# The Best Pun Title Awards **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 28, 2026, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077 "2026-02-28T14:14:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/1 "2026-02-28T14:14:14Z")
As I observed in the “Amanda Seyfried and the Prosthetic Butthole” thread, certain articles (and other things) sometimes come up with superb puns, and I suggested that there ought to be a special award for them. In lieu of this, I submit the following thread for Great Punning Titles. Here are the criteria: 1.) The title must be a pun, ideally related to the title of some famous or classic work. If a lot of Dopers aren’t familiar with that work and object to it, tough. A lot of things that used to be famous or required knowledge have fallen out of fashion these days. 2.) The pun and title ought not to be “forced” – it’s much better if things work out so that the pun fits very well naturally. 3.) Titles can be of magazine articles, internet articles, or the titles of works of art – books, plays, operas, poems, even television shows or videogames or the like. An example of the type of pun (although it’s not actually the title of anything, and is pretty artificial since he had to set up the scene) was Dick Cavett’s suggestion that a photograph of Buster Keaton looking at Aristotle Onassis’ mansion be entitled “Buster Contemplating the Home of Aristotle.”. Which is hilarious is you’re familiar with Rembrandt’s painting _Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer_, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC: > **[Pardon Our Interruption...](https://www.ebay.com/itm/322903847537)** I’m not sure how familiar Dopers are with this work of art. Appreciation of the pun requires familiarity – if you gotta explain the joke, it don’t work. Hence my saying thsat if you don’t know it, tough. I’m faniliar with it, so it works for me. Doubtless I’ll be unfamiliar with a lot of the suggestions offered. Tha’s OK. But the joke ought to work with some sizeable population. My nominees: 1.) “Looking Into Chapman’s Homer: The Physics of Judging a Fly Ball” by Peter Brancazio in American Journal of Physics **53** (9) p. 849-855 (1985). “Chapman” in this case, was the author of an even earlier AJP article from 1968 on baseball. The punning reference is to John Keats’ 1816 sonnet about experiencing George Chapman’s translation of _The Odyssey_. If you think that’s too highfalutin’, the guys who wrote _Bored of the Rings_ used this as one of the blurbs on the back cover of that parody. Of course, they were from Harvard, where they’re force-fed this stuff. [https://pubs.aip.org/aapt/ajp/article-abstract/53/9/849/1052647/Looking-into-Chapman-s-homer-The-physics-of?redirectedFrom=fulltext](https://pubs.aip.org/aapt/ajp/article-abstract/53/9/849/1052647/Looking-into-Chapman-s-homer-The-physics-of?redirectedFrom=fulltext) > **[On First Looking into Chapman's Homer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_First_Looking_into_Chapman's_Homer)** > > "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet John Keats. Written in October 1816, it tells of Keats' sense of wonder and amazement upon first reading the translation of the Odyssey by Elizabethan playwright George Chapman. The poem has become an oft-quoted classic that is cited to demonstrate the emotional power of a great work of art and its ability to evoke an epiphany in its beholder. > Keats's generation was familiar enough with the polished literar... 2.) “Quigley Down Under” on the blog _Shadowplay_, about the “Barbie Doll Appliance that “Scream Queen” actress Linnea Quigley wore in the 1985 film _Return of the Living Dead_. The other reference is to Tom Selleck’s 1990 gunslinger-in-Australia film of the same title. > **[Quigley Down Under](https://dcairns.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/quigley-down-under/)** > > Rosario Dawson: has vagina. One aspect of Danny Boyle’s new film TRANCE (a remake of a feature by screenwriter Joe Ahearne) which doesn’t seem to have excited as much comment as one mig… [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102744/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102744/) 3.) “The Fight of the Felix” – a 1970 episode of the TV sitcom _The Odd Couple_ in which Felix Unger (Tony Randall) has to face a challenge in the boxing ring. Recalling, of course, Elleston Trevor’s 1964 novel _The Flight of the Phoenix_ and the 1965 movie made from it. (The 2004 remake came later) [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0664283/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0664283/) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Flight\_of\_the\_Phoenix\_(1965\_film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flight_of_the_Phoenix%5C_(1965_film)) > [@Amanda Seyfried and the Prosthetic Butthole](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amanda-seyfried-and-the-prosthetic-butthole/1028054/16): > > I wonder if there is some weird rule of the MPA (the group that gives out the G, PG, R, etc. ratings) that certain parts have to be covered for certain ratings, but doesn’t specify HOW they must be covered. Covering them therefore, even with a picture of what they are, even a very real one that can correctly be termed “prosthesis” can still preserve a PG-13 rating in what would otherwise be an R film if it showed the actor’s actual netherparts. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/2 "2026-02-28T14:20:30Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The 2004 remake came later You don’t say ! ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/3 "2026-02-28T14:26:28Z")
Pornography loves these sorts of puns. Things like _Shaving Ryan’s Privates_, _Laurence of My Labia_, or _On Golden Blonde_. If you want a nominee, I propose _Rambone_ ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/4 "2026-02-28T14:39:30Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Pornography loves these sorts of puns. Back when there were still (cloth) diaper services, someone struck back at the porn puns with a proposed business called “Debbie Does Diapers.” I’m pretty sure it’s a fictional business, but it’s still a funny joke. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/5 "2026-02-28T14:52:00Z")
It’s a rather simple pun, but I always liked the title of the krautrock band Amon Düül II album “Vive La Trance”. > **[Vive La Trance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vive_La_Trance)** > > Vive La Trance is the seventh studio album released by German Krautrock band Amon Düül II, released in 1973. Produced by Olaf Kübler and Amon Düül II and engineered by Peter Kramper, Vive La Trance was recorded and remixed at Bavaria Studios with additional remixing done at Union Studio München. The album sleeve's photography was done by Falk U. Rogner and Gena Zimmerman, with additional design and artwork by Jürgen Rogner. The song "Mozambique" is dedicated to the political revolutionary Monika ... ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/6 "2026-02-28T15:00:25Z")
They might not be puns or plays on words based on any high art, but the late comedy writer John Sullivan did this with many of the episodes of his classic British sitcom _Only Fools and Horses._ A few examples (trust me there are lots):- _A slow bus to Chingford_ _Diamonds are for Heather_ _Friday the 14th_ _To Hull and back_ _From Prussia with love_ _Yuppy Love_ _Miami Twice_ Anyway you get the idea! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/7 "2026-02-28T15:57:34Z")
People, people! There are _plenty_ of pun titles out there. I’m looking for the Best of the Best – the unforced product of wit and circumstance that makes a title remain resonant in your memory for years, the way “The Fight of the Felix” has haunted my memory for over half a century. Surely you can do better than trivial word substitution titles to find something with a true and unexpected double meaning, like “Looking into Chapman’s Homer” ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/8 "2026-02-28T16:50:20Z")
Just for wordplay in general, _Bob’s Burger’s_ delivers the goods. Looking at episode titles from the first few seasons at [List of Bob's Burgers episodes - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bob%27s_Burgers_episodes), a few jump out at me as favorites: Bob Day Afternoon God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins My Fuzzy Valentine Tina Tailor Soldier Spy Ain’t Miss Debatin’ Cheer Up, Sleepy Gene The Trouble with Doubles Go Tina on the Mountain ETA: It occurs to me that the “fits very well naturally” criterion may be arguable for some of these. But I think some are pretty solid in that regard. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/9 "2026-02-28T17:04:50Z")
Rump hole of the Bailey. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/10 "2026-02-28T17:55:36Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > _Bob’s Burger’s_ delivers the goods. Looking at episode titles Bob’s Burger of the Day is usually pretty good, too. Some examples > [@](#): > > **OLIVE AND LET DIE BURGER** > > **I KNOW WHY THE CAJUN BURGER SINGS** > > **TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSA-CURD BURGER** > (Comes with Cheese Curds) > > **CURRY ON MY WAYWARD BUN BURGER** And my personal favorite > [@](#): > > **BAND ON THE BUN BURGER** > (Comes with wings) [https://bobs-burgers.fandom.com/wiki/Burger\_of\_the\_Day](https://bobs-burgers.fandom.com/wiki/Burger_of_the_Day) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/11 "2026-02-28T17:57:23Z")
I’ve always liked the beautiful simplicity of Mark Dunn’s _Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters_. For nonfiction, how about _Here’s Looking at Euclid: A Surprising Excursion Through the Astonishing World of Math_, by Alex Bellos. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/12 "2026-02-28T17:59:15Z")
PhD theses are a good place to mine for puns > [@](#): > > Fantastic Yeasts and Where to Find Them: The Hidden Diversity of Dimorphic Fungal Pathogens > **[8 Brilliantly Funny Academic Paper Titles | Petal](https://www.petal.org/blog/articles/8+funny+papers)** ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/13 "2026-02-28T17:59:33Z")
From High School, 1968: “A Sale of Two Titties” ---
**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:** [February 28, 2026, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/14 "2026-02-28T18:22:14Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Pornography loves these sorts of puns. Things like _Shaving Ryan’s Privates_, _Laurence of My Labia_, or _On Golden Blonde_. > > If you want a nominee, I propose _Rambone_ The two I remember from my younger days were _Intercourse with a Vampire_ and _The Pudsucker Roxy._ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2026, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/15 "2026-03-01T01:42:39Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > “A Sale of Two Titties” Groucho Marx said it earlier, about Jane Russell. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2026, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/16 "2026-03-01T01:56:17Z")
One of my favorites is our very own _The Winter of Our Missed Content_. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2026, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/17 "2026-03-01T02:03:46Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Bob’s Burger of the Day is usually pretty good, too. Oh, yes. I love those. Who wouldn’t want a Roquefort Files Burger? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2026, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/18 "2026-03-01T02:07:51Z")
On _Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me_, they will sometimes play a little snippet of music after a question before moving on to the next one. I always figured it was there to provide the editors a break so they could stitch together the recording from the live show. It did provide a opportunity for creativity. One that I didn’t hear, but wish I had, was after a question about someone going through security at an airport who put their child carrier, with the child in it, onto the belt for the X-ray machine. And that was followed up with… “Carry on my wayward son…” I also have a certain fondness for a hair salon shown on an episode of _The Simpsons_, “Turn Your Head and Coif”. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2026, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/19 "2026-03-01T02:40:56Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > > [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > > > “A Sale of Two Titties” > > Groucho Marx said it earlier, about Jane Russell. I did not know that! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2026, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077/20 "2026-03-01T02:48:18Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I also have a certain fondness for a hair salon shown on an episode of _The Simpsons_, “Turn Your Head and Coif”. See also “Hairy Shearers.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-pun-title-awards/1028077.md?page=2)