History StealthPun / Literature

*** Or possibly his band-mate, Lias Bluestone, who changes his name to Cliff. The fact that one of the band's songs is Sto Helit Lace suggests that he's supposed to represent J. P. Richardson Jr. [[spoiler: AKA "the Big Bopper"]].

** Before making love [[spoiler:and having a baby]] (in the spiritual sense), [[spoiler:Lash]] and Harry play music cooperatively- her providing the technical knowledge telepathically, and him tapping the actual piano keys. One could say "[they] made sweet music together".

** In the era before the smallest coin was known as a boxing. Nobody called a duel between coinshots a [[boxing match]].

* In Robert [=McCloskey=]'s ''Centerburg Tales'' a mysterious stranger sticks a record containing an EarWorm into Uncle Ulysses' jukebox, then leaves after giving Homer and Freddy a warning which amounts to SchmuckBait.

* ''Literature/YoungSherlockHolmes'': Duke Balthasar, the BigBad of ''Red Leech'', is described as being close to seven feet tall, painfully thin, with pale skin and pale blond hair, dressed all in white with a white porcelain mask. In other words, he is '[[Characters/DavidBowie the Thin White Duke]]'.

* In ''Literature/TheGirlFromTheMiraclesDistrict'', Aleks sends Nikita his friends, a biker gang called the Bears, to protect her, but they end up being more trouble than they are help. In Polish, a "bear favour" is an attempt at help that ends up making the situation worse.

* In ''Literature/HonorHarrington'', the inner circle of the Renaissance Factor conspiracy contains a few names that might seem familiar to a student of 20th-century cinema, like Hitchcock, Tarantino, Stone and Kubrick. [[spoiler:It's a Board of Directors.]]

** In ''Discworld/TheWeeFreeMen'', a [[TalkingAnimal talking toad]] is introduced as a guide for Tiffany Aching. Although it was explained that said toad's yellow colour was caused by his being unwell, nobody ever actually told her to "[[TheWizardOfOz follow the yellow sick toad]]". As the author said:

* One of the ''Literature/{{Foundation}}'' short stories, "...And Now You Don't" / "Search by the Foundation", mentions that students in the Composition and Rhetoric class were required to write their names as initial-of-given-name followed by surname, "except for Olynthus Dam, because the class laughed so when he did it the first time."

* In ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'', the spice, melange, is also called the geriatric spice because it can triple the human lifespan. What does melange mean? A mixture, or a combination...in short, variety is the spice of life.

* In one ''Literature/StarTrekNewFrontier'' book (all written by PungeonMaster PeterDavid), a beast is described as cyclopean, with a large horn, wings, and purple fur, hunting crew members for food. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d later as one of the stalked crew members says, "It sure looked strange to me." [[spoiler:"He was a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater // Sure looked strange to me"]]

* In ''Franchise/Dune'', the spice, melange, is also called the geriatric spice because it can triple the human lifespan. What does melange mean? A mixture, or a combination...in short, variety is the spice of life.

* In Sam Gayton's novel ''Lilliput'', there is a swift kept in a cuckoo clock. Jonathan Swift wrote ''Gulliver's Travels'', on which ''Lilliput'' is based.

* The dangers of the Stealth Pun are featured in one of the ''Literature/CallahansCrosstimeSaloon'' stories, while the actual StealthPun is subverted through explanation; a story on Tall Tales Night is about to bomb because of a Stealth Pun that went over everyone's head, so the narrator steps in to state the pun that the pun-making Star Wars fan was O.B. Juan's kin, Obie.

* ''[[Literature/VorkosiganSaga A Civil Campaign]]'' introduces Armsman Roic, who [[spoiler:battles against the off-planet law enforcement coming to take away [[AbsentMindedProfessor Dr. Borgos.]] It could be said that the Armsman was acting he-Roic-ally. (This only works if you pronounce his name that way; reportedly the author Herself pronounces it differently, thus didn't see the pun coming.)]]

* ''Blood Trail'', the second book in TanyaHuff's ''Literature/BloodBooks'' series, features Henry and Vicki protecting a family of werewolves living near London (Ontario). Not one character ever mentions Music/WarrenZevon or his song, "Werewolves of London".

*** For instance: [=MonOc=] Securities. [[spoiler:[=MonOc=] is a combination of words for "one" and "eye;" it didn't take the fans long to realize it was led by Odin One-Eye.]] And one of their employees is Ms. Gard: If you read up on your Myth/NorseMythology, you'll know that ''As''gard is the home of most of the gods and location of Valhalla. [[spoiler:She's a Valkyrie.]]

*** Another scene mentions a great musician, who was a priest that robbed a temple (a felonious monk, if you will).

** When Katniss requests to kill Snow, [[spoiler: the president of District 13]] offers to flip her for the privilege. The president's last name? Coin.

* ''Literature/MidnightsChildren'': When Ahmed becomes TheAlcoholic, Saleem refers to his behavior as "warring with djinns". "[[{{Genie}} Djinn]]" is a homophone for "gin", the kind of alcohol he would be drinking at that point; and of course, both are found in bottles.

* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'''s seagoing rodent villains are referred to as "corsairs" specifically to ''avoid'' an endless string of "pi-rat" puns.

*** The Motto of the Quisition (said warlike theocracy) is ''Cvivs Testicvlos Habes, Habeas Cardia Et Cerebellvm''. The loose translation is apparently "when you have their full attention, you have their hearts and minds", and how loose the translation is. Translated more literally gets you a Real Life quote from Chuck Colson: one of the aides involved in the infamous RichardNixon Watergate scandal.

* PiersAnthony does this CONSTANTLY in many of his books, especially in the ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' books. He notoriously has solicited puns from his fanbase, which are subsequently incorporated into future books. He appends a chapter-long Author's Note to every book, in which he invariably thanks each reader whose pun made it into that novel.

*** For instance: [=MonOc=] Securities. [[spoiler:[=MonOc=] is a combination of words for "one" and "eye;" it didn't take the fans long to realize it was led by Odin One-Eye.]] And one of their employees is Ms. Gard: If you read up on your NorseMythology, you'll know that ''As''gard is the home of most of the gods and location of Valhalla. [[spoiler:She's a Valkyrie.]]