sabres, with the epee being the heaviest of the three. When using any of these three pieces of equipment in a match or tournament, there are specific rules and strategies to follow. The foil, for example, must only target the torso. It's a fascinating and elegant sport to watch, but very fast as the opponents thrust, parry, feint, lunge and retreat across the mat, so don't blink, or you'll miss their exceptional hits. The pun for this question combines the use of the word "soared", associated with flying, with a "sword" used by a fencer.

From Quiz Animal Pun Fun

Answer: Lion

And the pretty Australian girl who told a fib was called a lyrebird. Sadly so, lions are now listed on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species because they have been hunted so relentlessly by man over the ages. Habitat loss, also caused by man, plays a part in their rapidly decreasing population as well. Once native throughout Africa and several Asian countries, these mighty beasts can now only be found in a few African countries and in one Indian national park. It's enough to break your heart. Lions live in prides, headed by one dominant male, several lesser males, and lionesses and their cubs. Interestingly, these animals are capable of an impressive range of facial expressions and vocalisations. The one you probably wouldn't want to see is when a lion is looking directly at you and licking its chops. The pun here uses the word "Lion" to express that fact that the ranger was "Lyin'".

From Quiz Just A Few More Punioms

Answer: Diamond in the rough

A diamond in the rough, as we use the term today, describes someone who is a bit rough around the edges as far as sophistication and education go perhaps, but who has a heart of gold with values and ethics to match. Applied to this question, it describes the worth of a valuable diamond ring which has been covered up somewhere in the rough section of a golf course. As far as the gem goes, it refers to the rough look of an unearthed diamond before it is cut and polished. The first use in print of this term is found in John Fletcher's 1624 work "A Wife for a Month" in which the character in question is described as being "...very honest, and will be as hard to cut as a rough diamond."

From Quiz Canine Puns

Answer: Bolognese

The pun here unites the food spaghetti bolognese, the sauce of which originated in Bologna, Italy, and a small breed of dog known as a bolognese. A member of the toy group of canines, these little dogs are so adorable looking, they look like they belong on the shelf of a toy store. Unlike most other dogs, the bolognese doesn't shed hair. Its fur has a soft woolly feel to it instead. These little fellows have a long history, dating back at least to the year 1200, and are thought to have originated also in Bologna, Italy, where they were often seen with the aristocrats of the time. Surprisingly the spaghetti strands that are the other half of spaghetti bolognese did not originate in Italy but were introduced into that country from Arab conquerors of Sicily between the years 827 to 902 AD.

From Quiz Puns and Word Play 2

Answer: Warning! This is a construction aria.

Warning signs are usually seen on construction sites of most building works, along with safety fences erected around the works as well. These are all for the protection of the general public and should be heeded at all times. An aria is a solo performed in any opera. These are usually, but not always, performed by the leading soprano or tenor. Arias can also be considered instrumental solos, but the most common interpretation is that of a vocal performance. The pun combines the words aria and area.

From Quiz Punioms 2

Answer: He was afraid to say boo to a goose.

Ghosts are supposed to rattle chains with enthusiasm and shout "Boo!" at every opportunity to scare folks out of their wits, but that timid ghost was, well, afraid of his own shadow. A goose is a large waterfowl from the bird family Anatidae. These beautiful birds with an adorable waddle mate for life and are often seen on farms, where they are reared either as food, or for their eggs, or their down. They make excellent "guard dogs" as well, and an irate goose coming at one in full flight is truly a very alarming sight. Run, you goose, run!

From Quiz Puns and Word Play

Answer: Bill of Rights

This woeful pun combines the famous United States Bill of Rights - the first ten amendments to that nation's equally famous Constitution - and the mouthpiece of a duck, which is known as its bill, an alternative name for its beak.

From Quiz Punioms

Answer: It died in the wool

Anyone who is described as "dyed in the wool" is a person who is very set in his or her ways, and not willing to accept change without a struggle, or change opinions about various issues. A far right conservative politician could be an example of this. Interestingly, "dyed in the wool", a term known as far back as the 16th century in England, comes to us from the cloth manufacturing trade. At that time, wool was either dyed after it had been woven into cloth or thread - or dyed before the spinning process began when it was still more or less straight from the sheep's back. The pun rests in the words "dyed" for the wool, and "died", as in having gone to that great shearing shed in the sky.

From Quiz The Punny Side of the Law

Answer: They had nothing to go on

The police couldn't get a handle on who stole their toilet but they were hoping to flush out the thief. They eventually found a clue which led them to a man who had a pipe dream of becoming a plumber. He quit his last job because it was too much of a drain, and was wary about taking the plunge in a new career as he didn't want to faucet (force it).

From Quiz Cloudy With a Chance of Rain Puns

Answer: Chilli

Chillis are very hot to eat, especially the Scotch bonnet variety. However, buying a bonnet with holes to wear during the winter months will surely make you feel chilli...I mean chilly. Cayenne we get more peppery puns as they certainly spice up our lives!

From Quiz More Puns Still

Answer: Fuelish behaviour

The pun here is on "fuelish" for "foolish" behaviour, something that tanker drivers in particular should never ever attempt to carry out while in control of their huge and dangerous vehicles.

From Quiz Olympic Puns

Answer: Beam

A beam is a big smile, but it is also a feature of the women's gymnastics events. Men don't perform on this apparatus. Ouch! The beam is only 10 centimetres or 3.9 inches wide. The gymnasts are just incredible with all the moves they perform on it. Early beams were made of polished wood, an incredibly danger choice of material that was finally banned in the 1980s. The ones used today, although still made from wood, have a leather like covering on the surface where the gymnasts perform. Compulsory moves the gymnasts have to carry out during a beam routine in competition are quoted as follows: "1. A connection of two dance elements, one a leap, jump, or hop with legs in 2. 180 degree split 3. A full turn on one foot 4. One series of two acrobatic skills 5. Acrobatic elements in different directions (forward/sideward and backward) 6. A dismount"

From Quiz In Your Absinthe

Answer: With plenty of hops

Rabbits hop. Beer is made from hops. Hops are a vine that are 'twiddled' onto a string attached to poles and grow to form a 'bine'. The cone-like flowers are green and quite papery. In Kent in the UK, large quantities of hops were grown for the beer industry. Each summer up to the 20th Century, families would arrive for 'hop picking holidays'. The farmers would provide huts for them to stay in whilst they helped to bring in the harvest.

From Quiz More Pun Fun

Answer: The carats

The pun here rests in carrots, root vegetables long associated with rabbits - and carats, units of mass used in the measurement of precious jewels. Did you know that when carrots were first cultivated by man, it was for their leaves and seeds, rather than the part we chomp into today - and that in some countries in the world, carrots are purple rather than orange? In fact, orange carrots were first produced in the Netherlands, a country that is itself associated with this colour. Purple carrots, which are orange on the inside (what a gruesome colour combination) are now starting to make a re-appearance in the UK. That'll probably be the next trendy food we have to endure when this catches on elsewhere. "My dear, you must have a purple carrot - they're simply divine dipped in sushi and tabbouleh". This is interesting: The myth that carrots help us see better in the dark began as propaganda during World War II. It was instigated by the RAF to explain why their pilots suddenly began to have more success with nightly raids. In actuality, it was to cover up the fact that they had made impressive advances in radar technology - and to try to prevent this knowledge falling into enemy hands.

From Quiz How Punny

Answer: He went off his rocker

The pun here lies in a slang term for the unfortunate condition of going insane (hopefully only temporarily) - that of going off one's rocker. A rocker is also an abbreviated term for a rocking chair, a piece of furniture made by furniture manufacturers. If one rocks too hard in those diabolical inventions, one gets tossed right out of it. In short, you've gone off your rocker.

From Quiz Floral Word Play

Answer: Rose

There are over one hundred species of the beautiful rose in the world, and a staggering number of hybrids created from these. Paintings from ancient Egyptian tombs reveal that roses were cultivated even as far back as then, but undoubtedly they were sought by man far earlier than that. Roses are just so lovely and their appeal to the senses can swamp one with delight, waves of nostalgia, sometimes a little sorrow - and happiness.

From Quiz Very Punny, Very Punny

Answer: Disaster

I suppose it depends on how many tiles I've swallowed; Scrabble is played with just seven tiles but disaster has eight letters... Maybe the word 'blowout' might be more appropriate? Yuk!

From Quiz More Pun Fun

Answer: He got lit up

In days gone by, a chandler was the head of a section in large medieval homes or castles, whose job it was to make candles and soap. Today the word is associated more with candle makers alone. The pun consists of a combination of candles lighting up dark areas when they are "lit" - and an expression to describe anyone who has consumed too much alcohol. That person is said to be "lit up".

From Quiz Apun My Soul!

Answer: What impressive flying buttocks

In simple terms, flying buttresses (the pun is in "buttocks") are strong curved arches, usually made of stone, jutting out from the external walls of massive cathedrals. They look a little like arms in a way and their purpose is stop the walls of the main part of the building collapsing outward from the weight of all the material added on top. They direct the pressure from these walls down into the ground instead. Though associated mainly with Gothic architecture, these amazing innovations are actually first described as far back as the Bible, in Ezekiel 41:6-7. I was astonished to learn that. Describing the building of a temple, these verses state: "And the side chambers were three, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which was of the house for the side chambers round about, that they might have hold, but they had not hold in the wall of the house. And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house was still upward, and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst." (King James version)

From Quiz One More Punny Quiz

Answer: Thames the brakes

The Thames is London's major river system. This beautiful gracious waterway is as much a part of England as the English themselves and has played a large part for hundreds of years in the development of London as a centre of world trade.

From Quiz Don't Worry, It's Treatable!

Answer: I'll be with you in a couple of shakes.

The shakes is another term for tremors or shivers. People who have the shakes are either nervous, or it could be an indication they are feeling unwell.

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Last Updated Apr 27 2024 5:49 AM

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