# "Helen Highwater" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 4, 2020, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025 "2020-06-04T04:47:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/21 "2020-06-05T19:17:58Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > Some other Doc Martin patient names > > Paul Mycock > Drew Peacock > Anita Bush > Dan Gleballs (I think we also met his wife, but it was just Mrs. Gleballs) > Ben Twilly > Noah Cant > Teresa Green > > There was also a patient who was an elderly lady named Alice Cooper and a girl named Melanie Gibson. Alice Cooper was pretty clearly a joke, maybe Melanie Gibson wasn’t but I’m guessing it was. I’m afraid I don’t get “Teresa Green” or “Melanie Gibson.” > [@MLS](#): > > I once met a real person named Anita Gnapp. Her parents were not native English speakers and didn’t understand the meaning. I told her it could have been worse; her surname could have been Mann. I went to college with a girl named Anita Goodman. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/22 "2020-06-05T19:24:54Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I went to college with a girl named Anita Goodman. A couple of years ago, Iowa City police broke up a prostitution ring. One of the women who was arrested for prostitution was named [Amanda Guzzle](https://b100quadcities.com/three-of-twelve-arrested-in-iowa-prostitution-ring-from-the-quad-cities/). I sure hope that was a pseudonym. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/23 "2020-06-05T19:51:17Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I’m afraid I don’t get “Teresa Green” or “Melanie Gibson.” The diminutive of “Melanie” is “Mel.” Ergo, her friends probably call her “Mel Gibson.” I’m guessing that spoken aloud, “Teresa Green” sounds like Jimmy Durante saying “Trees are green.” ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/24 "2020-06-05T20:19:29Z")
The old _Carmen Sandiego_ game series had these sorts of joke names for some of the members of Carmen’s gang. IIRC they had names like: Justin Case, Warren Peace, Sarah Nade, and so forth. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/25 "2020-06-05T20:23:07Z")
It’s one of the oldest joke names… but when I was in junior high school, there really was a kid named Michael Hunt. He insisted on going by Michael, and no one followed his wishes. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/26 "2020-06-05T20:29:50Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > It’s one of the oldest joke names… but when I was in junior high school, there really was a kid named Michael Hunt. He insisted on going by Michael, and no one followed his wishes. I’d love to hear this one turn up on _ **Doc Martin** _. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/27 "2020-06-06T04:33:09Z")
I can’t find the article right now but during one of the horrendously bad storms a few winters ago a newspaper reporter took a quote from a Jack Mehoff and no one noticed before it went to print. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/28 "2020-06-06T05:02:46Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > It’s one of the oldest joke names… but when I was in junior high school, there really was a kid named Michael Hunt. He insisted on going by Michael, and no one followed his wishes. When I was in grade school, in Green Bay, the Packers had [a linebacker named Mike Hunt](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/H/HuntMi20.htm) (and, yes, he did go by “Mike,” rather than “Michael”). It was an endless source of humor among us 13 year olds. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/29 "2020-06-06T06:59:21Z")
Comic/actress [Kate Micucci](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2177528/) has a side gig called “Playing with Micucci.” Here she is, discussing it with Conan: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6C6CzEEKaXQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Kate Micucci Knows Exactly What Her Last Name Sounds Like | CONAN on TBS") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C6CzEEKaXQ) ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/30 "2020-06-06T07:07:51Z")
Not the same thing, but similarly funny: the name of the physician on 30 Rock was pronounced “Dr. Spah-chemmin” but spelled “Dr. Spaceman.” For some reason that joke never gets old for me. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/31 "2020-06-06T17:01:51Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > I once met a real person named Anita Gnapp. Her parents were not native English speakers and didn’t understand the meaning. I told her it could have been worse; her surname could have been Mann. With a British accent Anita sounds like “a neater” rather than “I need a” so I initially missed the joke. Anita Bush on the other hand works in both dialects 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/32 "2020-06-06T17:14:15Z")
Double post. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/33 "2020-06-06T18:33:14Z")
Just be sure you show proper respect to William M. Buttlicker: ['OUR PRICES HAVE NEVER BEEN LOWER!' - The Office US - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QQBB3cwNM0) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2020, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/34 "2020-06-07T15:40:35Z")
Mork and Mindy once had guest characters called Mr and Mrs Wanker. I know that’s a real surname and the swearword wasn’t widely known in the US at the time, but the way Mindy repeatedly enunciated Mr Wanker with great emphasis makes me think the writers knew full well what they were doing. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/35 "2020-06-07T15:55:46Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I once had a student whose surname was “Vagina,” pronounced “VA-gee-na” with a hard “g.” When she handed me her registration slip, the only thing I could think of to say was “Are you sure your name’s spelled correctly?” Was her first name Alotta? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/36 "2020-06-07T17:55:15Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I’m afraid I don’t get “Teresa Green” or “Melanie Gibson.” The first one sounds like “trees are green” The second … Mel Gibson? I can’t work it into a pun. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/37 "2020-06-07T18:37:04Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > When I was in grade school, in Green Bay, the Packers had [a linebacker named Mike Hunt](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/H/HuntMi20.htm) (and, yes, he did go by “Mike,” rather than “Michael”). It was an endless source of humor among us 13 year olds. In a previous life I had to frequently speak by phone to someone in our German branch named Michael Hunt. Although his English was impeccable I don’t know if he knew how his name has been used in English. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2020, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/38 "2020-06-07T18:59:13Z")
There’s always Dr. Beardface from _Scrubs_. “It’s pronounced _beard-fuh-say_. It’s French!” ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2020, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/39 "2020-06-07T18:59:50Z")
I have suggested before in discussing James Bond movies that they should have a vilain’s henchman named Isaac Hunt. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025/40 "2020-06-07T21:30:51Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Was her first name Alotta? Not quite. I won’t write it here, but it was a Russian name that did indeed sound somewhat suggestive (to an English speaker) when paired with her surname. :o [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-highwater/855025.md?page=3)