Skip to main content

How To Make a Good Halloween Pun

Since events are being planned with names that try to make a play on words off the word "October", I think a friendly reminder is in order.

Friendly reminder: Not every one-syllable word sounds good as the first syllable of "October".

Examples (not ones I've actually seen): Tropetober, Friendtober, and Greentober.

Recommendation: Ask yourself "Since I'll be removing "Oc" to be putting in my word, does my word rhyme with "Oc", end with the c sound, or at least have the same "ah" sound as "Oct"?"
If the answer to all of these is "no", consider renaming your event to a more natural portmanteau so that it stands out more to your audience.
Instead of naming your women's-only Halloween party "Girltober", you might consider naming it "Galoween".
Instead of naming your Mickey Mouse marathon "Mousetober", you might consider naming it "Haunted Mouse".
Instead of naming your month of movie nights "Filmtober", you might consider naming it "Flick-or-Treat".
You might even find it's a better idea to do this event during another month. Not because the pun would be better, but so you can hold your event during a month when people aren't as overwhelmed with events. A car sale will be just as popular in "Vanuary" as it would be in "Vantober", a bro's night will be just as enjoyed during "Brovember" as it would be in "Brotober", and an Emergency Preparation course will be just as popular during "Preptember" as it would be in "Preptober". This may not be practical in every situation, but at least once, it may be a good idea, since people already have so many events to attend during the month of Halloweevents.
You may also find (for various reasons) that after completing Grapetober, you'd like to hold the event again during Grapril.
I was very pleased recently to see a flyer for Rocktober. I hope to someday see events like Walktober, Blocktober, and Chalktober.
That said, the good puns only stand out because they're surrounded by so many forced pormanteaus.
So to help the good puns stand out, I'd like to wish everyone a happy Puntober and have a great Punoween.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Should The Book of Mormon Be A Movie?

Over the last few years, my brother and I have been brainstorming about how to make an epic movie (or series of movies) out of The Book of Mormon. We didn't want something simple. We want something epic - a grand adventure for the ages, like we sometimes say the Book of Mormon itself is. I've heard a lot of people love the idea, and I've heard a lot of concerns. I'd like to address some of the concerns and see if I can help. Perhaps you could help me address my major concern with making the Book of Mormon into a movie. If you have any more concerns, let me know. I'd love to discuss them. Concern #1: "It would be rated R." This is the single most frequent concern I hear. I even heard this from someone who played in the Bible videos. To be fair, it's a legitimate concern. There are plenty of lots of R-rated ancient war movies - from Gladiator  (2000), to 300  (2006) to the extended edition of The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies  (2014/2015). Th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Age of Ultron as a Hawkeye Movie

We sometimes say that Tony is the ultimate antagonist of the MCU. We sometimes say that Avengers: Age of Ultron is a movie more about Hawkeye than any other character. But it turns out: You could rewrite Age of Ultron in a way that takes out Cap, Thor, Hulk, and Nat and you would have effectively the same movie. The plot of Avengers: Age of Ultron  is pretty simple: When Tony Stark gets manipulated into creating a robot to protect the planet that goes awry, the rest of the Avengers try to stop the robot from destroying the earth. Cap, Thor, Hulk, and Nat don't actually help  Ultron or the Avengers to succeed in their goals. So let's re-imagine Age of Ultron  as a solo Hawkeye movie. In this version, Hawkeye becomes the main character, and b ecause of their traumatic experiences involving Stark, Wanda and Lame Quicksilver are still villains. Tony is rewritten as an obvious villain, giving us 4 major villains:  Tony, Wanda, Lame Quicksilver, and Ultron, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chloe Bennet? Please?

Every time I see anything about Avengers: Infinity War , I feel bogged down, even though I should be really excited for it. I finally realized the reason: No Chloe Bennet. At this point, all I care about with the MCU is what the official title of Spider-Man: The Winter Formal will be (because what else do you call the sequel to Homecoming ?), what new genres they'll explore, and how they'll have the TV shows will affect the movies. Chloe Bennet's character from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would be a fantastic addition to Avengers: Infinity  War . Her character is powerful enough to be helpful to the team, is from a show people already like, and is extremely easy to introduce to an audience that has never seen Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D . I would love to see Chloe Bennet in a Marvel movie. (The fact that she's extremely attractive doesn't hurt.)
Post a Comment
Read more