Current Puns: Wliy does our language groan with the weight of puns? What exactly is a pun? And who, or what, is the Thief of Bad Gags? Metaphor: The English language is chock-full of maritime metaphors: cock up, token obock, chip on your shoulder and show a leg. And, with the help of a Greek removals firm, we also find the origin of the word metaphor. Quotation: The uses and misuses of quotations are revealed, and there is also a frank confession from a quotation compiler, which we cannot divulge here. Cliche: Featuring sick parrots and the cliche crisis that affected the writing of Flaubert, Joyce and Eliot, and helped shape modern language and culture.