instance_of pun
Dogberry is a ___MASK46___ created by William Shakespeare for his ___MASK10___ , " Much Ado About Nothing ". He is described by The Nuttall Encyclopædia as a " self - satisfied night constable " with an inflated view of his own importance as the leader of a group of comically bumbling police watchmen . Dogberry is notable for his numerous malapropisms , which sometimes are referred to as " dogberryisms " after him . The Dogberry ___MASK46___ was created for William Kempe , who played comic roles in Shakespeare ' s theatre company the Lord Chamberlain ' s Men . The ___MASK39___ , also called paronomasia , is a form of word ___MASK10___ that suggests two or more meanings , by exploiting multiple meanings of words , or of similar - sounding words , for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect . These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophonic , homographic , metonymic , or figurative language . A ___MASK39___ differs from a malapropism in that a malapropism is an incorrect variation on a correct expression , while a ___MASK39___ involves expressions with multiple correct interpretations . Puns may be regarded as in - jokes or idiomatic constructions , as their usage and meaning are specific to a particular language and its culture . Puns have a long history in human writing . Sumerian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs were originally based on punning systems , and the Roman playwright Plautus was famous for his puns and word games . Punning has been credited as the fundamental concept behind alphabets , writing , and even human civilization . ___MASK62___ ___MASK10___ or wordplay ( also : ___MASK10___ - on - words ) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which the words that are used become the main subject of the work , primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement . Examples of word ___MASK10___ include puns , phonetic mix - ups such as spoonerisms , obscure words and meanings , clever rhetorical excursions , oddly formed sentences , double entendres , and telling character names ( such as in the ___MASK10___ " The Importance of Being Earnest ", " Ernest " being a given name that sounds exactly like the adjective " earnest "). The Importance of Being Earnest , A Trivial ___MASK81___ for Serious ___MASK95___ is a ___MASK10___ by Oscar Wilde . First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James ' s Theatre in London , it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personæ to escape burdensome social obligations . Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London , the ___MASK10___ ' s major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage , and the resulting satire of Victorian ways . Contemporary reviews all praised the ___MASK10___ ' s humour , though some were cautious about its explicit lack of social messages , while others foresaw the modern consensus that it was the culmination of Wilde ' s artistic career so far . Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make " The Importance of Being Earnest " Wilde ' s most enduringly popular ___MASK10___ . Wit is a form of intelligent ___MASK54___ , the ability to say or write things that are clever and usually funny . A wit is a person skilled at making clever and funny remarks . Forms of wit include the quip and repartee . A spoonerism is an ___MASK41___ in ___MASK100___ or deliberate ___MASK10___ on words in which corresponding consonants , vowels , or morphemes are switched ( see metathesis ) between two words in a phrase . These are named after pastor William Archibald Spooner , who was famous for doing this . A malapropism ( also called a malaprop or Dogberryism ) is the use of an incorrect ___MASK62___ in place of a ___MASK62___ with a similar ___MASK22___ , resulting in a nonsensical , often humorous utterance . An example is the statement by baseball player Yogi Berra , " Texas has a lot of electrical votes ", rather than " electoral votes ". Malapropisms also occur as errors in natural speech and are often the subject of media attention , especially when made by politicians or other prominent individuals . Philosopher Donald Davidson has noted that malapropisms show the complex process through which the brain translates thoughts into language . Lawrence Peter " Yogi " Berra ( ___MASK97___ 12 , 1925  ___MASK34___ 22 , 2015 ) was an American professional baseball catcher , manager , and coach who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball ( MLB ) ( 1946  63 , 1965 ) ( all but the last for the New York Yankees ). He was an 18 - ___MASK28___ All - Star , and won 10 World Series championships as a player  more than any other player in MLB ___MASK11___ . Berra had a career batting average of . 285 , while compiling 358 home runs and 1 , 430 runs batted in . He is one of only five players to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award three times . He is widely regarded as one of the greatest catchers in baseball ___MASK11___ , and was elected to the Baseball ___MASK74___ of Fame in 1972 . A double entendre is a ___MASK38___ or a particular way of wording that is devised to be understood in either of two ways , having a double meaning . Typically one of the meanings is obvious , given the context whereas the other may require more thought . The innuendo may convey a message that would be socially awkward , sexually suggestive , or offensive to state directly ( the " Oxford English Dictionary " describes a double entendre as being used to " convey an indelicate meaning ", whilst Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines it as " a word or phrase that may be understood in two different ways , one of which is often sexual "). ___MASK13___ is the art of discourse , wherein a writer or ___MASK96___ strives to inform , persuade or motivate particular audiences in specific situations . As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice , rhetoric has played a central role in the European tradition . Its best known definition comes from Aristotle , who considers it a counterpart of both logic and politics , and calls it " the ___MASK71___ of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion ." ___MASK13___ typically provides heuristics for understanding , discovering , and developing arguments for particular situations , such as Aristotle ' s three persuasive audience appeals , logos , pathos , and ethos . The five canons of rhetoric , which trace the traditional tasks in designing a persuasive speech , were first codified in classical Rome : invention , arrangement , style , memory , and ___MASK6___ . Along with grammar and logic ( or dialectic  see Martianus Capella ), rhetoric is one of the three ancient arts of discourse . Texas is the second largest ___MASK24___ in the United States by both area and ___MASK59___ . Geographically located in the south central part of the country , Texas shares borders with the U . S . states of Louisiana to the east , Arkansas to the northeast , Oklahoma to the north , New Mexico to the west , and the Mexican states of Chihuahua , Coahuila , Nuevo León , and Tamaulipas to the southwest , while the Gulf of Mexico is to the southeast . A ___MASK19___ ( also known as a personal ___MASK47___ , Christian ___MASK47___ , first ___MASK47___ , or forename ) is a part of a person ' s full nomenclature . It identifies a specific person , and differentiates that person from other members of a group , such as a family or clan , with whom that person shares a common surname . The term " ___MASK19___ " refers to the fact that the ___MASK47___ usually is " bestowed " upon a person , normally " given " to a child by its parents at or near the ___MASK28___ of birth . This contrasts with a surname ( also known as a family ___MASK47___ , last ___MASK47___ , or gentile ___MASK47___ ), which is normally inherited , and shared with other members of the child ' s immediate family . In spoken ___MASK69___ analysis an utterance is a smallest unit of speech . It is a continuous piece of speech beginning and ending with a clear pause . In the case of oral languages , it is generally but not always bounded by silence . Utterances do not exist in ___MASK30___ , only their representations do . They can be represented and delineated in ___MASK30___ in many ways . Amusement is the ___MASK24___ of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or animal actively maintains the experience , and is associated with enjoyment , happiness , laughter and ___MASK65___ .