macemx's blog

Way back in the annals of Internet history, some would-be wag embellished an article or comment about Apple's business with the words "… that's comparing apples to apples (no pun intended)". Or words close to that.

It was maybe cute the first time it appeared online. Today, somewhere past the 400,000th use of the phrase, it's not so cute.  (Or not 400,000th. There's some guesswork in the figure.) The same goes for other dubious Apple "puns" worn thin through overuse on blogs, tech sites, and comments everywhere, like these:

"Amazon may take a slice out of Apple (pun so intended)."

"There's something rotten at Apple's core (LOL)!"

"Investors today are biting into Apple (see what I did there?)."

Again: Cute once, not cute the nth time. (And even a first use of "a-peeling" in an Apple description should be punishable with thumbscrews.) Such abuse runs amok in tech writing, and isn't even limited to Apple things; yes, there are goofs who think a perfectly generic use of the word "windows" (as in, say, "windows of opportunity") in a tech article calls for an aside to highlight the oh-so-clever "pun".

People. Give it a rest.

If you think you've got a clever pun to unleash, first consider Rule 1:

Is it really a pun? Really? (If any use of "core" in an Apple article meets your standard for a pun, you need to raise your bar.)

Still want to use that supposed pun? Then consider Rule 2:

Have you come across the "pun" more than once already? If so, it's played. Drop it and move on.

Still think your wordplay has what it takes? Then go ahead and use it – wisely. Here's my long-held Rule 3, but via the independently-penned words of Merlin Mann, who stated it so nicely:

If you noticed the pun, left it in, AND remarked on how it wasn't intended, then it was, by definition, intended.

No pedantry intended. – Merlin Mann

There. Sorry for the odd topic; it's just one of those things that quietly hits the subconscious again and again until, bam, one day you're writing a blog post.

Come to think of it, though, there was an actual reason for my bringing this up: Today I actually saw a bit of Apple wordplay today I've never seen before! This:

The WebProNews article Kindle Fire doesn't even dent Apple's sales carries the subtitle, "Apple spits seeds in the face of competition". Nothing hilarious, but it's evocative and even fits the article. Huh, just when I thought  there weren't any Apple gags left. (This must be what it feels like to discover the coelacanth or something.) Double kudos to the author for refraining from an unwarranted "no pun intended" tag.

Just for the sake of completeness on this most trivial of topics, let me ask: Are there more Apple "puns" I'm missing? Or any other "puns" you've noticed plaguing tech sites? Please share!

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