When I read "On Writing" by Stephen King (by the way, the best book on writing ever) a few years ago, I was introduced to the old parlor game of Swifties, or the Tom Swifty- wherein one creates puns using adverbs, adverbial phrases, or other dialogue attributions. King talks about the game in the book in order to discourage the use of adverbs.

Here are some examples:

Stephen King includes these two in "On Writing":

"You got a nice butt, lady," he said cheekily. and

"I'm the plumber," he said, with a flush.


Here's some of mine:

"I can't even give this a 'C'," he said degradingly.

"I'll go to auctions 'til I die," he said morbidly.

"Luke, I am your father," Vader said forcefully.


My good friend Heather, after I brought this game up at work, came up with some real gems. Here's a couple of my favorites:

"I can't remember what comes next," he said listlessly.

"So we had sex again," she said ridiculously. (re-dick... I love that one...)

So that's Swifties. Comment your examples and let the games begin....