Deckman,

This mix of humor isn't technically all puns, either. There are a variety of types of wordplay going on. The more elaborate the setup, I think they shift from puns to something else. Couldn't tell you what right now. Webster defines pun as "the usually humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more meanings or the meaning of another word similar in sound."

So, for example, the use of precipiate to mean haste and rain at the same time, as above. Or when I got tired of a really annoying fellow sniping at me at a dinner with a group of us from work (many years ago). When I reached my limit I dispatched him quickly by asking him during a lull in the conversation if he masticated. He turned beet red, got all puffed up and said "how could you ask me something like that here?" My response: "It means to chew." Geez, he was pissed, but he left after that. And the folks at the table nearly fell out of their chairs laughing. (I must use the disclaimer that I wouldn't do that now, or have done for the past 25 years: I was 19 at the time, and this was a rowdy group of Forest Service guys. I was the only woman hired to work in the woods on that district, so I had to use every tool possible to keep them in line).

Maggie