Whenever I read a carefully composed English text with a pun in it, the stated "pun" is always followed by an explanation whether or not it was intended.
Why is that?
Where I come from (the Czech Republic) it is considered harmful to the humor to explicitly draw attention to it or, worse, explain it. But in English, as it seems, you can't play with the language with impunity (pun intended very intensively). Is it just a matter of correctness, or is there something else behind it?
Best Answer
It's not required to say whether or not a pun was intended. When someone writes 'pun not intended' they mean something like this:
When people write 'pun very much intended' they mean something like:
Otherwise we just pun with impunity.