Once upon a time, I asked someone why they thought puns seem to have such a bad reputation. Their answer was that upon hearing a pun people will typically think “That was funny,” “I could have come up with that,” and “You’re not so original” simultaneously, and since we can’t stand for people to be better than us (in the case of plays on words, cleverer than us) we tend to focus on the latter two.
I found this answer both satisfying and insightful, and was appeased to let the matter drop. However, becoming aware of this thought process in explicit terms, I began to look for it, and I was surprised to see how many times I think to myself “You’re not so original” or “I could have come up with that.” I would think about when I was watching TV shows. I would think that while reading blogs. I would think that while reading books.
Then I started noticing a different thought that lay beneath these. It was very simple, and would probably seem harmless to the general passerby.
The thought was: “I want to do that.”
