# My hovercraft is full of eels? Whaa? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 8, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227 "2003-10-08T04:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/1 "2003-10-08T04:46:08Z")
I feel like I should be embarassed to ask this. Maybe I was on vacation when this daffy line was born. I just don’t know. One poster even carries it as a sig. “My hovercraft is full of eels.” Where did it come from?😕 ---
**Author:** ![Trucido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Trucido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trucido)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/2 "2003-10-08T04:55:57Z")
Monty Python sketch. Involved a Hungarian tourist with a mischevous phrasebook. ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/3 "2003-10-08T05:11:21Z")
My nipples explode with delight! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/4 "2003-10-08T05:25:42Z")
I will not buy this tobacconist. It is scratched. ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/5 "2003-10-08T05:40:45Z")
Please fondle my bum. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/6 "2003-10-08T05:47:05Z")
To amplify: It’s a line from a Monty Python sketch in which a foreign tourist comes into an English shop and attempts to communicate with the shopkeeper via a phrasebook that contains all sorts of silly nonsense. Picture a man earnestly looking through a phrasebook and then carefully saying to the shopkeep “My . . . _hovercraft_ . . . is full of _eels_!” Funny sketch, as is most of Monty Python. IMO. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/7 "2003-10-08T06:23:56Z")
Hmmmmm Left… at… laaahhhhhhts. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/8 "2003-10-08T06:45:33Z")
Would you like to come back to my place, bouncy-bouncy? ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/9 "2003-10-08T06:48:06Z")
Remove your panties Sir William, I cannot wait 'till lunchtime. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/10 "2003-10-08T12:18:47Z")
[The Script](http://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/python/Scripts/TheHungarianPhrasebookSketch) [the characters](http://www.humorlinks.com/python/pictures/different/8.html) Being guilty of this myself, why is it that fans of MP get such a kick out of the nonsequitur insertion of random sketch lines into daily conversation? I suspect that there is some sort of perceived relevance, but if you have to explain it… BURMA! ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/11 "2003-10-08T12:32:16Z")
Sometimes I read these thread titles too fast. Coulda sworn it said my **Lovecraft** if full of eels. “The Eels in the Walls,” anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/12 "2003-10-08T13:29:18Z")
Don’t panick, **cantera**. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/13 "2003-10-08T13:41:13Z")
What’s all this, then!?! ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/14 "2003-10-08T13:44:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cantara \* > [B… why is it that fans of MP get such a kick out of the nonsequitur insertion of random sketch lines into daily conversation? \*\* It’s one of the earlier warning signs of a debilitating syndrome known as **Dr. E. Henry Thripshaw’s Disease**. We just can’t help it, it’s related to tourette’s syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/15 "2003-10-08T13:53:56Z")
Now stop that, it’s silly! we are such geeks ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/16 "2003-10-08T14:10:16Z")
My wife and I took it one step further. We just planted a tree in our back yard. Any guesses as to the species? Hint: we wanted one we could identify from far away! 😃 Oh hell! What am I saying? Look at my frigging username. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/17 "2003-10-08T14:22:08Z")
The larch. The larch. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/18 "2003-10-08T14:34:24Z")
You got it. Still haven’t gotten around to planting the bloody lupines. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/19 "2003-10-08T15:17:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by h.sapiens \* > \*\*The larch. The larch. \*\* As soon as I saw **Dinsdale’s** question, I was really hoping someone would respond with “The Larch.”, then accidentally double-post. I would have cried with laughter. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227/20 "2003-10-08T15:25:53Z")
The worst is… NI! I think that “My Lovecraft is full of eels” is fantastic! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels-whaa/206227.md?page=2)