On Puns

For those who know me, you will know that I like puns. I like to say I’m a punny guy.

But it occurred to me the other day that puns — in a strange way — indicate to us the singularity of the Divine. They show us that the distinctions and multiplicity we construct via language — our most fundamental tool of conceptual differentiation — are, ultimately, arbitrary and illusory.

Language is a divine gift. Thus, words all come from one singular source. They are expressions and indications of the meaning we perceive in the world; and all meaning traces back to the Divine Names and therefore back to Him — The One. Hence, the seemingly disparate “meaning”s of this world are subtly connected. Language attempts to elide those connections. Puns unveil them.

On that note, below is one of my favorite puns that I made in high-school:

“Why isn’t 50 cent a scientist?… Because he can’t work with a pair-of-dimes.”