I bought a shirt with this phrase on it the other day. When I first saw it, I inexplicably could not stop laughing. It’s just a play on words; why did it amuse me that much? Possibly because words are my life: I’m a writer, editor, and self-proclaimed grammar Nazi by day. But perhaps there’s more to it than that—maybe I liked the shirt because I’m drawn to the intelligence required to come up with phrases and jokes that are inspired by vocabulary.
In elementary school, my favorite joke was the classic Knock-Knock that ends in “Orange you glad I didn’t say banana?” I repeated this joke countless times (much to the annoyance of my mother, grandmother, and anyone else in the general vicinity) when I learned it. To me, this joke stood apart from those that ended in an insult, a poke in the face, or simply something vulgar.
In high school, my eleventh-grade English teacher told us about a bumper sticker he wanted to create: “Eschew obfuscation.” The phrase roughly means “Avoid confusion,” and he loved the idea of the irony behind this bumper sticker, which would inevitably cause great confusion.
From that point on, I respected people who could use and manipulate words for humor. It takes intelligence and quick-wit, which I think are two rare and extremely desirable qualities.
Or maybe I just like word jokes, who knows?
