【正文】 ence’s attention, encyclopedic knowledge and processing abilities. Otherwise, the audience will be frightened away because the advertising is too ambiguous and abstract. The key point is to keep a balance between the processing effort by the audience and the effects. Pun Definition of pun The term “pun” origins in the Latin word “paranomazein”, mean “calling by a different name”. It is also called paronomasia. According to Oxford English Dictionary, a pun is defined as below: “A pun is the use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more meanings or different associations, or the use two or more words of the same or nearly the same sound with different meaning, so as to produce a humorous effect. (2004:1393). The present study has its own definition as below: “A pun skillfully employs phonemic or semantic conditions and deliberately makes the utterance bear a double meaning, that is, by saying one thing while meaning another, one meaning being explicit and the other meaning implicit, one true and one false.” (Zhao Jing, 1993). Generally speaking, there are two kinds of puns. One is called homonyms, and the other is called homophones. The former means that a word has several meanings, whereas the latter means that several words sound the same. Both homophones and homonyms can be phrases rather than single words. Feature of puns in advertising English Ambiguity The first characteristic of a pun is that the focus of its meaning lies in its ambiguity. No matter they are homophones or homonyms, the speaker aims to achieve an ambiguity. In our daily munication, people try to avoid the presence of ambiguity, but as for puns, ambiguity is intentionally created, for the essence of a pun lies in its ambiguity. For example, (6) Keds every wear. (Advertisement for Keds wear)The pun is triggered by the same pronunciation of “every wear” and “everywhere”. “Every wear” surely refers to the clothing, while “everywhere” indicates that Keds wear is so popular that you will find it everywhere. The threeword headline thus bees interesting and lively because of the pun. Homophones used in this example evoke an imagination in readers and make them relaxed and fortable. It is important to keep in mind that the central and fundamental phenomenon upon which puns operate is ambiguity. A pun deliberately employs phonemic or semantic conditions to express one meaning on the surface while hiding another. The double context Another characteristic is that a pun contains a double context. According to Li, there are three elements in analyzing and posing a pun: a double context, a hinge and a trigger. (2000:55). A hinge is the pun himself, and a trigger refers to the intention and background that hide behind the exploitation of puns. Take the advertisement of Cocacola as an example:(7) Coke refreshes you like no other can.Here, the word “can” is the hinge. It has a double context in this advertisement: (7a) Coke refreshes you like no other (drinks) can (refresh you)。 they should not choose puns too hard to be solved. What they need is amusing, witty and tactic puns to help them to advertise their products or services. Irony Definition of irony Irony is a figure of speech in which the meaning literally expressed is the opposite of the meaning intended and which aims to ridicule, humor or sarcasm. Sometimes irony is used to show people’s intimate feeling, but in most cases it is used to criticize or expose bad and ugly things. In certain context, it can hold the reader’s attention and deepen his impression. On the whole, the traditional view of the understanding of irony can be summarized as dualism .Within the framework of traditional semantics, the use of irony in advertising, like other figures, is seen as an ornament to a text. It makes the text more pleasant and more convincing. Irony is considered to be capable to achieve this ornamental effect. A simple metaphor might be used to illustrate the classical view of irony. That is, irony to a text is like cosmetics to a girl. However, a girl makes herself up with whatever cosmetics。 it is a necessary way in advertising. An advertiser is particularly concerned with the problem of attracting and holding the audience’s attention, for it is possible that the audience does not notice the advertiser’s message at all. Making advertisements humorousAnother reason why the advertiser prefers irony is that it brings humor. Ironical device is one of the important ways to create humorous effect in utterance. The irony serves to make fun of the statement. When the element of humor is put into advertising, the advertisement bees amusing, which is accepted by the audiences. Therefore the advertiser tends to bine humor and promotion when designing advertisements. For instance: (13)“If people keep telling you to quit smoking cigarettes, don’t listen. They’re probably trying to trick you into living.” (American Cancer society) First sight at the advertisement may make audiences feel puzzled. It is quite mon to see the advertisements as “No smoking” and “Smoking is bad for your health” in public places. However, this advertiser denies these ways and advocates smoking. After reading this advertisement the readers find that the advertiser is American Cancer Society which is supposed to publicize “no smoking”. Therefore, there is unbalance: an antismoking organization ignores the harm that smoking brings to health and advocates smoking. If the reader or prospective customer can not understand what is intended in the advertising utterance, they will feel confused. But why does this antismoking organization advocate smoking? It has bee widely known that smoking is bad for our health. Smoking not only leads the smokers to deadly cancer but also th