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About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker jokes about buying a coffee table that is decaffeinated, playing on the idea of a coffee table that drinks coffee.
In plain terms
I bought a coffee table that doesn’t have caffeine.
What can you take from it?
Wordplay can turn ordinary objects into jokes.

Where it applies

  • shopping
  • gift giving

Putting it to work

  • use puns to add humor to conversation

Questions to consider

  • What everyday terms can be twisted for jokes?
  • When does a pun become stale?

Another view

The humor depends on the literal reading of a figurative phrase.

More from Steven Wright

  1. The ice cream truck in my neighborhood plays Helter Skelter.

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  2. The other day I was arrested for scalping low numbers at the deli.

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  3. Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before.

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