Why are really good puns painful? Why do they cause people to groan
and/or have a physical reaction? This emotional/physical reaction is
quite curious, and I'm interested to know more about it.

To quote a Nathan Shores from a random post to alt.cuddle:
"But tell a really GOOD pun, and everyone writhes around in agony,
EXCEPT the punster, who giggles like mad."

I would love to see an article, study, or good discussion on why this is so.

Hi poormattie and thanks for the question.  (picking up the baton!
thank you grimace-ga)

It would seem from my research that peoples reactions to puns vary
alot.  Whilst some people groan, howl, laugh etc. others appear to be
not amused, but all of these people are impressed by the ‘cleverness’
of the pun.  Those who laugh at the pun are likely to appreciate itīs
cleverness of construction, whilst those who groan are probably just
wishing they had thought of it first!
Like all humour ‘timing’ is of the essence, and if a pun can be
delivered at just the right moment you are bound to make an impact. 
However to deliver on time is a very difficult thing, you either have
to have a good memory and store all those puns just waiting for the
right moment, or have the type of quick mind that most of us lack.
Anyway, below you will find some very interesting material on puns and
the affects they have on people.

Definition of a pun:
“A pun is defined by Webster as "the humorous use of a word, or of
words which are formed or sounded alike but have different meanings,
in such a way as to play on two or more of the possible applications;
a play on words."
http://www.punoftheday.com/

A very informative site:
“This theory suggests that the main reason people in general dislike
puns is because they themselves did not make them.”
http://www.essaydepot.com/essayme/1145/
 
“Why do people groan when a pun is told? A pun is often considered
obvious humor, since the person relating it is merely balancing the
humor in it on a twist of a word's meaning or sound. Children love
this type of obvious humor and can laugh at it without reproachments.
Adults, on the other hand, are more likely to have a twinge of envy,
and "why didn't I think of that?". It is this envy in adults that
subconciously causes them to groan upon hearing a pun. As time goes
on, it can only be hoped that we adults will eventually learn to react
more like a child and less like a groan-up!”
http://www.punoftheday.com/

“But think of your friends who are always doing puns. Have you noticed
that they think they're really pretty funny, even though you don't?
Puns are often funnier to the person who thinks them up, because it
takes more mental effort to think of a pun on the spot than it does to
understand it once it's told to you.”
http://www.laughterremedy.com/humor2.dir/humor4_00.html

“Doctors have done many studies as to the physical effects of humor.
They have found it to be positive in the heart, immune system and the
nervous system.“
http://rock.uwc.edu/Psych/psy208/witmur/ageing.htm

Metamagical Themas (sounds like an interesting read!)
“....is partly about science, partly about verbal puns and their
equivalents in arithmetic, geometry and computer science”
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?salesurl=Ishop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp&isbn=0465045669

A rather unscientific sounding explanation:
“All in all, the answer lies in simple chemistry. A true pun, when }
correctly used, momentarily stuns the hearers, producing a brief }
instant of pain. The body, in reaction, pours out seratonin and other
} such chemicals almost instantly to dull the pain, leaving a warm and
} fuzzy feeling, and occasionally producing euphoria. (Hence the
stifled } giggles that often follow the groans of pain when a pun is
uttered). “
http://www.cs.indiana.edu/l/www/pub/oracle/11/1134

“Puns may be the lowest form of wit (and "therefore the foundation of
all wit" according to Henry Erskine) but do they deserve the scorn
that has been heaped upon them by their detractors down through the
ages? Coleridge allowed that the pun was "harmless... because it never
excites envy." Even Sigmund Freud waded in on the topic explaining the
pun's lowly stature with the fact that they are "the cheapest- can be
made with the least trouble." Leave it to Oscar Levant to astutely
point out: "A pun is the lowest form of humor- if you didn't think of
it first."
http://puzzles.about.com/library/weekly/aa000609.htm

IN DEFENCE OF THE PUN
"The assumption that puns are per se contemptible ... is a sign at
once of sheepish docility and a desire to seem superior. Puns are
good, bad, or indifferent, and only those who lacks the wit to make
them are unaware of the fact.”
http://fanac.org/fanzines/Willis_Papers/Defence_Of_The_Pun.html


From the University of Sterling Scotland
“PSCHOLOGICAL MODELS OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS”
“MANIC SYMPTOMS.”
“5. ENDLESS STREAM OF TALK, RAPID TOPIC CHANGE, CONTINUOUS STREAM OF
JOKES, PUNS”
http://www.stir.ac.uk/Departments/HumanSciences/Psychology/4612/kp/DISORDERS1.htm

“We will conclude by mentioning one implication of this work for
another aspect of language use, namely linguistic humor. Puns and
other jokes often rely on homonyms for their effects. The aesthetic
impact of puns”
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~kellym/homonym.html



Thank you for the question.

THX1138

Some of the search strategy terms I used:
puns affect humor physical
://www.google.com/search?hl=pt&ie=ISO-8859-1&as_qdr=all&q=puns+affect+humor+physical&btnG=Pesquisa+Google&lr=

---

Request for Answer Clarification by poormattie-ga on 25 Jul 2002 16:21 PDT

Did you not find anything else in your research that suggested there
were any physical/chemical changes in your body that take place upon
hearing puns? The physical affects (real or imagined) are what I'm
interested in. Can you provide information on those and/or their
causes?

(The only thing that came close in the links you list is the quote
from the old-school Internet Oracle 'joke' postings.)

I definitely appreciate all your research on the question, but would
love to hear any additional information you have on the physical
reactions to puns.

---

Clarification of Answer by thx1138-ga on 26 Jul 2002 07:15 PDT

Hi poormattie,

The psychological and physical aspects of humour have been studied
quite extensively, however it seems  impossible to isolate puns for
investigation as the study of humour is very subjective, so whilst one
person might find a pun or joke funny someone else might not. The
reasons why some people find a pun funny and others donīt is
subjective, itīs a bit like asking why a particular modern art
painting is beautiful,  I could respond that I donīt like modern art
and I prefer more classical styles, itīs a personal trait or
preference.
However when a person does find something funny (ie a pun) then
certain physical and psychological effects happen:

Neurobiology and Behavior:
“I also think that one of the hardest things to explain in terms of
the nervous system would be our sense of humor. I mean, not the
mechanical substance of laugh, but why people find things funny. I
think that this is one of the most personal and unique things about
all of us. This would be very hard if not impossible to explain why
humans find some things funny, and some not, and why our senses of
humor differ from person to a person. “
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro97/week01/

Laughter on the Brain  (This site will probably be of most interest to
you)
“The physiological study of laughter has its own name -- gelotology.
And we know that certain parts of the brain are responsible for
certain human functions. For example, emotional responses are the
function of the brain's largest region, the frontal lobe. But
researchers have learned that the production of laughter is involved
with various regions of the brain. While the relationship between
laughter and the brain is not fully understood, researchers are making
some progress. “
http://biz.howstuffworks.com/laughter3.htm

“Research results indicate that, after exposure to humor, there is a
general increase in activity within the immune system, including:
An increase in the number and activity level of natural killer cells
that attack viral infected cells and some types of cancer and tumor
cells.
An increase in activated T cells (T lymphocytes). There are many T
cells that await activation. Laughter appears to tell the immune
system to "turn it up a notch."
An increase in the antibody IgA (immunoglobulin A), which fights upper
respiratory tract insults and infections.
An increase in gamma interferon, which tells various components of the
immune system to "turn on."
An increase in IgB, the immunoglobulin produced in the greatest
quantity in body, as well as an increase in Complement 3, which helps
antibodies to pierce dysfunctional or infected cells. The increase in
both substances was not only present while subjects watched a humor
video; there also was a lingering effect that continued to show
increased levels the next day”
http://www.holistic-online.com/Humor_Therapy/humor_therapy_benefits.htm


“When you laugh there is an involuntary stimulus to the respiratory
system. Hearty laughter involves effective expiration of gases
followed by deep inspiration. A good exercise for your lungs and
diaphragm.”
http://www.healthlibrary.com/reading/nadkarni/chap11.htm


“The brain’s right hemisphere appears to be important in appreciating
humor (7). In particular, the frontal lobe processes cognitive tasks
needed for us to get to the joke, including abstract interpretation of
aspects of conversation such as irony, affective intonation, sarcasm,
and innuendo.8 The frontal lobe is part of a wider neural circuit
involved in controlling emotion. Many neural pathways connect it with
the “emotional” part of the brain—that is, the limbic and hypothalamic
systems.”
http://www.epub.org.br/cm/n13/mente/laughter/page5.html


Also have a look at this link using ‘gelotology’ (the study of
laughter) as the keyword:
://www.google.com/search?hl=pt&ie=ISO-8859-1&as_qdr=all&q=gelotology&btnG=Pesquisa+Google&lr=

I hope this has helped to clarify my answer, but if you need any
further help donīt hesitate to ask.

Thanks again

THX1138

A lot of work went into this for very little cost. Though the answer
didn't really ever hit the nail on the head, I'm comfortable with
closing the question at this point.

Haven't got very far with this, I'm afraid. Time for someone else to
pick up the baton.

One of the few useful sites I dug up revealed that, interestingly, far
from being painful, puns can also be therapeutic. Apparently, Thoreau
was 'prescribed' a course of puns by his doctor after he discovered
that he was prone to consumption:

"Puns became a kind of self-therapy for him"

University Times
http://www.pitt.edu/utimes/issues/33/010405/20.html

Quote James Merrill on puns:
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/merrill/puns.htm
"It is suffered, by and large, with groans of aversion (...) Indeed,
the punster has touched, and knows it if only for being so promptly
shamed, upon a secret, fecund place in language herself. The pun’s
objet trouvé aspect cheapens it further -- why? A Freudian slip is
taken seriously: it betrays its maker’s hidden wish. The pun (or the
rhyme, for that matter) "merely" betrays the hidden wish of words."

A comment by Mulu Konuk Blasing on same page:
"Hence, as Merrill defends them, puns are immoral (there can be no
question of "justice" or "equity"), cheap (their "wealth" has no
measurable value and posits no standard for such evaluation),
transgressive (of the naming father and the hierarchical structures of
substitution, whether of name for thing or vehicle for tenor), and
"unseemly" (they offer forbidden sexual pleasure and economize on
psychic expenditure -- by skirting the economy of sublimation)."

I'm sure that puns have some therapeutic value, although it probably
depends on the kind of person on the receiving end.

For example: A woman told a series of ten jokes to a depressed friend
in an effort to cheer him up. Unfortunately, no pun in ten did.

The more childish sorts of puns aren't particularly painful, since
they are not yet full groan. ;-)

Umm pink,  I give that 2/3 of a pun... PU :)

-groan-

I have observed an interesting thing with humor/pain/release/laughing:

Have you ever noticed that tickling is most successful where the lymph
nodes are (under the knees, in the armpits, etc) -- perhaps they are
relieving congestion there -- hence the fun(usually) squirmy affect

maybe puns and jokes in general work similarly - they jog a region of
cognitive confusion and relase any congestion

think about it.  watch standup comedy and hbo or whatever - people
laugh hardest about stuff that is collectively confusing or societally
troubled

(that in itself is funny)

laughing together is collectively throwing some light on a scary area

Humor is about "truth and pain" (see "The Comic Toolbox" by John
Vorhaus). Puns, by themselves, are a failed attempt at humor. The
failure of the joke is itself painful and sometimes that same
*failure* may even be funny.

There is some good evidence of a  non-scientific nature but still of
high pedigree that puns are either bad for your health or symptoms of
poor health.

From 

http://pub116.ezboard.com/fderenswritersblockfrm30.showMessage?topicID=95.topic

A shoddy source but I can't find a better one. Keats last letter (ie.
on his deathbed)


Note particularly "and at my worst, even in Quarantine, summoned up
more puns, in a sort of desperation, in one week than in any year of
my life. " full text follows:
To Charles Brown,
Rome, 30 November 1820

My Dear Brown,

'Tis the most difficult thing in the world to me to write a letter. My
stomach continues so bad, that I feel it worse on opening any
book,--yet I am much better than I was in Quarantine. Then I am afraid
to encounter the proing and conning of any thing interesting to me in
England. I have an habitual feeling of my real life having past, and
that I am leading a posthumous existence. God knows how it would have
been--but it appears to me--however, I will not speak of that subject.
I must have been at Bedhampton nearly at the time you were writing me
from Chichester--how unfortunate--and to pass on the river too! There
was my star predominant! I cannot answer any thin in your letter,
which followed me from Naples to Rome, because I am afraid to look it
over again. I am so weak (in mind) that I cannot bear the sight of any
hand writing of a friend I love so much as I do you. Yet I ride the
little horse,--and at my worst, even in Quarantine, summoned up more
puns, in a sort of desperation, in one week than in any year of my
life. There is one thought enough to kill me--I have been well,
healthy, alert &c, walking with her--and now--the knowledge of
contrast, feeling for light and shade, all that information (primitive
sense) necessary for a poem are great enemies to the recovery of the
stomach. There, you rogue, I put you to the torture,--but you must
bring your philosophy to bear--as I do mine, really--or how should I
be able to live? Dr Clarke is ver attentive to me; he says, there is
very little the matter with my lungs, but my stomach, he says, is very
bad. I am well disappointed in hearing good news from George--for it
ruins in my head we shall all die young. I have no written to XXXXX
yet, which he must think me very neglectful; being anxiout to send him
a good account of my health, I have delayed it from week to week. If I
recover, I will do all in my power to correct the mistakes made during
sickness; and if I should not, all my faults will be forgiven. Ishall
write to xxx tomorrow, or next day, I will write to xxxxx in the
middle of next week. Severn is very well, though he leaeds so dull a
life with me. Remeber me to all firends, and tell xxxx I should not
have left London without taking leave of him, but from being so low in
body and mind. Write to George as soon as you receive this, and tell
him how I am, as far as you can guess;--and also a note to my
sister--who walks about my imagination like a ghost--she is so like
Tom. I can scarcely bid you goodbye even in a letter. I always made an
awkward bow.

God bless you!
John Keats