Exercices C2 : les jeux de mots en anglais (corrigé)

Ces exercices vous permettent de mettre en pratique les mécanismes des jeux de mots anglais (puns) vus dans le cours. Testez votre compréhension de l’humour anglophone et affinez votre maîtrise du double sens.

→ Voir le cours : Les jeux de mots en anglais : cours complet

Exercice 1 — Identifier le mécanisme du jeu de mots

Pour chaque pun, choisissez l'explication qui décrit le mieux le mécanisme humoristique à l'œuvre.

1. "I used to be a banker, but I lost interest." Why is this sentence considered a pun?
2. "Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana." What makes this a sophisticated pun?
3. "I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. It's impossible to put down." What type of wordplay is at work here?
4. "Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything." Which feature of this pun makes it effective?

Correction

1. B) It exploits the double meaning of 'interest' (financial interest and personal enthusiasm).
2. C) It exploits the syntactic ambiguity of 'flies' and 'like', which can each function as different parts of speech.
3. C) A pun exploiting the polysemy of 'put down', meaning both to set something down physically and to find a book captivating.
4. A) The phrase 'make up' simultaneously means 'to constitute' (atoms form matter) and 'to fabricate lies'.

Exercice 2 — Associer le pun à sa structure

Associez chaque jeu de mots (colonne A) à la structure ou au procédé linguistique qui le génère (colonne B).

1. "I knew a guy who collected candy canes — they were all in mint condition."
2. "A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two-tired."
3. "I used to hate facial hair, but then it grew on me."
4. "Broken pencils are pointless."

Correction

1. This pun relies on the double meaning of 'mint': a flavour associated with candy canes and the idea of being in perfect, unused condition.
2. This pun is built on the homophony between 'two-tired' (having two tyres) and 'too tired' (lacking energy), producing a sound-based double meaning.
3. This pun exploits the polysemy of 'grew on me', meaning both that facial hair literally grew on the speaker's face and that they gradually came to like it.
4. This pun uses the polysemy of 'pointless', referring both to a pencil that has lost its physical point and to something that is futile or without purpose.

Exercice 3 — Compléter le jeu de mots

Complétez chaque pun en choisissant le mot ou groupe de mots qui active le double sens humoristique. Réécrivez la phrase entière dans votre réponse.

1. "I'm on a seafood diet. I see food and I ___ it."
2. "The man who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a ___ veteran."
3. "I would tell you a joke about construction, but I'm ___ working on it."
4. "I asked the librarian if the library had books about paranoia. She whispered: 'They're right ___ you.'"

Correction

1. "I'm on a seafood diet. I see food and I eat it." — The pun works because 'seafood diet' sounds like 'see food diet', humorously reinterpreting 'seafood' as 'see food'.
2. "The man who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran." — The pun plays on 'seasoned', which means both experienced and covered in seasoning (mustard, pepper).
3. "I would tell you a joke about construction, but I'm still working on it." — The pun implies both that the joke is unfinished and that the speaker is literally engaged in construction work.
4. "I asked the librarian if the library had books about paranoia. She whispered: 'They're right behind you.'" — The pun triggers both a literal answer (the books are shelved behind the patron) and a paranoia-inducing threat.