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Pun-ishing Idioms
Idioms are groups of words with a meaning different from their literal definition. So, once you understand the figurative meaning of an idiom, you can use them literally to create ridiculous puns:
People who bite their own toenails really put their foot in their mouth.
After striking the iceberg, the passengers on the Titanic got a sinking feeling.
Hiring a new administrator for the logging camp was a run-of-the-mill decision.
After having a bowel resection, the man said, "I'll never have the guts to do that again."
The astronauts on a spacewalk were running on empty.
Your Turn Check out the following idioms, and if any are unfamiliar, look them up in Write for College or online. Pick out four or more idioms from this list (or others that you find) and write a pun for each one, using the idiom in a literal way.
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across the board back to the drawing board ballpark estimate brain drain budget crunch come up short cut to the chase drop the ball easy come, easy go |
get the upper hand go down swinging hot-button issue in black and white in the red keep it under your hat knuckle down lend a hand look high and low |
on a roll over and above play it by ear read between the lines reinvent the wheel save face shake a leg sight unseen word of mouth |
Pun-ishing Idioms by Thoughtful Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at k12.thoughtfullearning.com/minilesson/pun-ishing-idioms.