What does 'no pun intended' mean?

Answer 1

Definition of a pun: "A pun, or paronomasia, is a form of word play that deliberately exploits ambiguity between similar-sounding words for humorous or rhetorical effect" A pun is basically a play on words, like in the joke, "Where do cows go on a Saturday nite? The moooovies." Moooovies is a pun.

• A man with one hand is in the store shopping and he keeps dropping his bag. A women asks, "Can I give you a hand?" She is not trying to be funny, nor is she offereing to literally give him a hand, but is only making an offer of help to the man.
• A manager at a company is very heavy. One day he comes in with an auditor who is evaluating how the manager runs his department. The manager sees a number of things that are unacceptable, and he starts dressing down his workers in harsh tones. "I've told you guys that we do this and we do that and we do the other, and you still don't get it. Please follow my instructions and get those things done in the way I've aske you to do them!"
• The auditor looks at the manager and says, "I've got to hand it to you, and, no pun intended, you really know how to throw your weight around."
• The word "weight" here refers to the manager's authority in his department, and not to the extra pounds he carries. [This is offered to make the point. It would be in bad taste to say something like that to someone who is overweight.]

Answer 2

'No pun intended' is used to clarify that a statement was not meant as a play on words or a pun, and instead should be taken at face value. It is often used to avoid confusion or misunderstanding.