How is "nothing" used as a pun in the title of "Much Ado About Nothing"?

The word "nothing" and the word "noting" were pronounced alike in Shakespeare's day.  "Noting" or "observing" has a great deal to do with the play since much of the play is about appearances.  In the beginning, Beatrice and Benedick appear to be enemies, but since they so easily fall in love with one another, it's pretty clear they each really have deep feelings for the other that they cover up with their verbal gibes.  Following that idea, it is with false information that Beatrice and Benedick both admit their affections for one another.  Thus another example of deceiving appearances.  Don John uses deception, or faulty noting, to weave his nastiness.  He acts like he thinks Claudio is Benedick at the masquerade when he really knows who it is he is talking to.  Then he has Borachio get Margaret to the window while he makes love to her so that Claudio and Don Pedro might confuse Margaret for Hero thus discrediting Hero.  Even the masquerade party itself is an example of faulty noting.  Beatrice talks with Benedick, acting like she doesn't know it is him, when she really does.  That the people are covering their identities with masks is another example of deceptive appearances.  So, there really is a great deal of fuss made over perception, or "noting" in the play.  And since most of the appearances are false, there is "nothing" really to get upset about.  You have to give a lot of credit to that crafty Shakespeare who loved wordplay!

Discuss the pun on the word "nothing" in the title of "Much Ado About Nothing".

One of the main themes of the play is appearance and reality, what things appear to be versus what they really are. This play is all about deception, and part of that deception is eavesdropping. Shakespeare uses "nothing" as a pun on the word "noting", which means eavesdropping. Messina is full of people, such as Don John, who are willing to destroy lives without caring about the consequences. Don John's deceptive actions cause "much ado".

Discuss the pun on the word "nothing" in the title of "Much Ado About Nothing".

I have heard at least a couple of ideas about how this title is a pun.

First of all, if you take the title literally, it is simply saying that the whole play is a farce.  It is saying that the play is just fun -- it's about nothing in particular.

Then, you can think about how most of the conflict is about things that don't really happen.  Hero never actually is unfaithful, but there is much ado about her being unfaithful. So there is much ado about nothing there.

Third, I have heard it said that "nothing" and "noting" were pronounced the same back then.  Looked at like this, it is a play about observing things (like the men observing the faked scene where Hero supposedly is confessing to being unchaste).

Finally, I have read that "nothing" was slang for female genitals.  This would mean the play's title means, more or less, much ado about sex.