# Illustratable puns on names of painters, poets, musicians, and physicists **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2017, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827 "2017-04-05T17:13:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/1 "2017-04-05T17:13:31Z")
Whenever someone successfully defends their doctoral thesis at our research lab, we throw them a big party and play games. The games usually involve slides-based quizzes and challenges, such as [PowerPoint Karaoke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powerpoint-Karaoke). We try to theme the games around the new doctor’s personal and/or research interests. My colleague Lucie is next up to defend her thesis. Lucie is doing her doctorate in computational linguistics, and she is a big fan of painting, poetry, music (especially hard rock and heavy metal), and physics. I’ve volunteered to create a game. But I need help! I’ve settled on a game of puns. I want to take the names of famous painters, poets, musicians, and physicists, and “punnify” them by substituting a similar-sounding word for the first or last name. (Or if the first or last name already sounds similar to the first or last name of some other famous person, I might combine the two names.) For each modified name I’ll then photoshop an illustration and put it on a slide. Lucie’s job will be to guess the pun for each slide. Example slides: [ul] [li]A narwhal wearing glasses and a floppy silver wig. The answer is “Andy Narwhal” (a pun on “Andy Warhol”).[/li][li]A lemon wearing granny glasses. The answer is “John Lemon” (a pun on “John Lennon”). [/li][li]The painting [“The Kiss”](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/The_Kiss_-_Gustav_Klimt_-_Google_Cultural_Institute.jpg/478px-The_Kiss_-_Gustav_Klimt_-_Google_Cultural_Institute.jpg) with Clint Eastwood’s face superimposed over the woman’s. The answer is “Klimt Eastwood” (a pun on “Gustav Klimt” and “Clint Eastwood”).[/li][/ul] Anyone have ideas for any more? (I’d be happy to credit you at the end of the game!) ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/2 "2017-04-05T17:30:26Z")
Some dollar bills with the Bridge at Giverny in place of the presidential portrait. [Claude Money/Claude Monet] A candy box, open, with bits of select poems: _O Captain, My Captain_, _Song of Myself_, _I Sing The Body Electric_. [(Walt) Whitman’s Sampler] A pterodactyl sculpting The Thinker. [Auguste Rodan/Rodin] ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/3 "2017-04-06T16:48:24Z")
As this isn’t actually a game, it might work better over on Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/4 "2017-04-07T09:55:19Z")
Maybe. Could a mod consider moving this thread? ---
**Author:** ![MickNickMaggies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/59ef9b/32.png) [@MickNickMaggies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MickNickMaggies)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/5 "2017-04-07T15:08:49Z")
A lovely card I got many years ago featured railroad tracks slightly too short to meet each other with two fastening spikes lying on the ground beside them. Two loose, low track. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/6 "2017-04-07T17:17:43Z")
You didn’t mention cineastic art, but if we allow for it, I would suggest a triple: [this rhino](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%BCrer%27s_Rhinoceros#/media/File:The_Rhinoceros_(NGA_1964.8.697)_enhanced.png), on rollerskates, slowly bumping down the stairs of a funnel-shaped structure like an amfitheatre. Albrecht Eisenstein! ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/7 "2017-04-07T19:24:15Z")
> [@MickNickMaggies](#): > > A lovely card I got many years ago featured railroad tracks slightly too short to meet each other with two fastening spikes lying on the ground beside them. > > Two loose, low track. Is that you? I gave someone a similar card around 30 years ago. I don’t remember exactly what the picture was, something like your description, only it was set in France, and the caption was “Too loose, le track.” If I remember correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/8 "2017-04-07T19:52:26Z")
A [POD](http://68.media.tumblr.com/208aec71b0323fa261d478757cf2c786/tumblr_inline_nnudhhj3e61rxypxb_400.jpg) with Boris Badenov holding a lone ski and an owl. [Boris Podowlski/Podolsky] ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/9 "2017-04-07T20:22:46Z")
Probably need to be a big fan of “M_A_S\*H” to get this one. Fats Waller in a pickelhaube outside a shopping mall. [Gustav Maller/Mahler] ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/10 "2017-04-07T20:51:30Z")
- A lunch counter with melting clocks everywhere (Salvador Dali/Deli) -A Van Gogh self-portrait with goat facial features added (Vincent Van Goat) -A persimmon with Gene Simmons demon makeup (Gene Persimmons) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/11 "2017-04-07T21:19:36Z")
What artist personified the Clinton gays-in-the-military policy? Donatello (don’t ask/don’t tell). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/12 "2017-04-07T22:12:08Z")
> [@journeyman\_southpaw](#): > > -A Van Gogh self-portrait with goat facial features added (Vincent Van Goat) [Eleanor](http://imcdb.org/vehicle_2211-Shelby-GT-500-1967.html) with a _Starry Night_ paint job. [Vincent Van Gone] ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/13 "2017-04-08T04:03:46Z")
Schwarzenegger with sunglasses and a long, curly, powdered wig: “I’ll be Bach.” Nietzche with a Superman logo? Carl Jung with four or five shambling sleeepwalkers, the “Collective Unconscious”? Fat Caesar in Divine drag: “Latin Mass” Updated Ninja Turtles: A cubist-looking Picasso, a paintball-splattered Pollock, a color-gridded Mondrian, a Seurat with lots of pastel dots… ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/14 "2017-04-08T04:07:20Z")
Leslie Gore, go-go-boots, bouffant hair, mini-dress, and slasher film make-up… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/15 "2017-04-19T18:36:45Z")
[This guy.](http://www.gettyimages.com/photos/san-diego-padres-mike-colangelo?excludenudity=true&sort=mostpopular&mediatype=photography&phrase=san%20diego%20padres%20mike%20colangelo) [Mike Colangelo|Michelangelo] ---
**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:** [April 19, 2017, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/16 "2017-04-19T23:10:42Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > You didn’t mention cineastic art, but if we allow for it, I would suggest a triple: [this rhino](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%BCrer%27s_Rhinoceros#/media/File:The_Rhinoceros_(NGA_1964.8.697)_enhanced.png), on rollerskates, slowly bumping down the stairs of a funnel-shaped structure like an amfitheatre. > > Albrecht Eisenstein! Sorry rain on your parade, but the director’s first name was Sergei. ☹ ---
**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:** [April 19, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/17 "2017-04-19T23:25:03Z")
Isaac Newton squeezing oranges. “Juice” Newton, geddit? 😃 A Matchbox SUV with Beethoven’s face on the front. “A little Ludwig Van,” eh? 😉 A TOS phaser with a picture of the 40th US president on the handle. A “Ronnie Ray-Gun.” Heh-heh! 🆒 ---
**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:** [April 19, 2017, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/18 "2017-04-19T23:40:19Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > A TOS phaser with a picture of the 40th US president on the handle. > > A “Ronnie Ray-Gun.” Heh-heh! 🆒 I was going with the “cinema artiste” drift… ---
**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:** [April 19, 2017, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/19 "2017-04-19T23:57:48Z")
No photoshopping necessary: William and Kate’s little son. Boy George, of course! ---
**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:** [April 20, 2017, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827/20 "2017-04-20T00:33:14Z")
**This woman** , photoshopped bald: [![](http://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_band/2107.JPG) ](http://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_band/2107.JPG) A shaved Bush. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illustratable-puns-on-names-of-painters-poets-musicians-and-physicists/783827.md?page=2)