The second feature is to pay more attention to ideological content of the pun rather than simply pursue wit and subtlety. In most time, using pun is related with the specific context. So we must understand the meaning of pun according to the context and focus on content that pun conveys. And usually, pun has a dual context. That is, the sender and the recipient of the information are in different contexts. It also requires us to focus on the content to get right information.

2.3 Functions of Puns

After talking about the features of puns, the functions of pun will be explored as follows. First, puns can be concise. From the definition of puns, it is easy to find that puns often use the polysemy and homophone of words to express dual even more meaning. So people can only use one word to express their literal and implied meaning. It avoids the use of verbose sentences so that make communication more efficient.

Second, puns can be humorous. It is not difficult to understand. Because in English pronunciation of many words sounds the same as each other. In daily life, when people have a communication, one person might say a word that the pronunciation is the same as another one, so the other one understands wrongly. For example, “I” and “eye”, the pronunciation is the same, so it often gives rise to misunderstanding.

Third, puns can be euphemistic. There are certain similar phenomena in the sound and shape of the words, which makes the implied meaning of the words hidden in the surface sense. For example, your opinion is totally sound, sound but nothing (你的观点掷地有声，但也只有声音而已). The word “sound” has two kinds of meaning in this sentence. One is to describe opinion or argument is right, the other is the noun of voice. So in this way, the speaker criticized the arguer euphemistically.

2.4 Classification and Application of Puns

In this part, the specific classification and application of puns in English advertisement from examples will be introduced. Three kinds of puns will be mainly focused on including phonetic pun, semantic pun, and grammatical pun. The function of pun in English advertisements will  be discussed in terms of three forms of pun.

2.4.1 Phonetic Pun

Phonetic pun refers to words which have the same or familiar pronunciation but different meanings and forms. This kind of pun is very common in advertising slogans, magazines and street signs. Because its language style is humorous and funny, it plays a very crucial role in increasing the persuasiveness and appeal of advertisements so that can impress people. There are some examples about phonetic pun of the application in English advertisements.

Example 1:

Have a nice trip, Buy-Buy! (Net.1)

玩得高兴，再会（买买）！

Example 1 is a typical phonetic pun. It is an advertising slogan of duty-free shop in London Heathrow Airport. It cleverly uses the same pronunciation of “buy” and “bye” to attract customers. It sounds like saying goodbye to visitors, but actually asks visitors to go to the store to buy goods. So the sentence has two kings of meaning. And it makes the language more subtle and humorous.

What is more, the language produces a phonological beauty that impresses travelers.