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“A man who could make so vile a pun would not scruple to pick a pocket.”
The pun is a type of humor which rarely calls forth pure laughter, no matter how clever. There will be smiles, perhaps a few faint chuckles, but almost always the punster is reproached with an implied or explicit “you should be ashamed of yourself”.
The lack of acceptance of the pun as a legitimate form of humor is reflected in its frequent classification as “the lowest form of wit”. Even Freud goes along with this and suggests it is “because they are ‘cheapest’ and can be formed with the least effort”.1 Actually, puns usually are formed spontaneously and thus have a certain minimum of originality, while many more highly regarded forms of humor (“the funny story”) rarely represent any original thought and merely indicate the story-teller's ability to memorize, plus (hopefully) an aptitude for humorous presentation. You would expect that if puns could be formed with very little effort most anyone could become adept at their use. Such is not the case, and good punsters are rare enough to make them very sought after in the professional comedy field (Groucho Marx, Bob Hope). The listeners who groan the loudest are often completely inept when it comes to creating this “low” form of humor.
Thus, when viewed rationally, it is difficult to explain the low regard with which the world views the pun. This is an example of a value judgment which is illogical, but rarely questioned.