China Cracks Down on Puns

There’s no telling what can rile China's ill-humored censors. The latest no-no: puns. Don’t use them. That’s the message from the country’s media regulators, who on Thursday derided the use of wordplay in advertisements and broadcasts, The Wall Street Journal reports. “They can create misunderstandings for the public, especially for minors,” the regulator said in a notice posted to its site. “They need to be firmly corrected.” The agency, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, or SAPPRFT (its language-abuse concerns don’t seem to cover overlong acronyms), cited slogans that previously have been used to promote tourism and medical treatment. Meanwhile, 2 Broke Girls, the U.S. television show heavy with racy puns, remains a big hit on Chinese video-streaming sites, the Journal notes.