A Feghoot is a short story, ending in an atrocious pun. A pun (also known as paronomasia) is a figure of speech which consists of a deliberate confusion of similar words or phrases for rhetorical effect, whether humorous or serious. ...

They originated in the magazine Fantasy and Science Fiction. F&SF April 1971, special Poul Anderson issue. ...

In this magazine, stories were published which featured a character named Ferdinand Feghoot, who managed to solve all manner of problems bedevilling other beings from all over the galaxy, and always ended with a terrible pun.

The original F&SF stories, "Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot," were written by Reginald Bretnor under the anagrammatic pseudonym of Grendel Briarton. Reginald Bretnor (July 30, 1911 - July 22, 1992) was science fiction author, born Alfred Reginald Kahn. ...

Many Science Fiction authors, including Isaac Asimov and John Brunner have contributed to the genre in books and magazines Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Isaac Asimov (courtesy of Jay Kay Klein) Isaac Asimov (c. ... John Kilian Houston Brunner (September 24, 1934 – August 26, 1995) was a prolific British author of science fiction novels and stories. ...

Strictly speaking, a feghoot has to star Ferdinand Feghoot, and end in a pun on a popular proverb. The ones by Reginald Bretnor were collected and published under the pseudonym "Grendel Briarton". The more general term for these horrors is "shaggy-dog stories". The feghoots were quickly followed in science-fiction by a series starring Benedict Breadfruit - these all ended in a pun on the name of a famous SF writer.