Chock-full of jokes and entertaining twists of the tongue, thislighthearted but scholarly guide to humorous language isa sure?re hit with word lovers. The examples are entertaininglybawdy, with a delightful narrative voice in word sleuth and author, Jim Bernhard. He provides examples and puzzles, teaching asmidgen of historical and etymological scholarship, but above all,amusing his audience.<br /><br />Puns from Greek dramatists, Shakespeare, the Bible, GeorgeS. Kaufman, and Groucho Marx vie for attention with comicalspoonerisms, droll malapropisms, witty anagrams, and humorouspalindromes-plus original material by the author-including limericks, clerihews, crossword puzzles, acrostic puzzles, tonguetwisters, and other kinds of word play. Some examples:<br /><ul> <li> <em>Why does a match box? Because it sees a tin can. </em></li> <li><em> Time ?ies like an arrow. Fruit ?ies like a banana. </em></li> <li><em> The pony was unable to talk because he was a little hoarse. </em></li> <li><em> Two peanuts went into a bar. One was a salted. </em></li> <li><em> The chicken that crossed the road was pure poultry in motion. </em></li> <li><em> As the gardener said when asked why he was cutting grass with a pair of scissors: "That's all there is; there isn't any mower." </em></li></ul>