Web Exercise #2

What’s In A Word?

            Hopefully a joke if you do this exercise right! 

Before going into Exercise #2 let’s look at the following joke:

            Lawyer: A person who writes a 10,000 word document and calls it a brief.

This is what could be called a definition joke.  It defines what you are talking about – in this case lawyers.  And hopefully it is funny, which is what makes it a joke.  Bob Hope used this type of joke frequently when he visited our troops overseas:  ‘I arrived here by jeep.  You know what a jeep is?  That’s a New York cab that’s been drafted.’ 

But more importantly, it’s a good, concise line, which is important in comedy.  Think about some of your favorite jokes.  Notice how clear the line is.  Let’s look at a line by Henny Youngman.  You know which one, the classic: Take my wife…please.  He makes this joke work with only a few words.  He doesn’t need to explain to you what kind of woman his wife is, how long they have been married, or anything else.  He may do that with other jokes either before or after, but this line stands on its own.  It just wouldn’t have the same impact if you added to it.

And that’s what we’d like to work on with this exercise.  Listed below are 25 everyday, common words.  Your job is to simply write a definition for each word…a humorous definition, or course.  We’ll leave the straight forward, legitimate defining to Mr. Webster.  From you we want funny.

            Generate a humorous statement defining each word listed below.  

Wallet

Teacher

Chocolate

Ambulance

Elephant

Computer

Mother’s Day

Homework

Bridesmaid

Penny

Cactus

Snowman

Brick

Answering Machine

Clock

Lemonade

Party

Crab

Broom

Mailbox

Ketchup

Peanut Butter

Pillow

Rug

Lawyer (let’s see if you can come up with an even better line that the one we gave you)

            There are two reasons behind this exercise.  The first is in order to define the word, you have to really focus in on it.  You have to look at it from all different angles and consider different meanings.  Take each word above and pull it apart.  Find different meanings.  Don’t just go for the obvious.  For example, a rug can be a floor covering…or it could be what a man uses to hide a bald spot.  So focus in on your word to find the humor in it.

The second reason is that to truly define the word so your audience knows what you are talking about, you have to be concise.  You can’t be vague.  Your writing needs to get to the point and convey the message you want to say without using unnecessary words. 

Have fun with this exercise.  Keep it handy and come up some words and definitions on your own.