puns that you had missed

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when was the last time you realised that you missed an obvious pun? not necessarily a pun involving the word "obvious".

1. For about two years I never realised/thought of the product "Micro Chips" was a pun. I just thought "oh microwaveable chips!! great!" and then one day i was like OMG MICROCHIPS! and felt really embarrassed

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 17:39 (nineteen years ago) link

i guess, if you have longed for an old pun that you hadn't heard for ages, you can post about it here too.

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 17:40 (nineteen years ago) link

I don't think I realised the Beatles was a pun until I was about 25.

― Jonathan Z. (Joanthan Z.), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 17:42 (nineteen years ago) link

I didn't realise "Yerself is Steam" by Mercury Rev was a pun until someone mentioned it on ILM.

My brother never realised that Manda Rin out of Bis was a pun either.

― ailsa (ailsa), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 17:50 (nineteen years ago) link

yerself is steam. ha. i get it now.

― peter smith (plsmith), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 17:51 (nineteen years ago) link

There's a mattress company here in NYC called "Sleepy's" and their more recent ad campaign has following tagline:

Trust Sleepy's For the Rest of Your Life!

I thought, "hmmmm.....that's an awful lot to ask of their customers...lifelong brand loyalty!" The pun of it being the rest of your life (as in relaxed slumber) was completely lost on me until just recently.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 17:53 (nineteen years ago) link

the arrow in the FedEx logo

― Frankenstein On Ice (blueski), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 17:55 (nineteen years ago) link

The arrows in the old British Rail logo. The shame.

― beanz (beanz), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 18:14 (nineteen years ago) link

my roomate got this silly mailing from cingular announcing their merger with at&t but it was in the format of a wedding invitation. At the bottom it said 'reception to follow' and I thought 'so where's the party at?' - little did I know that I was stupid.

on arrested development joe or whatever his name is bought a boat called the 'seaward.' my other roomate pointed out that it was a pun for c-word, that I didnt pick up on.

― still bevens (bscrubbins), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 18:48 (nineteen years ago) link

The michaael jackson video where MJ and girl are eating popcorn. The film ends and the announcer says "See you next tuesday".

Mmmm.

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 12:15 (nineteen years ago) link

Frank's APA.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 12:16 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm still wondering if 'Rock The Vote' is an allusion to the phrase 'rock the boat'.

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 12:19 (nineteen years ago) link

The fact that there was a link between the alter egos of the rappers Blak Twang and Fallacy (Tony Rotton and Danny Vicious) escaped me until about a week ago.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 12:36 (nineteen years ago) link

is 'Trading Spouses' (the american version of 'Wife Swap') a pun on 'Trading Spaces' (the american version of 'Changing Rooms' (which is itself a pun) which is itself a pun on 'Trading Places')?

my brain hurts.

― koogs (koogs), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 12:39 (nineteen years ago) link

Mother of god, I can't believe I had to sit here and say 'yerself is steam, I don't get it' about four times before I got it. Me am tick.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 12:41 (nineteen years ago) link

I only realised THIS MORNING that Adam Ant was a pun.

― Johnney B (Johnney B), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 12:44 (nineteen years ago) link

I still don't get 'yerself is steam' :( :( :(

― Archel (Archel), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 13:05 (nineteen years ago) link

Your self-esteem.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 13:08 (nineteen years ago) link

(That's a pretty bad pun, innit?)

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 13:08 (nineteen years ago) link

I didn't get that either, Archel.

― caitlin (caitlin), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 13:11 (nineteen years ago) link

It took me decades to figure out the joke in "If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?"

― Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 13:14 (nineteen years ago) link

your self esteem -- it's not a very good pun.

― dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 13:14 (nineteen years ago) link

[i]I only realised THIS MORNING that Adam Ant was a pun.[/i]

OMG!!! I hadn't seen that either! How embarrassing.

― Hanna (Hanna), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 13:15 (nineteen years ago) link

Haha, neither had I!

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 13:16 (nineteen years ago) link

Conclusion: all these puns are rubbish.

― Archel (Archel), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 13:31 (nineteen years ago) link

"Don't think twice, it's alright" I was listening to this last night and *ding* it's saying both "don't bother" and "don't even begin to think leaving me was okay."

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 13:32 (nineteen years ago) link

That's not a pun; it's just ambiguity

― caitlin (caitlin), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 13:37 (nineteen years ago) link

the self esteem one works better in certain accents.

― ken c (ken c), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 13:39 (nineteen years ago) link

I only got Aladdin Sane ("A lad insane") like last year or something. That was embarassing.

― papa november (papa november), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 13:43 (nineteen years ago) link

I never got that... wow.

― Archel (Archel), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 13:43 (nineteen years ago) link

It took me decades to figure out the joke in "If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?"

Yep, me too.

― papa november (papa november), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 13:47 (nineteen years ago) link

i knew the "insane" bit but never thought of "a lad"!

― ken c (ken c), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 13:47 (nineteen years ago) link

isn't it about bowies brother, who had severe mental problems & committed suicide?

― DJ Salinger (joni), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 14:00 (nineteen years ago) link

Haha, I never got any of these before (Yerself is Steam, Adam Ant, Aladdin Sane)!

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 14:05 (nineteen years ago) link

It was "See you next Wednesday" in the Thriller video, which isn't a pun, but it is a phrase director John Landis puts in every one of his movies.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 15:21 (nineteen years ago) link

The michaael jackson video where MJ and girl are eating popcorn. The film ends and the announcer says "See you next tuesday".

I so don't get it.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 15:32 (nineteen years ago) link

i think the answer lies in mark's tenuous grasp of 'pun'.

― mark p (Mark P), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 15:34 (nineteen years ago) link

.. and I was fibbing anyway.

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 15:37 (nineteen years ago) link

that's like C U Next Tuesday, right?

― ken c (ken c), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 15:54 (nineteen years ago) link

I never got the visual pun of the 7-Up "Uncola" glass until some advanced age of decrepitude.

― Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 16:07 (nineteen years ago) link

walking up some steps just the other day, it struck me:
Rap City ... Rhadsody!

also, i amazingly didn't get Lipps, Inc. until quite recently. sheesh.

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 19:01 (nineteen years ago) link

I am now worried that there are loads of puns out there I haven't got yet.

Is I Love Everything a pun?

― DV (dirtyvicar), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 19:17 (nineteen years ago) link

This happens to me absolutely all the time, and in some cases -- even worse -- with that nagging must-be-a-pun sense that drives one nuts: I'm happy to have the Mercury Rev one finally worked out for me. I can't think of any good recent examples, though: the last one I recall was hearing a Spinanes song and noticing the "inane" in there.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 19:34 (nineteen years ago) link

I didn't get Yerself is Steam either. Knew all the others mentioned here, although admittedly it took a while for me to realise with Manda Rin.

Perry Farrell took a while, too.

― MarkH (MarkH), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 19:39 (nineteen years ago) link

In similar news I had a long and frustrating conversation with someone wherein I was pointing out, with amazement, that the title of Philip Roth's The Human Stain could be read in two different ways, and that ads for the film version seemed to be inflecting it in the one of those two ways that I hadn’t thought of. Unfortunately I couldn’t seem to make the different inflections clear to the person I was talking to. I’ll try it with you guys: I had always read the title (without having read the book) as being “The Human Stain” like “The Human Condition”; the film trailer suddenly made me realize it was possibly supposed to be “The Human Stain” like “The Human Cannonball” or “The Human Calculator,” referring to the individual character.

I share this only because I need some reassurance that I wasn't being a bonehead in this conversation.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 19:40 (nineteen years ago) link

And wait, what's the pun with Perry Farrell? (If it's supposed to be "peripheral," that is the worst thing I have ever heard.)

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 19:40 (nineteen years ago) link

It's not a pun, it's a spoonerism.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 19:43 (nineteen years ago) link

yes Nabisco, peripheral.

― MarkH (MarkH), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 19:46 (nineteen years ago) link

Suddenly that's better than the "Ferry Peril" Spoonerism I thought Dan was hinting toward.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 19:47 (nineteen years ago) link

Aw.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 19:48 (nineteen years ago) link

Skipping 1548 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

also - snakes and ladders is another game that's called something different in the US

― Benson and the Jets (ENBB), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 14:19 (two months ago) link

Found out last year that Sorry is called Mensch ärgere Dich nicht in German which means something like Man, don't be angry. That tickled me.

― Benson and the Jets (ENBB), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 14:22 (two months ago) link

also - snakes and ladders is another game that's called something different in the US

Is it Chutes and Ladders?

― B. Amato (Boring, Maryland), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 14:40 (two months ago) link

Yes because you slide down chutes and go up ladders

Not sure how many people have ever slid down a snake. Maybe it happens a lot in the UK idk

― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 14:46 (two months ago) link

A snake looks better than a chute.

― The British Boy of Film Classification (Tom D.), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 14:47 (two months ago) link

... it's (yet another) game the British brought back from India where the snakes have a deeper meaning than just something you slide down... apparently.

― The British Boy of Film Classification (Tom D.), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 14:50 (two months ago) link

chutes are just fundamentally less exciting than snakes

― This is Dance Anthems, have some respect (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 14:55 (two months ago) link

Personally I would definitely prefer having my butt on a chute vs. a snake; your opinion may vary.

Snakes? Not my kink. And also consent is an issue. Have the snakes enthusiastically consented to this arrangement?

― Sane clown posse (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 15:01 (two months ago) link

the snakes are willing participants, if anything it's their idea

― This is Dance Anthems, have some respect (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 15:05 (two months ago) link

The do tend to look very jolly on the playing board

― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 15:16 (two months ago) link

why do the snakes have to consent, they're not eating your ass

― Neanderthal, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 15:25 (two months ago) link

Someone doesn’t know how to play snakes and ladders correctly

― the new drip king (DJP), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 15:38 (two months ago) link

chutes are just fundamentally less exciting than snakes

― This is Dance Anthems, have some respect (Camaraderie at Arms Length)

Until they fail to open.

― nickn, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 17:05 (two months ago) link

my chute's closed baby

― Neanderthal, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 17:46 (two months ago) link

like I said

― Cemetry Gaetz (DJP), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 19:33 (two months ago) link

The other day my wife pointed out a Masonic Temple and I realised that I had been missing a particular album title’s pun for over 30 years.

― Kraal Disorientation Chamber (emsworth), Tuesday, 20 February 2024 08:54 (one month ago) link

Then there's this, kinda going back the other way:

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51XFKDJ3HEL._SR600%2C315_PIWhiteStrip%2CBottomLeft%2C0%2C35_PIStarRatingFIVE%2CBottomLeft%2C360%2C-6_SR600%2C315_SCLZZZZZZZ_FMpng_BG255%2C255%2C255.jpg

― JRN, Wednesday, 21 February 2024 22:33 (one month ago) link

Neu - Seeland

― This is Dance Anthems, have some respect (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 27 February 2024 19:29 (one month ago) link

ha nice!

― assert (matttkkkk), Tuesday, 27 February 2024 22:40 (one month ago) link

two weeks pass...

Welcome Inn

― Alba, Thursday, 14 March 2024 06:22 (one month ago) link

Right next to the Dew Drop Inn!

― Don’t Want to Say Goodbye Jumbo (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 14 March 2024 06:25 (one month ago) link

as someone who used to drink in a dew drop inn thirty years ago can I just say, fuck.

― gene besserit (ledge), Thursday, 14 March 2024 06:38 (one month ago) link

Have enjoyed a drink at the Done Right Inn....

― m0stly clean (Slowsquatch), Thursday, 14 March 2024 07:41 (one month ago) link

there was a dew drop inn right across from my house in london for years; at one point it changed proprietors and they changed the name to “the dew drop” 🤦

― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 14 March 2024 08:22 (one month ago) link

it doesn't work with an English accent, so I'm sure they missed it too

― This is Dance Anthems, have some respect (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, 14 March 2024 09:16 (one month ago) link

It works with a Norfolk accent.

― man in suit and red tie raising his fist (Tom D.), Thursday, 14 March 2024 09:28 (one month ago) link

That Caran d'Ache, the pencil company, takes its name from the Russian word for pencil. I did lots of drawing in high school and also took Russian, but somehow I never put the two words together before.

― Lily Dale, Thursday, 21 March 2024 00:03 (four weeks ago) link

This shitty meme just turned on a light in my head.

https://i.imgur.com/DezcbV3.png

https://i.imgur.com/oDiKoDS.png

― pplains, Saturday, 23 March 2024 00:33 (three weeks ago) link

GOOP being in some way a play on Gwyneth Paltrow's name had escaped my attention until today.

― Alba, Tuesday, 26 March 2024 12:10 (three weeks ago) link

Filofax = file of facts

― Zelda Zonk, Tuesday, 26 March 2024 16:07 (three weeks ago) link

Filet-o-fish = filet of fish

― G. D’Arcy Cheesewright (silby), Tuesday, 26 March 2024 20:01 (three weeks ago) link

but.. so like

― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 26 March 2024 22:30 (three weeks ago) link

Ummm...

― your mom goes to limgrave (dog latin), Tuesday, 26 March 2024 23:15 (three weeks ago) link

three weeks pass...

I guess I'm even worse at puns than I thought. It literally just occurred to me that WhatsApp is a pun.
― Zelda Zonk, Wednesday, 17 January 2024 05:07 (three months ago) link

Yep, came here to post same

― Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 13:36 (two days ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NXnxTNIWkc

― Andrew Goldsoundz (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 14:10 (two days ago) link

I get to hear that at least once a month at karaoke, usually minus the big hat

― Andrew Goldsoundz (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 14:10 (two days ago) link

Looking in the freezer last night, I realized that "Summertime Rolls" by Jane's Addiction must be a play on spring rolls.

― Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 16:19 (two days ago) link

In the states and went into a thrift store…

Good Will Hunting?

― Chewshabadoo, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 16:35 (two days ago) link

Yep

― m0stly clean (Slowsquatch), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 17:11 (two days ago) link

Does Goodwill feature prominently in the movie (never seen it).

― President of the Canadian Council of Bassoonists (Boring, Maryland), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 17:28 (two days ago) link

...me neither, I just always assumed it was a pun...

― m0stly clean (Slowsquatch), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 17:53 (two days ago) link

on the phrase we are all saying all the time, "Goodwill hunting"

― G. D’Arcy Cheesewright (silby), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 17:59 (two days ago) link

After puzzling over it, I concluded it referred to Damon and Affleck appealing to producers to show them some good will by bankrolling their project.

― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 18:06 (two days ago) link

Skylar has inherited money under a will, but learns that what is truly important is human connection with a man named Will. The movie Good Will Hunting tells the journey of Skylar "hunting" her emotions about the "good" Will out from among the complex web of feelings she has around the "bad" will.

The sequel Good Will Hunting 2: aka Applesauce, Byiatch! did not receive a wide release.

― felicity, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 18:24 (two days ago) link

isn't the character's name Will Hunting (I also haven't seen it)

― G. D’Arcy Cheesewright (silby), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 18:45 (two days ago) link

Yes

― CEO Greedwagon (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 18:53 (two days ago) link

on the phrase we are all saying all the time, "Goodwill hunting"

I am almost crying from laughing at this

― Cemetry Gaetz (DJP), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 19:22 (two days ago) link

so was I

― felicity, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 19:23 (two days ago) link

no no no, "Will Hunting" is what Matt Damon calls his penis

― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 19:23 (two days ago) link

― CEO Greedwagon (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 21:30 (two days ago) link

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