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Feghoot

Technique
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A short humorous poem or story that concludes with a clever, often groan-inducing pun that recontextualizes the entire narrative.

Detailed Definition
A feghoot is a brief, whimsical narrative—often in verse—that concludes with an elaborate, pun-based punchline, typically playing on names or phrases. Popularized by Reginald Bretnor under the pseudonym “Grendel Briarton,” it showcases linguistic playfulness and is valued in light verse for its clever subversion of expectations through wordplay.
Example
Example in poetry:
A feghoot in poetry might end a limerick with a pun like: “There once was a bard from Kent / Whose verses were truly heaven-sent / He rhymed ‘moon’ with ‘June’ / Then fainted at noon— / For his meter was badly bent!”; A humorous poetic feghoot could conclude: “Said the poet who wrote in iambic beat, / ‘My rhymes are quite hard to repeat— / I tried to write fast, / But my pen broke at last, / And now all my lines smell like feet!’”; A feghoot might twist a myth: “Apollo once tried to write free verse, / But his Muses just made him rehearse / Till he cried, ‘This is pain! / Give me meter again!’ / So he switched back to hexameter terse”; A feghoot in a sonnet’s couplet: “Thus ends my tale of love and woe— / My printer ran out of magenta ink, you know.”
Additional Notes
A feghoot is a humorous, pun-based short story or poem that ends with a deliberately groan-worthy pun or wordplay twist; coined by Reginald Bretnor under the pseudonym “Grendel Briarton,” it’s often used in light verse or speculative poetry; while not common in canonical poetry, it’s a useful exercise for students exploring wit, closure, and linguistic play; feghoots thrive on subverting expectations and can serve as creative warm-ups or parodies of more serious forms; related to shaggy dog stories but condensed into poetic brevity.
Also Known As
Pun Story Shaggy Dog Poem
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