The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 13.1884  Thursday, 12 September 2002

[1]     From:   Bruce Young <
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        Date:   Wednesday, 11 Sep 2002 09:30:30 -0600
        Subj:   Re: SHK 13.1882 T&C Textual Question

[2]     From:   W. L. Godshalk <
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        Date:   Wednesday, 11 Sep 2002 13:37:28 -0400
        Subj:   Re: SHK 13.1882 T&C Textual Question

[3]     From:   Jennifer Formichelli <
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        Date:   Thursday, 12 Sep 2002 10:37:05 +0100
        Subj:   Re: SHK 13.1882 T&C Textual Question


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Bruce Young <
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Date:           Wednesday, 11 Sep 2002 09:30:30 -0600
Subject: 13.1882 T&C Textual Question
Comment:        Re: SHK 13.1882 T&C Textual Question

Chris Stroffolino asks (concerning "he would pun thee into shivers with
his fist," T&C 2.1.40) if "pun" "doesn't . . .  mean PUN! the fatal
Cleopatra, etc...."

Probably not.  According to the OED, "pun" in the sense of "play on
words" "Appears first . . . soon after 1660."  "Pun [in this sense] was
prob. one of the clipped words, such as cit, mob, nob, snob, which came
into fashionable slang at or after the Restoration," whereas "pun" as a
variation of "pound" dates back to at least the mid-1500s.

Bruce Young

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           W. L. Godshalk <
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Date:           Wednesday, 11 Sep 2002 13:37:28 -0400
Subject: 13.1882 T&C Textual Question
Comment:        Re: SHK 13.1882 T&C Textual Question

Bevington in his recent Arden edition (2.1.37) agrees with Palmer.
Pun=pound (dialectic). The OED gives us reason to believe that pun (as a
play on words) comes later in the 17th century. But maybe this is an
early use?

Yours,
Bill Godshalk

[3]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Jennifer Formichelli <
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Date:           Thursday, 12 Sep 2002 10:37:05 +0100
Subject: 13.1882 T&C Textual Question
Comment:        Re: SHK 13.1882 T&C Textual Question

Dear Chris,

I am afraid history tells against your interpretation of 'pun'. I
checked the OED quickly and the first sense of 'pun' is pound in various
senses: that's 1559. The sense of 'pun' as play on words does not come
in until 1670, much too late, I am afraid, for Troilus and Cressida.
(Also, the sense of the sentence is very much 'pound' since fist is the
substantive; can't see any pun in that myself.) If you want to check
this yourself, you can access OED online so long as your university is a
subscriber.

The Arden usually list OED definitions.

Yours, Jennifer

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