Word play is a literary technique in which the nature of the words used themselves become part of the subject of the work. Puns, phonetic mixups such as spoonerisms, obscure words and meanings, clever rhetorical excursions, oddly formed sentences, and telling character names are common examples of word play.

All writers engage in word play to some extent, but certain writers are particularly adept or committed to word play. Shakespeare was a noted punster. James Joyce--whose Ulysses, and even more so, his Finnegans Wake, are filled with brilliant writing and brilliant word play--is another noted word-player. For example, Joyce's phrase "they were yung and easily freudened" clearly conveys the meaning "young and easily frightened", but it also makes puns on the names of two famous psychoanalysts, Jung and Freud.

Other writers closely identified with word play include:

• Lewis Carroll in his Alice books
• Willard R. Espy, who collected several anthologies of word play
• Vladimir Nabokov
• George Bernard Shaw. The well-known spelling of fish as ghoti comes from Shaw: " gh as in tough, o as in women, ti as in station".
• Van Dyke Parks
• Thomas Pynchon

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Wordplay - Twitter Search

"Wassup Buzzin Buzzin, #Birds Flip A Dozen Dozen, Holla @ Ya Boy-Boy, U Thought Ya Cousin Wasn't?" Damn I Miss Cam's #Wordplay :-/
DJ_Alcide (Cory *DJ* Alcide) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:22:45 -0000
"Wassup Buzzin Buzzin, #Birds Flip A Dozen Dozen, Holla @ Ya Boy-Boy, U Thought Ya Cousin Wasn't?" Damn I Miss Cam's #Wordplay :-/
So sit and analyze the lyrical spray, Cuz all it really is is #wordplay
KRiz53 (Kyle Risby) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:13:38 -0000
So sit and analyze the lyrical spray, Cuz all it really is is #wordplay
All dis really is is #wordplay Knowledge. When the mind accept facts On this plane of livin, knowledge be the key, black!
KRiz53 (Kyle Risby) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:57:18 -0000
All dis really is is #wordplay Knowledge. When the mind accept facts On this plane of livin, knowledge be the key, black!
Good Wordplay all round tonight, but quietly relieved to have been beaten the snowfall back to Archway.
chrissywilliams (chrissywilliams) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:26:38 -0000
Good Wordplay all round tonight, but quietly relieved to have been beaten the snowfall back to Archway.
@abstraktmind idk .. i think his wordplay lacked .. the beat didn't wow me .. and I was just over it lol
CleoSunshine (Cleo) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:27:54 -0000
@abstraktmind idk .. i think his wordplay lacked .. the beat didn't wow me .. and I was just over it lol
This is what happens when you fall asleep listening to ISIHAC... Your entire dream pivots on some silly wordplay
danielpwright (Daniel P. Wright) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:10:15 -0000
This is what happens when you fall asleep listening to ISIHAC... Your entire dream pivots on some silly wordplay

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