[noopster]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

On second thoughts - should this be in the jokes thread?

I had this hilarious image in my mind of a typical Mallu Gelf family of 5, 3 of whom are in jail for peddling narcotics

NDTV's copy editor should be sacked with immediate effect, or better still, be sent to that same jail!

[TrailBlazer007]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

The usual phrase is no pun intended.

This is a kind of "disclaimer" that we did not actually mean to make what may look like a rather bad joke --- but, at the same time, it draws attention to it and makes the joke anyway. It requires a bit of inside-out double thinking.

If we say pun intended, then it may mean that, yes, it is a bad joke, but we meant to make it anyway.

But I too cannot find the pun in the example.

Misleading.There is absolutely NO RELATION of a bad joke and the word "pun",unless you are British of course.
You are correct in the first scenario if we remove the phrase "look like a rather bad joke".
And the second usage scenario of pun intended is absolutely wrong.That may be one of ,but not the only usage.
Here is how i would have put it-
No pun intended and pun intended are usually used as tools to highlight wordplay,wherein the same word/phrase may mean totally different things(definition of pun).

First is a sort of apology or disclaimer like you said and the second one ,is a forced thing lest the reader/listener overlooks the clever structuring

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by TrailBlazer007

unless you are British of course.

Well, you are right on that count for sure

But what Thad intended to say, and I concur, is that a 'pun intended' sentence always feels like a bad joke!! In the literal sense, the explanation given by you is spot on

[mayankk]

I typically use the "no pun intended" disclaimer when there has been an inadvertent, er, pun, and which could direct the discussion to humor, when the actual tone is serious, or just non-humorous.
Using the link, I'd like to bring up the guy who submitted ten entries to make it to the finals of the tongue-in-cheek word-play contest, but no pun in ten did.

[TrailBlazer007]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

Well, you are right on that count for sure

But what Thad intended to say, and I concur, is that a 'pun intended' sentence always feels like a bad joke!! In the literal sense, the explanation given by you is spot on

No it does not!.
And that was my whole point-that the interpretation could be both ways.

People may may not find it funny and if they don't, the usage of 'pun intended' makes it all the more tiresome and you begin to doubt the intellect of the author or that that of yourself, for reading him/her!

It is subjective and i was only trying to highlight it lest someone takes it as Gospel.

By the way-
Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.(No pun intended!).
This may be another usage of scenario one which may be used to pronounce the pun or be a disclaimer ,depending upon the context.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by TrailBlazer007

Misleading.There is absolutely NO RELATION of a bad joke and the word "pun",unless you are British of course.
You are correct in the first scenario if we remove the phrase "look like a rather bad joke".
And the second usage scenario of pun intended is absolutely wrong.That may be one of ,but not the only usage.
Here is how i would have put it-
No pun intended and pun intended are usually used as tools to highlight wordplay,wherein the same word/phrase may mean totally different things(definition of pun).

First is a sort of apology or disclaimer like you said and the second one ,is a forced thing lest the reader/listener overlooks the clever structuring

TrailBlazer, I am about to take it as Gospel that there should be a space before a comma and none after it!
Guidance, please.

[Accent Martin]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

TrailBlazer, I am about to take it as Gospel that there should be a space before a comma and none after it!
Guidance, please.

No. Your usage of comma and space in the first sentence is the correct one. But there need not be a comma after guidance.

[TrailBlazer007]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

TrailBlazer, I am about to take it as Gospel that there should be a space before a comma and none after it!
Guidance, please.

You don't need guidance as i see you have already taken it as gospel by capitalizing G in it.

[Thad E Ginathom]

TrailBlazer,

I'm not absolutely wrong! But I think we may be misunderstanding each other. Your "word play" is probably better than my "joke," but a pun is, or very often is, a kind of a joke.

I came to the thread to draw attention to a mistake I see recently in the forum: there is no such thing as a "bye-pass."

Of course, an unsuccessful heart operation might be a bye-pass (pun intended ) but a road around a city is a bypass.

The people who need this information probably don't visit this thread!

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I came to the thread to draw attention to a mistake I see recently in the forum: there is no such thing as a "bye-pass."

Of course, an unsuccessful heart operation might be a bye-pass (pun intended ) but a road around a city is a bypass.

The people who need this information probably don't visit this thread!

The people who need this piece of information are definately taking a brake after fiddling with their breaks. Or, wondering what to do with the ABC paddles. Or maybe even thinking of what to do with their car's, bike's and SUV's on weekend's

Phew! That was quite some effort to unlearn some grammar, spelling and punctuation

[Thad E Ginathom]

I take my hat off to you. I wish I could spell definitely!

Thankfully, my computer can <Blush>

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by silversteed

The people who need this piece of information are definately taking a brake after fiddling with their breaks. Or, wondering what to do with the ABC paddles. Or maybe even thinking of what to do with their car's, bike's and SUV's on weekend's

Phew! That was quite some effort to unlearn some grammar, spelling and punctuation

Ingenious! Must have taken a lot of effort to pen those lines!

Perhaps you could have said ''Or wondering what to do with the ABC paddles and whether to use the pedal shifts"

[silversteed]

Or wondering what to do with the ABC paddles and whether to use the pedal shifts

Ah, that reminds me of 'whether'. Many people replace 'if' with 'whether', but it often ends up as a test of whether they know where to use whether or not. AFAIK, 'whether' is to be used only when there's a choice - 'I do not know whether it would rain today or not', and 'if' when there's an uncertainty - 'I do not know if it would rain today'. Sorry for nitpicking, @vnabhi

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by silversteed

Sorry for nitpicking

No need for sorrow: nitpicking is what this thread is about! The more the merrier!

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by silversteed

'I do not know whether it would rain today or not', and 'if' when there's an uncertainty - 'I do not know if it would rain today'.

Something wrong with the tense there, weather notwithstanding.