【正文】 1 IntroductionIn modern society, advertisements can be seen or heard everywhere—in newspaper and magazine, on radio and television, on Internet and mobile phone, on street and bus. Advertising, as the international mercial language, are penetrating every corner of life. The main purpose of an advertisement is to catch people’s attention by means of a short message and persuade them to buy their products. Geis defines advertising language as below:“The language of advertising is language that is used in efforts to persuade or otherwise entice to purchase products or services, vote for practical candidates, modify their behavior( just say No!), or e to adopt a favorable view of some corporate entity( we are working to keep your trust. )” (1994:42)According to Geis’s definition, people can get a better prehension in advertising language. Advertising language is a way of munication, with persuasive intention for sales promotion and other municative purposes. As the essential role in society, successful advertisement must acplish the following: first, advertising establishes the identity of a product and distinguishes it from others in the line。 (7b) Coke refreshes you like no other can (can refresh you). At the first sight of this advertisement, most audiences may interpret this sentence according to context (7a). When they think out context (7b), they begin to appreciate this creative idea and are deeply impressed. Puns in advertising Puns are full of wisdom, adding color to advertisement. Readers will easily be caught by the charm of the language. So the advertiser always employs pun when creating the advertisement. Homonymic pun is a kind of pun that advertisers usually used to advertise their product and service. The advertisers make use of similar spelling and pronunciation to make their advertisements humorous, persuasive and impressive. In advertising, headlines and slogans are used to say something about the product or service, and a pun is one of most popular ways which is used in headlines and slogans in advertising. Take the following as an example:(8) Trust us. Over 5,000 ears of experience.This is an advertisement for a hearing aid. On reading the words ‘ears’ and ‘experience’, the audience will probably process the advertisement as the following:(8a) You can trust us because more than 5,000 people have used our products.And in this advertisement, ‘ear’ is the homonym of ‘years’. Considering this, the audience should recover the following conclusion:(8b) You can trust us because our product has a very long history and good quality.Another advertisement for toothpaste is also a good example of homonymic puns:(9) I scream. You scream. No scream. Golgate Sensitive Maximum Strength ToothpasteIn this advertisement, under each sentence is printed an illustration showing ice cream. ‘I scream’ is the homophone of ‘ice cream’. When first look at this advertisement, the audience will probably derive the following conclusion:(9a) If you eat ice cream, your sensitive teeth will make you scream.Considering this is an advertisement for toothpaste, ‘No scream’ would help the audience recover the following conclusion:(9b) You can enjoy ice cream with Golgate toothpaste for it will provide maximum strength relief for sensitive teeth. This advertisement is especially attractive because the pun lies in the bination of words and illustration. The audience will be moved and amused by the creativity of the advertiser in the process of acquiring optimal relevance.Then, in some cases, the advertiser would take advantage of a word, phrase or sentence to form puns in specific context. That is semantic pun. Take the following as examples:(10)Spoil yourself and not your figure.This is advertisement for Weightwatcher ice cream which is manufactured especially for dieters. On reading the words ‘spoil’ and ‘figure’, the audience will probably take the word ‘spoil’ to mean ‘damage or ruin’. This would be the most accessible interpretation, as ‘spoil’ here is used together with ‘figure’. But considering another word ‘yourself’, ‘spoil’ might have another meaning. The audience would probably make the following assumption: (10a) Treat yourself and it would not ruin your figure. Since it is an advertisement for ice cream, the audience would derive the following conclusion: (10b) You can enjoy ice cream as much as you like. It would not make you overweight and you can still remain slim. By using two different meaning of the same word ‘spoil’, the advertiser make the audience accept the advertisement naturally and desire to buy. The following is an advertisement for Sprite:(11) Obey your thirst.The most accessible interpretation for the audience would be the following:(11a) If you are thirsty, drink Sprite.In this advertisement, ‘thirst’ is used with the verb ‘obey’. The audience might remember that ‘thirst’ also means ‘a(chǎn) strong desire’. Then he would derive the following conclusion:(11b) Follow your desire and have Sprite.Processing the advertisement in this context, the audience would then derive (11c) from the advertisement:(11c) Sprite is a kind of drink that everybody desires to have.From the above advertisements in which puns are employed, punning plays a significant role in attracting the attention of the audience. These puns sustain the audience’s attention and linger in the audience’s mind until they finally find the interpretation intended by advertiser.It is true that puns are ambiguous, since they usually lead to several interpretations. But most ambiguities can be solved if the correct context has been chosen. Puns can not be too implicit and abstruse to be accepted by the audience. Thus the advertiser should be cautious。 making advertisements humorous。s abiliti