PUNNING

I have several friends addicted to punning. For me, though I appreciate this ability, I have enough trouble using the tried and true construct of the English language without adding a new one.

However, if you are one of those grammatical geniuses who can fish out a pun on a moment's notice, pull up "Pun for the Ages" by Joseph Tartakovsky, a student at Fordham Law School, in The New York Times, March 28, OP-ED page. The writer says, "nothing vexes so much as a pun on a name. Yet even these can rise to wit if turned with finesse." He gives this example:

Jean Harlow the platinum-blond star of the 1930s, on being introduced to Lady Margot Asquith, mispronounced her given name to rhyme with "rot." "My dear, the 't' is silent," said Asquith "as in Harlow."

I have the feeling that Harlow did not let this "pun" get by her. I would have liked to hear her response.