Puns

[LeedsRhinos]

Why do people apologise after using a pun (as in "sorry for the pun")?

[Sylday]

An interesting question. Perhaps it's because puns are often quite clever, and the perpetrator feels as though s/he's showing off their knowledge of language, for which an apology is due (as with displays of pedantry). At the same time, puns are often greeted with a groan from those who hear them, presumably because they too think the perpetrator is showing off - which of course makes the latter even more quick to apologise. For some more abstruse, Freudian comment on the matter, see http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/merrill/puns.htm

[SpanglyJoe]

I disagree, I think people apologise as they realise they have just silenced a room filled with previously happy laughing people. Puns aren't funny, they haven't been funny since shakespeares era and even the cleverest puns ,requiring more than a slight knowledge of the particular language from which it comes, are only ever greeted with slight smiles or nods. Puns aren't clever or funny anyone who has ever read the front page of the sun will realise that.