Puns: the good, the bad, and the ugly

I’ve always been a fan of the double entendre—any phrase that contains double meaning. Problem is, they often get confused with puns. As “the lowest form of humor,” puns are a no-no in my world.

So, what's the difference? And why is one more elevated than the other. Here’s what I found?

Puns are almost always supposed to be funny. When someone drops a pun, they’re going out of their way to exploit the possible meanings of a word, or even the sound a word makes. For some, this form of exploitation knows no limits. Some examples:

“Don’t ever believe an atom, they make up everything.”

“Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.”

“Atheism is a non-prophet institution.”

Rarely do puns reward the intelligence. John Deere’s “Nothing runs like a Deere” sure seems like a pun to me, but it works. Or maybe it's been around so long my advertising colleagues give it a free pass.

There are also cases where phrases are misidentified as puns. Lenwich’s “Egg morning” got New Yorkers riled up not too long ago. Except for one small thing: it’s not actually a pun. It’s just a dumb phrase. Nearly as dumb as the holiday-inspired “Merry Pringles.”

Which brings me to the double entendre (a figure of speech meant to have a double meaning, one obvious and one suggestive). What makes them satisfying is how a single phrase can take on new meaning when viewed in a different light. But this doesn’t necessarily make them cringe-proof.

On The Office, when Michael Scott blurts out “That’s what she said,” we know he’s twisting the meaning of an otherwise innocent phrase. The fact that he can’t help himself is more of the joke than the joke itself.

Sonny’s Famous Steaks out of Philadelphia is equally notable for its double entendre abuse. Somehow, “You can’t beat our meat” has brought the restaurant all kinds of attention.

Sony offered a more elevated double entendre in 2009 with its tagline “make.believe.” In just two words separated by a dot, the company invites users to be co-creators of the world of make believe.

Designers can also get in on the action. The Night Golf ad, above, is a great example. Another example is the negative space arrow that appears between the E and X in the FED EX logo.

For me, double entendres are verbal gold. Taglines, especially. There’s a brilliant economy to one short phrase containing layers of meaning. It’s almost like a gift for readers to unwrap. Something not possible with the lowly pun.

One rule that applies to both figures of speech is that a little restraint goes a long way. If you must, it's best to use puns sparingly. Then again, any cleverness that comes that easily may not be so clever after all.