About this quote

Humor often relies on making connections that others miss. Wordplay forces your brain to stretch, pulling double meanings out of ordinary language to surprise people. It is easy to dismiss a silly joke, but crafting a good one requires sharp linguistic agility. Next time you groan at a bad joke, think about the mental gears turning behind it. Good writing is about surprising your audience, and a quick pun does exactly that in just a few words.

When to use it

• You are sitting at a tense family dinner when your uncle drops a terrible dad joke, diffusing the argument. You laugh and say this to defend his cheesy sense of humor to your annoyed siblings.
• You are brainstorming headlines with your marketing team, and someone pitches a clever play on words that perfectly captures the brand. You use this line to convince the skeptical manager to approve the pitch.
• Your classmate complains about having to study Shakespeare's constant double entendres. You repeat this to remind them that even classic writers loved silly jokes.