“一个构思，源于两个在声音上相同但在意义上不同的词的使用” [Addison]；“一种表达，其中一个词在两种不同的应用中，或两个发音相似或几乎相似的不同词的使用，呈现出奇怪或滑稽的想法” [世纪词典]；1640年代（显然是指对 Thames/tame 的伪装性游戏的玩弄）。这个词的起源不确定。
可能源自 pundigron，意为同样的东西（尽管几年前才首次证实），它本身也是一个起源不确定的词。也可能是意大利语 puntiglio “歧义，琐碎的反对”的幽默变化，拉丁语 punctum “点”的 diminutive。这纯属猜测。Punnet 是另一个早期形式。
Pun was prob. one of the clipped words, such as cit, mob, nob, snob, which came into fashionable slang at or after the Restoration. [OED]
Pun 可能是一些剪短词之一，如 cit，mob，nob，snob，在复辟时期或之后进入时尚俚语。[OED]
动词“制造双关语”在1660年代由德莱顿证实。相关词： Punned; punning。
At the revival of learning, and the spread of what we may term the refinement of society, punning was one of the few accomplishments at which the fine ladies and gentlemen aimed. From the twelfth to the sixteenth century, it was at its greatest height. The conversation of the witty gallants, and ladies, and even of the clowns and other inferior characters, in the comedies of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, which we may be sure was painted from the life, is full of puns and plays upon words. The unavoidable result of such an excess was a surfeit, and the consequent dégout, which lasted for more than a century. Like other diseases, it broke out again subsequently with redoubled virulence, and made great havoc in the reign of Queen Anne. [Larwood & Hotten, "The History of Signboards from the Earliest Times to the Present Day," London, 1867]
在学习复兴和我们可以称之为社会精致化的传播中，双关语是那些上层男女追求的少数成就之一。从十二世纪到十六世纪，它达到了巅峰。莎士比亚及其 contemporaries 的喜剧中，机智的骑士和淑女，甚至小丑和其他低级角色的对话，我们可以肯定是从生活中描绘的，充满了双关语和文字游戏。这种过度的不可避免结果是厌倦，随之而来的 dégout，持续了一个多世纪。像其他疾病一样，它随后以加倍的烈度再次爆发，并在安妮女王统治时期造成了巨大的破坏。[Larwood & Hotten, "The History of Signboards from the Earliest Times to the Present Day," London, 1867]
