Is there a word for this?

May 31, 2008 2:34 PM

Is there a word for this thing that I do with the names of things? And would you find it annoying?

I frequently add words on to the names of things (usually places) when they are similar to another thing (usually a person). For instance, there's a little wooded area near us called Willard's Woods. I always call it Willard Scott's Woods. We used to live on a Halford Ave, which I called Rob Halford Ave. I do this pretty often. I just wondered if there was a word for what I was doing.

And also, would you find someone who did this annoying? My husband doesn't think it's annoying, but he's probably biased.

posted by disaster77 to Writing & Language (36 answers total)

Answer to the second question:

I would find someone who does that very annoying, because it appears to be an attempt to be funny, and thus carries an implicit expectation that I laugh, without being even slightly funny.
posted by jayder at 2:47 PM on May 31, 2008

I think it falls in the realm of pun. And I think it would be highly subjective as to whether someone would find it annoying or not. I happen to come from a family and have a boyfriend who does this type of word play frequently. Whether I find it annoying or not depends on my mood.
posted by kimdog at 2:48 PM on May 31, 2008

If you always called it "Willard Scott's Woods", it would drive me bonkers. If you only did it when you thought of a new name to fit with Willard, I'd probably be just fine with it. It's the same issue with deliberately mispronouncing words or stupid pun-names.

Sadly, I do not know if there's a word for this sort of modification.
posted by ErWenn at 2:50 PM on May 31, 2008

To build on jayder's answer:

As long as you know your audience and make sure they'll be amused, you should be fine. My brother and I refer to Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun as Lloyd Braun all the time, in reference to the Seinfeld character, but I'd never call him that to someone who doesn't like (or know) the show.
posted by kjackelen05 at 2:50 PM on May 31, 2008

I would find it confusing, because I do not know what either of those people have to do with woods or avenues. So it doesn't make any sense. If I was around someone who did it a lot, I would find it annoying because I would always have to be asking what they were trying to mean.
posted by frobozz at 2:56 PM on May 31, 2008

My husband does this, and I think it's cute. It's just one of those in-joke kinds of things couples do. I suppose if someone who was just an acquaintance did it, it might get annoying...but not necessarily. I'd probably still find it endearing. That's just me.
posted by TochterAusElysium at 3:09 PM on May 31, 2008

I don't know as there's a word for it, but I used to do it a lot. I've become a bit more selective because my wife isn't quite as biased as your husband.

However, I think it's fun, and not particularly annoying (unless it's driven into the ground).
posted by Nabubrush at 3:09 PM on May 31, 2008

I do it too...I'm very sorry if I've annoyed anyone.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 3:21 PM on May 31, 2008

No idea what it's called. I only do it with my husband. He laughs, which is why I married him.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 3:30 PM on May 31, 2008

It seems like referential .... something. Heck. Agnosia on top of what we called wort welt (word world, that sometimes exists only between couples).

I wish I could help.
posted by vers at 3:34 PM on May 31, 2008

A mnemonic device?

Or just being a dweeb? Not that that's a bad thing, of course!
posted by mynameismandab at 3:36 PM on May 31, 2008

If you call it the same thing every time you talk about it, that would get sorta tired. As long as you're not expecting laughs it's just a cute quirk.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 3:42 PM on May 31, 2008

Mr. Berman, is that you?
posted by sanka at 4:04 PM on May 31, 2008 [1 favorite]

I do exactly what you do and it drives people crazy because they typically don't understand what I'm talking about, or they think it's WAY to dorky to be acceptable, so nowadays, I just say it quietly to myself.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 4:07 PM on May 31, 2008

Puns are famous for being clever-but-not-funny. There's nothing weird about what you're doing, and if others don't collapse in laughter in response, don't worry. They're not supposed to, because puns aren't intrinsically humorous. And you don't need their approval anyway :-)
posted by frosty_hut at 4:19 PM on May 31, 2008

It's just slang, like referring to the London tube station "St. Pancras" as "St. Pancreas." Like all slang, it's usefulness as communication lies in direct proportion to the listener's familiarity with it.
posted by rhizome at 4:42 PM on May 31, 2008 [1 favorite]

Not annoying at all. I love it. We where I come from often do things like that. (Not exactly the same, but morphing names into other names, etc. It always has to do with names of people/places, not just regular words.)
posted by iguanapolitico at 4:50 PM on May 31, 2008

(And I should add that it's not supposed to be funny, exactly, when we do it, it's just like a fun mind exercise that we all "get". Rarely does it make us actually laugh. That's not its intent.)
posted by iguanapolitico at 4:51 PM on May 31, 2008

I would find it endearing and would play along.
posted by agentwills at 4:56 PM on May 31, 2008

I just wondered if there was a word for what I was doing.

A pun. A mnemonic device. Compulsive behaviour. Take your pick.
posted by GuyZero at 5:05 PM on May 31, 2008

Michael Scott does this sort of thing on the Office, and people obviously find the show hilarious and watch it.
posted by blue_beetle at 5:06 PM on May 31, 2008

Michael Scott does this sort of thing on the Office, and people obviously find the show hilarious and watch it.

Yeah, but it's not funny when he does it—it's cringe-inducingly awful. I truly hope there's no one out there watching The Office just for Michael Scott's terrible puns.

I, for one, would find this terribly annoying, not cute or amusing.
posted by limeonaire at 5:10 PM on May 31, 2008

My husband and I do this all the time. He started it, but we do it with everything. What happens, though, is we don't repeat it the second time we're there. We play off the last reference we made. It devolves until we speak in a sort of twin language meets cockney rhyming slang sort of cluster of references. (Willard Scott's Woods becomes Ridley Scott's Woods becomes Riddlemethis Woods becomes, I dunno, something equally weird.)

I would never do it in front of someone who wasn't my husband. It's not a joke, really. It's like a trivia challenge meets a who's-the-dorkiest contest.
posted by Gucky at 5:57 PM on May 31, 2008

A good buddy of mine does this a lot. It's not really funny; I've always considered it just a charming quirk of his. I would miss it if he stopped doing it.

It vaguely reminds me of a weak Cockney slang, which the person right above me mentioned, too.
posted by phunniemee at 8:30 PM on May 31, 2008

Nthing that it's all about context. My dad is all about silly word stuff like that - he talks about going to Taco Belch (Bell) and Burger Sling (King), among others - but just uses it among family members, who might roll their eyes but will definitely love him anyway.
posted by sarahsynonymous at 9:13 PM on May 31, 2008

Easily annoying. She only gave two examples. What if she listed 50 examples and we all know she does it all the time... ANNOYING.

new york city = new jack city york city
houston, texas = houston we have a problem, texas
canal street = panama canal street
chambers street = torture chambers street
al pacino = you can call me al pacino

and so on and so on and so on. none of them funny, creative or original.. ok, let's see if i can come up with some good ones..

oh wait, i'm already bored!
posted by ChickenringNYC at 10:50 PM on May 31, 2008

Yes, it is terribly annoying. If every one were clever, it would still be annoying.

Blue_beetle gave you your answer: Michael Scott does it on The Office. His character is, by design, annoying, inappropriate, and infantile. Of course, if you also think "that's what she said" is cute or charming, then this Chris Berman thing might be for you.
posted by lionelhutz5 at 1:03 AM on June 1, 2008

I think the annoying factor has to do with your general level of silliness. I happen to be a pretty silly person, so I probably wouldn't be annoyed in the least, unless maybe your delivery seemed forced or like you were waiting on an appropriately amused reaction.

Anecdotally, such a habit can be grounds for embarrassment. For example: some of the gas stations around me have a mini-mart called On the Run. That always reminded me of that old song "Band on the Run," which, as a child, I thought was called "Man on the Run." Therefore, I started referring to these mini-marts as Man on the Run. It quickly became automatic and I never used the regular name again.

Then, one day, an older couple stopped me on the street to ask where the closest ATM was. I replied "Inside the Man on the Run, about a block ahead."

They looked puzzled. I felt dumb.
posted by justonegirl at 6:11 AM on June 1, 2008

If you always called it "Willard Scott's Woods", it would drive me bonkers. If you only did it when you thought of a new name to fit with Willard, I'd probably be just fine with it. It's the same issue with deliberately mispronouncing words or stupid pun-names.

I agree with this. Occasional spur-of-the-moment pun: fine. Inescapable repetition of dumb pun: very annoying.
posted by languagehat at 8:11 AM on June 1, 2008

If the add-on was somewhat relevant to the area, as well as a fitting add-on for the original name, then I'd find it clever. For instance, if halford ave wasn't a residential street, but home to several bars/clubs/stores catering to leather and/or heavy metal culture, calling rob halford ave would be witty. In any other scenario, not only would it be annoying, but it would be tiresome. I'd probably find myself reading signs and silently praying that you wouldn't come up with an add-on because I wouldn't feel like pretending to laugh.
posted by necessitas at 8:30 AM on June 1, 2008

as alluded to above, the technical term for this is a "bermanism". chris berman (an espn hero) does this all the time, especially with names (barry "us" bonds, benito "il duce" santiago, etc).

personally, i find it charming. others, not so much. but then, they are probably annoyed at my paul reiserism too.
posted by stubby phillips at 9:57 AM on June 1, 2008

Only tangentially related, but it's what popped into my head: "Man Has Derogatory Nickname For Every Neighboring Town".

I have to agree with the folks above who think that games like this are cute (etc.) in measured doses, but it'd probably drive me quietly insane after a while.
posted by metabrilliant at 2:28 PM on June 1, 2008

If I already like you, it's hilarious - even more so if you do it every single time and it becomes so usual that we kind of forget that they are not actually called Willard Scott's Woods until one time someone who doesn't get the joke is confused and it actually takes us a second to realize why.

But as you can see from these other comments, some people just aren't that into this so tread carefully.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 4:56 PM on June 1, 2008

People may think you're crazy. But if I was fond of you it may be acceptable in small doses.
posted by oxford blue at 11:28 PM on June 1, 2008

I have a friend who does something like that with people's names: "Joe Tex, and his sister, Ko." "Vince Gill and his sister, Massen." Makes me laugh; others might find it annoying.
posted by Oriole Adams at 1:00 AM on June 2, 2008

Kind of reminds me of that scene from Sleepless in Seattle:

Bill Pullman (to waiter): We'll have a bottle of the...Dom Deluise. (shit-eating grin)
Meg Ryan (to waiter): (withering stare at soon-to-be ex-fiance) He means the Dom Perignon.

I don't have a word for it but I love it in the way that I love Bill Pullman's acting: it's awful but entertaining in its awfulness.
posted by aliasless at 2:14 PM on June 4, 2008