Black and White and Red All Over
Tuesday, March 21, 2006 at 08:46AM
Figaro

pandamao.jpgQuote:  "Political panda-ring." Andrew Rice in Slate’s "Today’s Papers" column.

Figure of Speechparonomasia (pa-ro-no-MAY-sia), the pun.

We’re taught to groan at a pun, but it can be cute and doubly meaningful — the rhetorical equivalent of a pair of pandas. 

Andrew Rice’s pun, or paronomasia ("rename alongside") sums up a particularly hairy international situation.  Having tired of lobbing an occasional missile at Taiwan, mainland China is now using an even more nefarious psychological weapon: adorable wildlife.  Beijing has offered a pair of pandas to Taiwan, and 80 percent of the Taiwanese can’t wait to get them.

But their government is balking.  "The pandas are a trick, just like the Trojan horse," fumes one politician.  He accuses Beijing of attempting to "destroy Taiwan’s psychological defenses." Exactly.

Snappy Answer:  "China sure has them bamboozled."

Other figures that let you say two things at once.

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