What's your biggest PET PEEVE?

This is the cover page of amNewYork on May 29. Do you see the PUN in this headline?
Would you get PEEVED if your neighbors kept snakes, rooster, or pigs at home? 

Last weekend, I blogged about PUNS, and at the end of that lesson, I mentioned that PUNS come up in conversation EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, sometimes unexpectedly, and that they're everywhere, especially in ads and newspaper headlines. I also said that we'd keep an ear or eye out for them, so we could share them with you here. Well, here's one from the cover story of a local paper here in New York City. This article is about exotic and illegally kept animals in New York City. Snakes, roosters, alligators, tigers, et al., all kept as pets. If you know the meaning of PET PEEVE, you'll quickly figure out the PUN. If you don't know what PET PEEVE means, well, keep reading; this is the topic of this lesson.

EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE (now and then; sometimes)

KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR (watch out for)

A PET PEEVE is something that angers or annoys you every time you encounter it. To be PEEVED means to get angry. You can say, "I was so PEEVED at what they did that I left the party." This use of PEEVE is not as common because there are other ways of saying I'm angry--I am upset; I am mad; I'm pissed; I'm ticked off; I'm annoyed. PEEVE is more often used as part of the phrase PET PEEVE. We say, "that's a PET PEEVE of mine" to talk about something that angers us every time we witness or come across it.

No PUN intended.

Do you notice ads & signs on the subway? They could be unexpected English lessons!

Have you seen this ad on the New York City subway? It's actually a good example of a PUN or A PLAY ON WORDS. You've probably heard someone say, "NO PUN INTENDED" and sometimes the person smiles as if he or she has just said something amusing. Do you know what this means? 

Well, PUNS are usually clever ways of using words so that a word has two purposes in the sentence. One purpose has to do with what the sentence is saying or the meaning of the word in the sentence. The word LAND in the ad means to get or acquire something. For example, you can LAND the perfect job or LAND an exciting assignment in your company--perhaps one that lets you travel to an exciting destination. Journalists try to LAND interviews with famous people. Similarly, if you're applying for a job, you'd be thrilled if you LANDED a job interview at the company where you'd most like to work.

The second purpose of a PUN usually has to do with the topic or the sound of the word. This is usually what makes the use of the word clever, amusing, and often funny. The word LAND in the ad, for example, is purposely used here to cleverly refer to airplanes since the ad is for an airline. The writer of this ad could have used another verb. He or she could've said BUY or SECURE or SNAG (grab quickly) the perfect flight. Instead, he or she uses LAND specifically because the ad is for an airline, and LAND is what airplanes do. :-) Get it?

A Stone's Throw Away

A stone's throwaway in Brooklyn at just A STONE'S THROW AWAY.

I took a picture of this paper's front-page when I noticed the idiom on it. Do you know what A STONE'S THROW AWAY means? Basically, if something is A STONE'S THROW AWAY, it means it is not very far. For example, you can say "There's a nice park just A STONE'S THROW AWAY from my house." You're basically saying that there's a park not very far from your house.

The exact distance, of course, is relative and depends on what you consider close or near. In other words, you can say that New Jersey is just A STONE'S THROW AWAY from Manhattan so you may consider living there while you work or go to school in Manhattan. However, if you live in New York, you probably won't go to New Jersey to buy groceries; it's too far. You'd probably go to a store that's just A STONE'S THROW AWAY from your home or your job. You get the picture, right?

[GET THE PICTURE - understand]