The Serious Guide to Joke Writing: How To Say Something Funny About Anything pdfdrive com

Exercise 2: Finding Words to Redefine
Once you have got the hang of these, I think the hardest thing is finding words
that are redefinable. The first time I taught redefinitions I simply told the class to
think of words. You should have seen their faces as they strained to do so. Now I
take  in  the  Family  Scrabble  Dictionary  and  the  Thesaurus  (normal  dictionaries
are no good as they have far too many obscure and unusable words). So now it’s
your turn.
Look for words to redefine.
If you can’t lay your hands on a Thesaurus or Scrabble Dictionary then you can
try just looking round your house or through magazines. Or if you want jokes on
a particular subject, try thinking of all the things to do with that subject. See if
you can find 10 different words to redefine. (If you really have problems, there is
some more advice in Troubleshooting at the end of this chapter). Remember not
all  words  are  redefinable.  The  way  to  tell  is  to  break  them  down  into  their
syllables and see if they have another meaning.
...
If  you  write  some  good  ones,  turn  them  into  proper  jokes,  enter  them  in  the
Washington  Post  Annual  Neologies  contest,  or  you  can  save  them  for  when
you’re a contestant on I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue!

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