China has recently banned wordplay in attempt to control use of pun, as officials said casual alteration of idioms risks nothing less than "cultural and linguistic chaos."
From online discussions to adverts, Chinese culture is full of puns, but the country's print and broadcast watchdog has ruled that there is nothing funny about them, the Guardian reported.
It has banned wordplay on the grounds that it breaches the law on standard spoken and written Chinese makes promoting cultural heritage harder and might mislead the public, especially children.
Chinese is perfectly suited to puns because it has so many homophones. Popular sayings and even customs, as well as jokes, rely on wordplay.
But the order from the State Administration for Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television stated that radio and television authorities at all levels must tighten up their regulations and crack down on the irregular and inaccurate use of the Chinese language, especially the misuse of idioms.
David Moser, academic director for CET Chinese studies at Beijing Capital Normal University, said that moves to block such creativity have a long history too, as Yuan Shikai, president of the Republic of China from 1912 to 1915, reportedly wanted to rename the Lantern Festival, Yuan Xiao Jie, because it sounded like "cancel Yuan day".