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The importance of wordplay
Utilize American culture as examples
Introduction
Have you ever been amazed by wordplays in Chinese? Then have you been stunned
by those in English? One must bear sufficient background knowledge of a language to
grasp the scheme of an exquisitely composed wordplay. As language is related to
culture, consequently, it appears to be a way that people appreciate the charisma of
English and have a further insight into American culture. Many medium and teaching
institutions like Tsing Hua, Brown universities even reckon wordplay an indispensable
part of a language, they respectively publish articles and give lectures about the
importance of it. This research is discussing the importance of wordplay by using
examples of American culture to support the idea. Thus, to raise readers’ awareness by
mentioning wordplay’s value and connection and to promote the benefit of learning it.
Background
Languages were developed for communication. Humans created new signs and
symbols to make a better understanding of one another, and the artistic values in
language were discovered after humans met the needs of survival. As a result, people
put creativity in language and regard it not only as a communication media but also as
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entertainment. That renders wordplay significant because of the cultural meaning it
bears and representing the intelligence ancestors passed down.
Owing to different purposes, content, and construction of wordplay, they are
generally categorized into puns, phonetic mix-ups like spoonerisms, obscure words,
and meanings, clever rhetorical excursions, oddly formed sentences, double entendre,
and telling character names, etc. And a smart wordplay is considered as a display of the
wits of the language user, that is, a writer has enough knowledge of a language, he or
she might widely apply such composition to express and extend the implicated meaning.
Functions and examples
