science

Visual pun

Visual pun is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Visual pun rather than just read about it. In short: A visual pun is a pun involving an image or images (in addition to or instead of language), often based on a rebus. Visual puns in which the image is at odds with the inscription are common in cartoons such as Lost Consonants or The Far Side as well as in Dutch gable stones.

Key takeaways

Visual pun belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Visual pun to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Visual pun from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A visual pun is a pun involving an image or images (in addition to or instead of language), often based on a rebus. Visual puns in which the image is at odds with the inscription are common in cartoons such as Lost Consonants or The Far Side as well as in Dutch gable stones. For instance, a gable stone in the village of Batenburg puns on the words baten ('to profit') and burg ('castle') by depicting silver coins becoming gold in a castle. European heraldry contains the technique of canting arms, which can be considered punning.

In heraldry

Visual puns on the bearer's name are used extensively as forms of heraldic expression. These are called canting arms. They have been used for centuries across Europe and have also been used recently by members of the British royal family, such as on the arms of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and of Princess Beatrice of York. The arms of U.S. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower are also canting.

In visual arts Surrealist artists such as Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Marcel Duchamp, and Remedios Varo made extensive use of visual puns, as they played with shifting perceptions and reality. Graphic artists (such as Maurits Cornelis Escher and Noma Bar) and photographers (such as Man Ray and Dora Maar) have used visual puns for a surreal or humorous effect, or to catch the attention of a viewer. Some types of optical illusions also operate within the liminal zones of perception.

Gallery

See also Japanese rebus monogram Slapstick

Further reading Christian Hempelmann and Andrea C. Samson. “Visual Puns and Verbal Puns: Descriptive Analogy or False Analogy?” In: Diana Popa and Salvatore Attardo (Eds.), “New Approaches to the Linguistics of Humor.” Galati: Dunarea de Jos. 2007. 180-196. Heller, Steven (12 April 2012). "The Object Poster, the Visual Pun, and 3 Other Ideas That Changed Design". The Atlantic. Retrieved 10 March 2018. Shnidman, Ronen (8 February 2012). "Dror Karta's Play With Visual Pun". Algemeiner Journal. Retrieved 10 March 2018. Mendoza, Manuel (28 January 2017). "Bridgman|Packer creates visual puns, evokes sensuous mystery by blending dance with video imagery". Dallas News. Retrieved 10 March 2018. Mufson, Beckett (21 December 2015). "Korean Artist Makes Visual Puns from Pop Culture". Creators. Vice Media LLC. Retrieved 10 March 2018. Wilson, P.F. (25 January 2016). "Can you guess Matthew Broussard's visual puns?". City Pages. Retrieved 10 March 2018. Boyd, Chris (18 January 2018). "La Vie Dans Une Marionette: visual puns, no strings attached". The Australian. Retrieved 10 March 2018. Abed, Farough (March 1994). "Visual Puns as Interactive Illustrations: Their Effects on Recognition Memory". Metaphor and Symbolic Activity. 9 (1): 45–60. doi:10.1207/s15327868ms0901_3.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Visual pun

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Visual pun claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Visual pun before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Visual pun ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Visual pun

In research: Visual pun appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Visual pun in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Visual pun is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Comedy stubs, Humour, Puns, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Visual pun outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Visual pun in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Visual pun means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Visual pun out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Visual pun in simple terms?

Why does Visual pun matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Visual pun?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Visual pun.