According to The Oxford English Dictionary (1989:832), pun is defined as “the use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more meanings or different associations, or the use of two or more words of the same or nearly the same sound with different meanings, so as to produce a humorous effect。”

The Collins English Dictionary (2008:1164) provides another definition of puns as “a clever and amusing use of a word or phrase with two meanings, or of words with the same sound but different meanings。” 

All these different definitions share some common characteristics。 That is, puns attach importance to the role of words presenting at least two-fold meanings。 As a figure of speech, puns are used in English advertisements to exert some rhetorical effects, which can make a deep impression on customers。 Therefore, the second definition is more comprehensive and suitable。 

2。2 Puns in English Advertisements

The main purpose of advertising is to attract the attention of consumers and arouse their interest in the products。 By using language creatively in advertising, it is quite easy to grasp people's attention。 The description of some important characteristics of products gives a deep impression on the consumers。 In order to get better sales as expected, the designers of advertising slogans often use rhetorical devices to enhance the role of advertising language。

Puns are common forms of English rhetoric。 Puns using homonyms or homographs enable a word, a phrase or a sentence to have two relevant but different meanings at the same time。 One is the surface meaning, the other is the implied meaning。 

Puns, with the beautiful language and artistic values, are often full of wisdom and can add to the charm of advertisements and attract readers magically。 Puns are favored by advertising designers to create good advertising to attract the readers’ attention and interest and leave a deep impression on readers。 来.自^优+尔-论,文:网www.youerw.com +QQ752018766-

In addition, it has noted that due to lack of trust and social cooperation, advertising designers often face communication problems with readers。 Using puns in English advertisements is an effective way to strengthen communication with readers。

2。3 Categorization of Puns in English Advertisements

As mentioned above, it’s known that puns are widely used in English advertisements。 And the most frequently used types of puns in English ads include homophonic puns, homographic puns and polysemy puns。 In the following part, some specific examples are presented to illustrate how these types of puns are applied in advertising。