About Puns - Tom Swifties

Tom Swifties

Well Tom Swifites would have been called Balu Swifties if they would have generated in South India , but we are not going to the twists in the roots

of the language but the roots of the twist in the language !! Well this Article can be split into four parts

1. What the hell are Tom Swifties ?

2. How can I write this Tom swifties myself ?

3. How the hell did they start ?

4. Who the hell is Tom ?

5. A lifetime oppurtunity to show me and Venki down !! (Trust me you will like this its right at the end of this mail !!! FOR FREE!!!)

What the hell are Tom Swifties ?

I can be very technical here , so technically

A Tom Swifty is a one-line play on words , involving a punning relationship between the way an adverb describes the action of a speaker ,

and the content of the speaker's statement.

Simply put , it is just another sick punning style !!

But let me try and explain to you the above definition through an example

"Let's go dig up some bodies", Tom said gravely.

So the speaker here is Tom (which is a must in Tom Swifties, by the way)

content of speaker's statement : "Let's go dig up some bodies"

verb : said

adverb : gravely

punning relationship : gravely is punnily related to dead bodies right ?

So much for technical definition of things , but Tom Swifties are basically the easiest Puns to understand any day. As they follow a rule and that too a

well defined one. So you know where to look for the Pun. Let me take some other Examples

``I've struck oil,'' Tom said crudely. (Crude Oil right ?)

"There's room for one more," Tom admitted. (Admit as in let in ... Admit as in confess)

"I still haven't struck oil," said Tom boringly. (Bore as in dig ... Bore as in not interesting)

"I won't play for this team any longer, " Tom decided. (not playing for the team = de-sided)

"I only have diamonds, clubs and spades," said Tom heartlessly. (heartlessly as in loosing hearts , heartlessly as in...