FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Quiz about The Art Of Punning
Quiz about The Art Of Punning

The Art Of Punning Trivia Quiz


Punning is the humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more of its meanings or the meaning of another word similar in sound. In this quiz you either have to complete a pun, or to find out which headline, ad or slogan uses punning.

A multiple-choice quiz by flem-ish. Estimated time: 3 mins.
  1. Home
  2. »
  3. Quizzes
  4. »
  5. Humanities Trivia
  6. »
  7. Language Use
  8. »
  9. Puns and Word Play Humor

Author
flem-ish
Time
3 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
96,382
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Easy
Avg Score
8 / 10
Plays
5345
Last 3 plays: FrappMaster (10/10), IM_Stupid (7/10), robdehaan (8/10).
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. Which of these slogans uses a pun that would suit a telephone company wanting to stimulate its male customers to use the phone for their amorous phone-calls? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Which of these slogans uses punning to promote the selling of a particular brand of whisky? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. "We'll give you sound advice" would be a suitable pun for which of these? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Which of these paraphrases might be O.K. as a pun if you wanted to sell a BMW with a big windscreen? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. "There is a terrific draught in here" would be a nice pun for which of these establishments? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Which of these slogans could be used as a pun by the British Conservatives to criticize the Labour party? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Can you find a suitable pun to express the idea that it is better to solve a conflict by going to the vote than by starting a civil war?
"Ballots, not __________!"

Answer: (Seven letters)
Question 8 of 10
8. With what pun might a department-store solicit its customers not to leave without buying something? "Don't leave without a good-___!".

Answer: (Three letters.)
Question 9 of 10
9. Which of these newspaper headlines (which might have appeared in 1994) uses a pun to report that Mr. Blair has been chosen as the new leader of the Labour party? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Which of these would make a good punning headline for a paper having to report on sex-scandals involving R.C. priests? Hint



(Optional) Create a Free FunTrivia ID to save the points you are about to earn:

arrow Select a User ID:
arrow Choose a Password:
arrow Your Email:




Most Recent Scores
Mar 21 2024 : FrappMaster: 10/10
Feb 03 2024 : IM_Stupid: 7/10
Feb 02 2024 : robdehaan: 8/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Which of these slogans uses a pun that would suit a telephone company wanting to stimulate its male customers to use the phone for their amorous phone-calls?

Answer: Give her a ring

A ring is also 'a circular piece of jewellery'.
'The phone is faster' is a good example of alliterative use of language.
2. Which of these slogans uses punning to promote the selling of a particular brand of whisky?

Answer: Teachers Are in a Different Class

Teachers is a brand of whisky, for whom this slogan would be appropriate.
'Bushmills Is Better' just has alliteration.
'Bells Sells Best' has alliteration and rhyme.
The Jack Daniels slogan uses the technique of the unexpected continuation, as when Oscar Wilde said: "Women are sphinxes - without a secret."
3. "We'll give you sound advice" would be a suitable pun for which of these?

Answer: a hi-fi shop

The structure of sound advice can be read as either adjective + substantive (the advice being sound because it shows good judgment), or substantive + substantive (the advice being about sound).
4. Which of these paraphrases might be O.K. as a pun if you wanted to sell a BMW with a big windscreen?

Answer: BMW: a vroom with a view

Of course this is an allusion to E.M.Forster's book "A Room With A View".
Vroom is onomatopeic for car.
Most ad-makers may prefer less high-brow ads, however.
Renault already uses Scenic as a label for one of their makes of car. They spell it with an "accent" on the e.
5. "There is a terrific draught in here" would be a nice pun for which of these establishments?

Answer: a pub

Draught: a current of unpleasantly cold air blowing through a room OR beer stored in and served from large containers, barrels. There is, of course, also "draught" as in draught horse, or as when referring to the depth of water needed for a boat to be able to float.

In fact, "There is a terrific draught in here" was used in a 1970 advert for Heineken Draught Lager. A classic ad for beer is "We serve Directors only", Directors being a brand of beer.
6. Which of these slogans could be used as a pun by the British Conservatives to criticize the Labour party?

Answer: Labour isn't working

Labour basically means practical work, especially when it involves physical effort. Labour, of course, can also be the last stage of pregnancy. In U.K. Labour is the political party that is supposed to believe in social equality, a more equal sharing out of wealth and the rights of the workers.

Labourers does not refer to members of the Labour party, but to those who do unskilled physical work outside.
7. Can you find a suitable pun to express the idea that it is better to solve a conflict by going to the vote than by starting a civil war? "Ballots, not __________!"

Answer: bullets

A ballot is originally a piece of paper on which you write your vote. A piece of paper that has been crumpled and pressed into a little paper ball was a ballot.
8. With what pun might a department-store solicit its customers not to leave without buying something? "Don't leave without a good-___!".

Answer: bye

Ad-designers visualize this type of pun by adding a second orthography on top of the first as a kind of graffiti: Good-"bye", correction "buy".
9. Which of these newspaper headlines (which might have appeared in 1994) uses a pun to report that Mr. Blair has been chosen as the new leader of the Labour party?

Answer: Mr. Right for the Left

Mr. Right plays on the opposition between left and right in politics. Normally Mr. Right is the term to refer to the ideal choice a girl is trying to make when looking for a husband.

As many leftist members of the Labour party felt Mr. Blair was somewhat to the right of real Labour ideology, the headline might acquire an extra dimension of ambiguity.

"Mr. Right For the Left" also illustrates another special use of language: antithesis.
10. Which of these would make a good punning headline for a paper having to report on sex-scandals involving R.C. priests?

Answer: When Dad Is a Father

"Father" is normally the male parent, but it can also refer to a Christian priest, especially a Roman Catholic or Orthodox one.

The headline was actually used by Time Magazine some years ago when Irish priests were revealed as having broken their celibacy vows.
Source: Author flem-ish

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor thejazzkickazz before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
3/28/2024, Copyright 2024 FunTrivia, Inc. - Report an Error / Contact Us