Gag name
A gag name is a false name used to elicit humor through its simultaneous resemblance to a real name on the one hand, and to a term or phrase that is funny, strange, or vulgar on the other hand. The source of the humor is the pun and double entendre; frequently, the humor arises when an unknowing victim is induced to use the name without realizing the joke. Urban legend holds that such a prank is often played on substitute teachers or others who must read a roll, for whom pranksters will switch the roll with one containing such names.
Some names that would be considered gag names have been adopted as stage names by performers, often in the adult entertainment industry.
Examples in media
James Bond
James Bond's films often use double entendres for the names of Bond girls, such as Honey Rider from Dr. No, Bibi Dahl from For Your Eyes Only, Holly Goodhead from Moonraker, Xenia Onatopp from Goldeneye, Chu Mei (chew me) from The Man with the Golden Gun, Plenty O'Toole from Diamonds Are Forever and most famously, Pussy Galore from Goldfinger.
Austin Powers
This is parodied in the Austin Powers series of spoofs on the spy genre; Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery features a villain named Alotta Fagina, who must repeat her name several times because Austin misunderstands it; Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me features a voluptuous Russian woman named Ivana Humpalot, while Austin Powers in Goldmember features Asian twins named "Fook Yu" and "Fook Mi", as well as Dixie Normous
Life of Brian
In Monty Python's Life of Brian, there is an extensive use of dog Latin as a tool for creating gag names. The protagonist's biological father is believed to be called Naughtius Maximus, while Pontius Pilate's friend's name is Biggus Dickus and his wife's name is Incontinentia Buttocks. One of the Pilate's guards also mentions Sillius Soddus.
The Simpsons
In the American animated sitcom The Simpsons, Bart Simpson frequently calls Moe's Tavern asking for non-existent patrons with gag names, prompting bartender Moe Syzlak to call out for the person. These include Mike Rotch (my crotch), Seymour Butts (see more butts), Amanda Huggenkiss (a man to hug and kiss) and Homer Sexual (homosexual). Every call is always met with laughter from the patrons, except for the season 3 episode "Flaming Moe's", in which Bart calls looking for Hugh Jass (huge ass), and there is someone with that name who does answer the call. In "Treehouse of Horror II", another season 3 episode, Bart somehow tricks Moe into telling the bar that "I'm a stupid moron with an ugly face and a big butt and my butt smells and I like to kiss my own butt". The Simpsons' gags were based on the real-life Tube Bar prank calls made to a bar in New Jersey.
Examples in mass media
Many characters in the Carmen Sandiego computer games and television shows have gag names; for instance, in the television program Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, villain Patty Larceny's name is a play on "petty larceny."
Scatological
The CBS series How I Met Your Mother, Ted (a University Professor) laughed at a student's name ("Cook Pu") after assuming it was a fake name, leading to her to drop the class. "Pooh" is used for "shit" in discussions with children.
Another example is Stu Pidasso ("stupid asshole").
Sexual slang
The mass media have featured gag names that sound like vulgar sexual-terms for vaginas ("Mike Hunt"), penises ("Dick Head"), testicles ("Harry Balls"), and sexual intercourse (with homonyms for "fucking").
The gag-name "Mike Hunt" is a homonym for "my cunt", where cunt is vulgar term for vagina. The questions "Is Mike Hunt here? Has anyone seen Mike Hunt?" are asked by a waitress in the 1982 teenage comedy film, Porky's. Another Mike Hunt is a character in the HBO series Hung. A third Mike Hunt appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto III (GTA3); he introduces himself via "Michael Hunt, or you can call me Mike for short".[1]
The film Anger Management included a scene alluding to the gag name "Dick Head".[2]
On the Murphy Brown television series, someone called Phil's, a local bar in Washington D.C. and actor Pat Corley in the role of Phil answered the phone and said someone wanted to speak to Harry Balz (hairy balls).
Gag names can also be applied to businesses, such as Howard Stern's use of the fictitious "Sofa King": in a hoax advertisement, the store was described as being "Sofa King great" (i.e. "so fucking great"). A January 18, 2000, FCC complaint for using the phrase was dismissed. A similar sketch was performed on Saturday Night Live in early 2007, portraying Sofa King as a new store opening after the success of Mattress King.
Examples in reality
In the mid-1970s two young men by the names of Jim Davidson and John Elmo frequently called the Tube Bar, a tavern owned by Louis "Red" Deutsch, asking for names such as "Ben Dover", "Mike Hunt", "Holden Megroin" and "Al Coholic". These Tube Bar prank calls were the inspiration for Bart Simpson's prank calls to Moe's Tavern in The Simpsons.
On April 13, 2003, James Scott of the Charleston, South Carolina, paper The Post and Courier reported that "Heywood Jablome" (a pun for "Hey, would you blow me?", "blow" being slang for fellatio) was escorted from the premises while counterprotesting Martha Burk's protest at The Masters Tournament.[3] He subsequently admitted to his being "duped" by the protester, who was in reality a morning disc jockey for a regional FM radio station.[4][5]
Occasionally, real persons with a name that could also be read as a funny or vulgar phrase are the subject of mockery or parody because of their name. For example, Chinese President Hu Jintao, whose surname is pronounced like "who", and current Premier Wen Jiabao whose surname is pronounced like "when" has occasionally been the topic of "Who's on First?"–type humor.
Some additional names that have been used in casual daily conversation include "Mike Rotchisari" (a pun for "My Crotch is Hairy" that seems to be popping up on retail store intercoms from time to time) and "Seymour Butts" (a pun typically accompanying gag names for authors where the delivery goes something like "Have you read the book 'Under the Bleachers' by Seymour Butts?").
Modern roller derby players frequently use gag names, both in their team names as well as the names they use for themselves. Often these are double entendre or suggestive. For example, Rocky Mountain Rollergirls includes players named Ho J. Simpson, May Q. Pay ("make you pay"), and Amanda Jamitinya ("a man to jam it in you").[6]
References
- ^ "HBO: Hung: Mike Hunt". HBO. Retrieved Aug. 13, 2010.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Anger Management quotes". Retrieved July 27, 2010.
- ^ "Protesters overshadowed by media, police". web.archive.org; charleston.net. Archived from the original on 2003-06-22. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ "Duped Reporter learns the hard way". charleston.net. Archived from the original on 2003-06-02. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ "Heywood Jablome". snopes.com. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
- ^ "Skaters & Staff: The Contenders". Rocky Mountain Rollergirls. Retrieved 2012-02-15.