Witzelsucht - as heard on NPR's Wait Wait Dont Tell Me

[Thighbootguy]

Witzelsucht (from the German witzeln, meaning to joke or wisecrack, and sucht, meaning addiction or yearning)

This is a rare neurological symptoms characterized by a tendency to make puns, or tell inappropriate jokes or pointless stories in socially inappropriate situations.  Somehow it seemed an appropriate discussion topic for this forum. 

I have a dear cousin in Florida (whom I suspect is a Witzelsucht sufferer) who sent me the following list as evidence:

1. Two vultures board an airplane, each carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at them and says, "I'm sorry, gentlemen, only one carrion allowed per passenger."
2. Did you hear that NASA recently put a bunch of Holsteins into low earth orbit? They called it the herd shot 'round the world.
3. Two boll weevils grew up in South Carolina. One went to Hollywood and became a famous actor. The other stayed behind in the cotton fields and never amounted to much. The second one, naturally, became known as the lesser of two weevils.
4. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, but when they lit a fire in the craft, it sank proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it, too.
5. A three legged dog walks into a saloon in the Old West. He slides up to the bar and announces: "I'm looking for the man who shot my paw."
6. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? He wanted to transcend dental medication.
7. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why?" they asked, as they moved off. "Because,"  he said, "I can't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer."
8. A woman has twins, and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt and is named "Amal." The other goes to a family in Spain; they name him "Juan." Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Amal. Her husband responds, "They're twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Amal."
9. Three friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened up a  small florist shop to raise funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, a rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair. He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him. So, the rival florist hired Hugh MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town to "persuade" them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close up shop. Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that: Hugh, and only Hugh, can prevent florist friars.
10. And finally, There was a man who sent ten different puns to friends, in the hope that at least  one of the puns would make them laugh. Unfortunately, no pun in ten did.

 

A word of caution:  If you tell puns, do it the same way you wear heels, with confidence.  Failure to do so will lead to public ridicule with people pointing and making rude remarks.

[Thighbootguy]

My favorite is number 9.  I set it to music: Fryar's Song

[Bubba136]

My, TBG, even after almost 4'000 posts, I had no Idea that you were so witty.

[HappyinHeels]

TBG has been on a different level for some time now . You have taken a stride and given us a ride on your run of a  pun. I do not like flat shoes nor hitting a moose no way no heel is no deal for me. Back to my heels I go, in inches I dream 5  then 6 then 7 or more while I think about the next trip to the store! HappyinHeels

[Thighbootguy]

I was going through an old image library and came across this image which I thought was a perfect addition to this thread.

[Shyheels]

Love the puns. I liked number seven, and having nit long ago endured root canal appreciated the humour of number six