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If one were to play the pipes without an audience, would that constitute an "exercise in flutility"?

Not sure if that pun works on native speakers…

Laurel
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user219574
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  • Why does it matter whether there is an audience or not? Maybe because it's useless in the opinion of the speaker? – Hank Feb 09 '17 at 22:25
  • If the pun is supposed to be a combination of "futility" and "fluidity," I can tell you that I got it, but it definitely took some thinking. – vpn Feb 09 '17 at 22:30
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    “The pipes” is probably not the right word. You might try “the fife” and then the combination of *futility* and *flute* will make sense. – Jim Feb 09 '17 at 22:33
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    Amazing nit picking in the comments here. Yes, it makes perfect sense. – epsilon Feb 09 '17 at 23:20
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    I caught the pun alright – J. Taylor Feb 09 '17 at 23:24
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    I got it instantly. I like it. – ab2 Feb 10 '17 at 00:11
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    Pronunication will matter. At first I read it as "flu-tility" which makes no sense. Re-reading as "flut-ility" does. – jimm101 Feb 10 '17 at 01:14
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    As puns go, it's a bit worse than most. Of course, some people would consider that to be a good thing. – Hot Licks Feb 10 '17 at 02:57
  • "Pipes" is the wrong word for a British audience - they would probably take it to mean "bagpipes" which is going down the wrong rabbit hole. In the UK, "fife" is not a common word and the instrument itself is almost obsolete - though it seems to be more common in the USA. Try something like "tin whistle" instead, for a UK audience. – alephzero Feb 10 '17 at 05:34
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    American English speaker here--while I do get it I have a problem with "playing the pipes"--I wouldn't think of a flute as a pipe although it actually is one. The first thing that comes to mind for "playing the pipes" is a pipe organ, second would be bagpipes. – Loren Pechtel Feb 10 '17 at 06:05
  • Ugh.. yes that elicits a nontrivial groan. – Mitch Feb 10 '17 at 13:26
  • You guys changed my mind, I'm glad to say. OK, no-one would fail to understand that pun. At the same time, it would hardly be worth the trouble of trying to understand it, without taking the "nit-picking" into account. – Robbie Goodwin May 12 '20 at 21:13

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