calembour
English
Etymology
Borrowed from French calembour.
Noun
calembour (plural calembours)
- A pun.
Anagrams
French
Etymology
Uncertain, possibly influenced by bourde (“blunder”).
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Noun
calembour m (plural calembours)
- pun (joke or type of wordplay)
- Synonym: jeu de mots
- 1972, Charles Aznavour (lyrics and music), “Comme ils disent”, in Idiote, je t'aime…:
- On déballe des vérités / Sur des gens qu’on a dans le nez / On les lapide / Mais on le fait avec humour / Enrobé dans des calembours / Mouillés d’acide
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Descendants
- → English: calembour
- → Polish: kalambur
- → Romanian: calambur
- → Russian: каламбур (kalambur)
- → Spanish: calambur
Further reading
- “calembour”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.