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:
Writers Resources :: Arts
Wordplay :: Humor

Chiasmus.com - The definitive website on chiasmus and chiastic quotations. Dedicated to making chiasmus a household word.
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Oxymoronica.com - Dedicated to the oxymoron and the paradox in intellectual and literary history. Plenty of examples provided in quotations, titles, and a table of phrases.
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