I'm rather relieved to hear it! Both my sons began doing this by the age of
10, as you say. However, they are still doing it at 30 and 33, though not I
must admit every time they breathe, these days! I have to admit I used to
join in the linguistic play, when it wasn't too groan-worthy, and now Roger
says I can't complain because I trained them. Seems to me the ability to pun
plays a big part in language development.
In my family punning crossed the gender divide -- both my parents played,
and myself, my sister and brother all joined in in due course. I have known
chains of subject-related puns extend over ten or fifteen minutes at least.
There was one spectacular one about fish, which I really wish I could
remember, but after 40 years it's not surprising it's gone.
best joanna
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Weiss" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 2:56 AM
Subject: Re: Some punishment
> To be serious for a moment, there's a well-remarked phenomenon among
> English-speaking males in the US--at about 10 they start insisting that
> their parents luisten to endless horrible jokes, usually turning on puns.
I
> did it, my friends did it, my kid did it, his friends did it, and my
> parents and their sibs recognized it from their own childhoods (the girls,
> by the way, never pretended to laugh).
>
> So I wonder--does this happen in other lands? And hoew does one explain
the
> phenomenon?
>
> It goes away, mercifully, after a couple of weeks.
>
> I'm assuming that neither I nor Alison are responsible for the behavior of
> our children. That she does it on her own is another matter.
>
> Mark
>
> At 09:46 PM 1/30/2005, you wrote:
> >On 31/1/05 1:41 PM, "Mark Weiss" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > > I see you've been talking to your youngest again.
> >
> >Mark, you know my juvenile tendencies all too well!
> >
> >
> >Alison Croggon
> >
> >Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
> >Editor, Masthead: http://masthead.net.au
> >Home page: http://alisoncroggon.com
|