Humanities

Pun Masters Compete At The O. Henry Pun-Off World Championship

A pun is a clever play on words. We'd try to jot one down here, but we just can't get it write... If that (hilarious!) joke made sense to you, congratulations, you understand the art of pun writing. If you're skilled enough at creating them yourself, you might wind up at the O. Henry Pun-Off World Championship. This annual spoken word competition is held every May in Austin, Texas, and it's reserved for the funniest of the punny. Do you have what it takes?

The pun-off isn't called O. Henry for nothing. William Sydney Porter, also known as O. Henry, was a short story writer known for his wit and wordplay. Porter was born on September 11, 1862 in North Carolina, but later in life became an Austin citizen. The competition honors the writer, as well as punny hopefuls looking for a little bit of fame. Hear real puns from the pun-off in the video below.