时间:2018-12-18 作者:英语课 分类:TED演讲视频集


英语课

   所谓pun,通常是指利用一个单词的两个含义,或者利用两个特定的单词,达到“一语双关”的目的。例如在下面这句话里,其中的grave有两个含义,一个是“严肃的”(形容词),一个是“坟墓”(名词),因此这句话的意思是:他不是一个严肃的人,除非他躺到坟墓里,才能严肃起来。再比如下面第二句话,其中的pray(祈祷)和prey 1(捕食),发音相同,外形相似,因此这句话的意思是:他们今天为你祈祷,明天就会加害于你。这就是两个典型的 pun.


  ①He is not a grave man until he is a grave man.
  ②They pray for you today and prey on you tomorrow.
  国外一个网站评选的2003年十大pun,下面是其中的三个例子,如果您能看懂、听懂,肯定会觉得pun很有意思。
  ①He drove his expensive car into a tree and found out how the Mercedes bends.
  他违章超速驾驶,结果将昂贵的名车撞到树上,他终于看到他的奔驰车(Mercedes)是怎样撞弯(bends)的。这句话的幽默之处是将Mercedes Benz(奔驰车)中的Benz,故意改写成bends.
  ②Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.
  这句话乍一看,好象是说:时光像箭一样飞逝,水果像香蕉一样飞逝。其实这句话后半部分的真正意思是:果蝇喜欢吃香蕉,也就是fruit flies/like/a banana.
  ③A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two-tyred.
  这句话的表面意思是:自行车自己站不起来,因为它只有两个轮胎(two-tyred)。而这句话的另外一个意思是:这辆自行车被它的主人骑了很长时间,它现在太累了(too tired)。
  怎么样,pun是不是很有意思?我下面再列出三个pun,但不告诉您意思,请您自己琢磨一下。如果您能琢磨出来,那说明您的英语水平已经很高了。
  ①She wore a new hairpiece every day and was considered a big wig 2.
  ②Old math teachers never die, they just become irrational 3.
  ③When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

1 prey
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨
  • Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
  • The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。
2 wig
n.假发
  • The actress wore a black wig over her blond hair.那个女演员戴一顶黑色假发罩住自己的金黄色头发。
  • He disguised himself with a wig and false beard.他用假发和假胡须来乔装。
3 irrational
adj.无理性的,失去理性的
  • After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
  • There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。
标签: 英语写作
学英语单词
acid center
actinium uranium (actino-uranium)
ammonium selenide
ancient deed
anti-keynesians
anti-rolling gyroscope
autocorrelation function
auxiliary light
bacillus ulna
bid document
bite me in the ass
blepharolepis
body of an instrument
Boeica porosa
butyl titanate
catnitine
chondroprogenitors
complete graphs
compound fish manure
controlled avalanche transit-time triode
database simulation
deepening agent
doryopteris concolor
drybrush
electric resistance thermometre
eleona
endorse bill
equitation
ernest waltons
expanded display
Favididae
flare boom
Fort-Coulonge
free on truck (fot)
gas-cooled rotor
genus potamophiss
guiteau
hago
Hata's phenomenon
Heller dry cooling system
himantioid
hop vine
hotfixes
imrali adasi
Institute for Certification of Computer Professionals
institute of actuaries
isolated rock
jamil
kobina
Komnina
lactobacillus fermentum
lindblad
lpo (local processor outage)
merchandise export
mirksome
mopping-up operation
Motilon
multiphasic
N-diphenylformamide
Nambour
native palladium
neo-tropical
nonriparian
null modems
obligate aerobicbacteria
oh-so-casually
oil-company
operationtip
outering
payable to holder
political hack
political isolation
polyestradiol
primary concern
prodentine
Pucacaca
radio principle
resident auditor
rhythmless
ridge estimate
Rodrigues ruler
rosarita
saturation coverage
seal bombs
self-damping
smooth scheme
sonata-rondo form
stifle-bone
stochastic program model
storm signal station
strawberry foot rot
supersoft
Swan Lake
terracer
theory of organization
thiocarbamizine
topping plant
transaction pipe
traumatic epilepsies
tree lobsters
Turkey Day
twenty-four carat