Clinch or Conundrum

“THE AGE IN WHICH THE PUN CHIEFLY FLOURISHED was in the reign of king James the First. That learned monarch was himself a tolerable punster, and made very few bishops or privy-counsellors that had not some time or other signalized themselves by a clinch or a conundrum." So wrote Joseph Addison in The Spectator in May, 1711.

A 'clinch' ? It seems to be the same word as can signify an embrace or a stranglehold or a rivet - but how on earth did it come to be used to mean a pun ? You can clinch an argument, of course, but trying to do so with a pun might not be very convincing.

The solution seems to lie (though a bit obscurely) in an entry in the Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue* of 1811. A clinch, it tells us, is 'a pun or quibble. . . to clinch the nail [to secure the back end of the rivet by bending it over a small metal plate]. . . to confirm an improbable story by [telling] another [even more outrageous]'. There are occasions when it is possible to silence a rival by making a remark or claim that is even more extravagant than his/hers - and the argument dissolves in laughter.

The Vulgar Tongue even finds space for ‘Conundrums’**: “enigmatical conceits”*** is the definition, which phrase reminds us that this Dictionary was compiled to help the educated understand the vulgar, not to help the vulgar understand one another.

Addison did not actually think much of puns. He remarks that "it is impossible to kill a weed which the soil has a natural disposition to produce. The seeds of punning are in the minds of all men; and though they may be subdued by reason, reflection and good sense, they will be very apt to shoot up in the greatest genius that is not broken and cultivated by the rules of art". Which rather suggests that Addison - even though his humour shines clearly enough through the pages of his essays - believed that puns were somehow improper and should be repressed.

* Subtitled 'A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit and Pickpocket Eloquence', and reprinted by Macmillan (Papermac) in 1980.

** 'Conundrum' looks like Latin, but isn't. Its origin is 'obscure', but it used to signify a punning riddle - no need to give an example, of course - but you know the difference between a riddle and two elephants sitting on a little cake, don't you ?

*** 'Conceit' is one of those words whose basic meaning is often misunderstood. It is a version of the word 'concept' meaning an idea. One possibly false idea that a person may have is that he or she is rather clever or virtuous or specially important in some respect. That shows 'conceit' - an unattractive quality. 'Conceit' is derived via Old French from the Latin verb concipio/concept-- = to take in, take to oneself, to conceive. ‘Concept’ has the same L origin, but was made into an E word direct from L conceptum (= something conceived) in the 16th cy.

Do you flinch at a clinch, do you shun every pun,
Do you blush when you hear a conundrum ?
You must be one of those who prefer stately prose
And believe that all joking is under 'em.

But if each printed column were sober and solemn
How boring the facts would become !
When all learning and pedantry's serious and sedent'ry
Maybe it's best to stay dumb.

[Now where did that come from ? Honestly, I've quite forgotten.]

Clinch or Conundrum