https://wiki.tachyony.co.uk/w/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=96.242.80.190 2026-07-09T04:13:07Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.44.0 https://wiki.tachyony.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Daffynition&diff=17848 2025-02-28T13:32:40Z

<p>96.242.80.190: /* Examples */</p> <hr /> <div>{{Short description|Form of humour}}<br /> {{ref improve|date=May 2012}}<br /> <br /> A '''daffynition''' (a [[portmanteau]] blend of ''[[wikt:daffy|daffy]]'' and ''[[definition]]'') is a form of [[pun]] involving the reinterpretation of an existing word, on the basis that it sounds like another word (or group of words). Presented in the form of dictionary definitions, they are similar to [[transpositional puns]], but often much less complex and easier to create.<br /> <br /> Under the name '''Uxbridge English Dictionary''', making up daffynitions is a popular game on the [[BBC Radio 4]] [[comedy]] [[quiz show]] ''[[I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue]]''.<br /> <br /> A lesser-known subclass of daffynition is the ''goofinition'', which relies strictly on literal associations and correct spellings, such as &quot;lobster = a weak tennis player&quot;. This play on words is similar to [[Cockney rhyming slang]].<br /> <br /> ==Examples==<br /> &lt;!-- Please do not add any more examples to this section, as it is large enough as it is. Wikipedia is not Wiktionary or Wikisaurus, and this page need not attempt to cover every example that exists. Thank you. --&gt;<br /> <br /> *[[Wiktionary:acrostic|acrostic]]: An angry bloodsucking arachnid. (a-cross-tick)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:American|American]]: A happy cylindrical food container. (a-merry-can)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:apéritif|apéritif]]: A set of dentures. (a-pair-of-teeth)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:avoidable|avoidable]]: What a [[bullfighter]] tries to do. (avoid-a-bull)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:buccaneer|buccaneer]]: too much to pay for corn ([a]-buck-an-ear)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:dandelion|dandelion]]: A fashionably dressed big cat (dandy-lion)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:decadent|decadent]]: Possessing only ten teeth. (deca-dent)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:denial|denial]]: A river in [[Egypt]]. (the-[[Nile]])<br /> *[[Wiktionary:devastation|devastation]]: Where people wait for buses. (the-bus-station)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:dilate|dilate]]: live long (die-late)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:euthanasia|euthanasia]]: Teenagers in the world's largest continent. (youth-in-[[Asia]])<br /> *[[Wiktionary:fortunate|fortunate]]: Consumption of an expensive meal. (fortune-ate)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:impolite|impolite]]: A flaming goblin. (imp-alight)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:indistinct|indistinct]]: where one places dirty dishes (in-the-sink)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:information|information]]: how geese fly (in-formation)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:innuendoes|innuendoes]]: Italian suppositories. ({{not a typo|in-you-end-os}})<br /> *[[Wiktionary:insolent|insolent]]: Fallen off the [[Isle of Wight]] [[Isle of Wight ferry services|ferry]]. (in-[[Solent]])<br /> *[[Wiktionary:isolate|isolate]]: Me not on time. (I-(am)-so-late)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:laburnum|laburnum]]: French for barbecue. (la-burn-em)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:legend|legend]]: A foot. (leg-end)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:oboe|oboe]]: A French [[tramp]]. (hobo)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:paradox|paradox]]: Two doctors. (pair-of-docs) or where one ties two boats. (Pair of docks)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:pasteurize|pasteurise]]: Too far to see. ({{not a typo|past-your-eyes}})<br /> *[[Wiktionary:protein|protein]]: In favour of youth. (pro-teen)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:propaganda|propaganda]]: A gentlemanly [[goose]]. (proper-[[goose#Etymology|gander]]) or to look at something very carefully (proper-gander, where gander is slang for looking)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:recycle|recycle]]: To repair a bicycle, or obtain a replacement bicycle. (re-cycle)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:relief|relief]]: What trees do in Spring. (re-leaf)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:spaceman|specimen]]: An Italian astronaut. (spaceman)<br /> *[[Wiktionary:symmetry|symmetry]]: A South African or New Zealand graveyard. (cemetery)<br /> <br /> ==See also==<br /> * [[Sniglet]]<br /> * ''[[The Meaning of Liff]]''<br /> * ''[[The Devil's Dictionary]]''<br /> <br /> ==External links==<br /> {{wiktionary}}<br /> * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070706013031/http://www.odford.co.uk/ The Odford English Dictionary (Daffynitions)]<br /> * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090602021141/http://www.melrosebooks.com/bookDetails.php?id=151 Fuller's Dictionary of Daffynitions]<br /> <br /> [[Category:Puns]]</div>

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