Economist authors are trying especially hard with puns these days.
> "Mr Vollaard’s study has blown the lid off the sealed world of Dutch herring. Fishmongers who long suspected the judge of bias towards Atlantic now say the test is rotten."
No puns there.
> "But the charges of belangenverstrengeling (conflict of interest) have left the test’s reputation for impartiality gutted."
Wait, is the definition of "pun" just that you're using words with a double meaning? Rhyming "funny" in place of the original word isn't the main example of the art?
> "No food is more loved."
Okay, I haven't been to the Netherlands in like 400 years, but I know this isn't true.
Yes, that’s pretty much by definition a pun (though it’s usually required to be topical). For instance, Google gives us:
“a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings.”
A hyperbole perhaps, but it is very popular here.
> […]and accompanied with a pickle.
I think that's just in Amsterdam. Chopped onion is pretty much standard though.
And I concur : there’s a lot more truth to the supposed popularity of the herring than of, say, clogs or tulips.
Source: born in Amsterdam.
-Blown the lid - Herring comes in caskets
-Gutted - obviously fish-related
Pretty smart writing!
^ So to be clear... That wasn't me making a pun, right?
Though, anecdotally, I've seen the type of wordplay you demonstrate referred to as a pun among English speakers in South East Asia. Where do you hail from?
I must admit to feigning confusion about the definition of puns; I was keying into the original commenter's complaint that the author was trying too hard on the pun front. So I quoted examples of what I thought were exemplary wordplay (i.e. not particularly forced puns).
How? That does not rhyme at all (unless my english sucks that much).