# Favourite movie puns and/or punny movies
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 3, 2018, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354 "2018-06-03T13:44:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2018, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/1 "2018-06-03T13:44:32Z")
I’m studying the use of puns in feature films and how they’re translated for the foreign releases. I’m trying to come up with some good case studies. Can anyone recommend some English-language movies that are particularly famous for their use of puns? Or alternatively, can anyone quote some particularly famous punning jokes from movie dialogue, even if the rest of the movie is not particularly punny? (Translations are not required—I can look into those myself.)
I’m particularly (but not exclusively) interested in puns that refer to something visible in the scene, as those are challenging to translate. In these cases, the translator can’t simply substitute a different joke with an entirely different meaning, but has to have the character say something (hopefully funny) about the visible item. An example would be the [“I brought you flours” scene](https://youtu.be/c2tqVQX_H3c?t=47s) in _[Stranger than Fiction](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0420223/)_. The French version does a decent job on this, having Will Ferrell’s character bring “_fleur de farine_” (a type of fine flour whose name literally means “flower of flour”). By contrast, the German version abandons any attempt at wordplay, along with most of the humour, having Ferrell present flour (_Mehl_) with the excuse “_Blumen schenkt jeder._” (“Everyone [else] gives flowers.”)
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2018, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/2 "2018-06-03T13:59:33Z")
First thing that sprang to my mind: [“He’s just a little horse”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmfglOvNhMk) from _Top Secret!_
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2018, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/3 "2018-06-03T14:06:21Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> First thing that sprang to my mind: [“He’s just a little horse”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmfglOvNhMk) from _Top Secret!_
(Surely there must be other puns in Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker films, but I can’t think of good examples right now that have that visual element you want. And don’t call me Shirley!)
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2018, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/4 "2018-06-03T14:27:37Z")
I haven’t seen Airplane! in yonks, but I remember it being full of visual gags/puns, from Otto Pilot to a drinking problem.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2018, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/5 "2018-06-03T14:30:21Z")
Mel Brooks’ movies are full of them. Just off the top of my head:
“Bring me a small lyre!” - _History of the World Part 1_
“The jig is up!” - see above
“Werewolf!” - _Young Frankenstein_
“What knockers!” - see above
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/6 "2018-06-03T15:20:07Z")
Here’s a real wild example for you. The movie _La Victoire en chantant_ was titled _Black and White in Color_ in the US (and won a foreign film Oscar). When it was reissued the next year, the title was changed to _Noirs et Blancs en couleur_, which puns on " Noirs et Blancs en coulere." The phrase translates to “Blacks and Whites Angry,” which is a pretty good description of the story.
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### Author:  [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/7 "2018-06-03T20:12:06Z")
One of my favorites from \*The Great Race \*(1965) after the hero **(Leslie)** has escaped with the help of a monk…
**Max** : “ **Leslie** escaped with a small friar!”
**General** : “ **Leslie** escaped with a chicken?!”
Cracks me up every time…
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2018, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/8 "2018-06-03T20:20:03Z")
Speaking of Airplane!
Give me Ham on five, hold the Mayo
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### Author:  [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2018, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/9 "2018-06-03T21:25:34Z")
I am taking a wild guess that the film Bruce Almighty didn’t originally have that title, and that the name Bruce was substituted when someone decided that the name Gord (short for Gordon) made the title offensive.
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### Author:  [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2018, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/10 "2018-06-03T21:30:45Z")
Did _The Handmaid’s Tale_ (1990) contain the same pun the book did - “There is a bomb in Gilead” (from “balm in Gilead”, referencing an old hymn)?
I never saw the film.
PS - to me, that book turned out to be the most involved set-up for a single pun ever devised.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2018, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/11 "2018-06-03T22:01:40Z")
> [@psychonaut](#):
>
> By contrast, the German version abandons any attempt at wordplay, along with most of the humour,…
Why does this not surprise me? 😛
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/12 "2018-06-03T23:16:54Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> First thing that sprang to my mind: [“He’s just a little horse”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmfglOvNhMk) from _Top Secret!_
_Top Secret!_ is one of my favorite movies, with lots of visual humor, but I can only think of one other joke / pun that fits the OP’s request:
Hillary says, “I know a little German,” (in the context of needing to speak the language) then follows it with, “He’s sitting over there.” She then waves, and a little person in lederhosen stands up and waves back to her.
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### Author:  [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2018, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/13 "2018-06-04T04:16:41Z")
" You killed Mozart"
“Who is Mo Zart?”
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### Author:  [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2018, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/14 "2018-06-04T04:22:35Z")
In the movie “Spaceballs”, there is a scene where the good guys jam the bad guys’ radar by launching a jar of raspberry jam at a radar dish (pun #1). Then they make a joke about “giving the raspberry” (pun #2).
When I watched “La folle histoire de l’espace” (French for “The crazy space story”), they didn’t even try to keep the wordplay. “De la confiture? Framboise!”
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2018, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/15 "2018-06-04T04:37:31Z")
Slightly related, but not exactly:
I was in Brazil and went to the movies with a Canadian friend. We went to **Monty Python’s** \*The Meaning of Life.
- (subtitled)
We were the only two in theater laughing.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/16 "2018-06-04T14:35:35Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> _Top Secret!_ is one of my favorite movies, with lots of visual humor, but I can only think of one other joke / pun that fits the OP’s request:
>
> Hillary says, “I know a little German,” (in the context of needing to speak the language) then follows it with, “He’s sitting over there.” She then waves, and a little person in lederhosen stands up and waves back to her.
I thought about mentioning that, too, but decided it was too similar to my other example, since both play on two senses of “little.”
But it now occurs to me that the names of the French Resistance, while not exactly puns, might pose a translation problem.
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### Author:  [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2018, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/17 "2018-06-04T14:46:49Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> (Surely there must be other puns in Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker films, but I can’t think of good examples right now that have that visual element you want. And don’t call me Shirley!)
I don’t recall if this is from one of the Naked Gun movies, or from the related TV series. But Leslie Nielson and his crew storm into some sort of store or office with their guns and badges out. The large-breasted girl behind the counter says, “Is this some kind of bust?” Leslie looks at her chest and says, “Yes, ma’am, it’s very impressive, but we need to ask you a few questions.”
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### Author:  [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/18 "2018-06-04T14:49:54Z")
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and especially its sequel are absolutely chock full of puns (most of them food based)
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### Author:  [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2018, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/19 "2018-06-04T15:05:07Z")
Two puns from Naked Gun back-to-back:
[Frank looking up at Jane wearing a skirt climbing a ladder]
Frank: Nice beaver!
Jane: [producing a stuffed beaver] Thank you. I just had it stuffed.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS3LWOTCW4A)
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-movie-puns-and-or-punny-movies/815354/20 "2018-06-04T15:20:48Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> I thought about mentioning that, too, but decided it was too similar to my other example, since both play on two senses of “little.”
>
> But it now occurs to me that the names of the French Resistance, while not exactly puns, might pose a translation problem.
My favorite of those is when she introduces the Resistance fighter named “Deja Vo” and he immediately says “We have met before, monsieur, no?”
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