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

I Don't Want The Current X-Men Multiverse To Fit In The MCU

Why don't I want the current X-Men multiverse in the MCU? I don't want the X-Men of the current X-Men multiverse to be fit into the MCU. The MCU has had seamless continuity the whole time (except for that one time). The X-Men multiverse has had such bad continuity that they created an entire movie to fix the continuity, and they STILL managed to throw in more continuity snags. The MCU has had more good films than bad films. The X-Men multiverse has had more bad films than good films. Avengers: Infinity War already has too many characters. X-Men: The Last Stand had too many characters. An Avengers/X-Men crossover is just BEGGING to have no emphasis on any given character. And frankly, I'm ready for the X-Men movies to be done. X-Men: Days of Future Past - The Rogue Cut  was both an excellent movie and an excellent resolution to the series. I'm emotionally resolved enough that I want the series to be done there. Not because the series is bad - but because The Rogue Cu...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Make a Good Mormon Movie

Have you ever seen a movie made by a Mormon and thought "I'm glad that movie was so clean and inspirational. It's a refreshing change of pace from Hollywood". Have you ever got home from that movie and realized "Wait a minute. The only thing that movie had going for it was that it was clean and inspirational. I guess that's all I was looking for, but if it were a normal Hollywood movie I forked out $10 to see, I would have thought it was awful." That's the case with basically every Mormon movie I watch. It's clean and inspirational, but it's really missing the quality I expect out of a normal movie. In my experience, Mormon movies are generally worse movies than movies made by someone who isn't Mormon. Now,  I'm not talking about a clean movie, or an entertaining movie, or an uplifting movie. I'm talking about a movie that uses the tools of storytelling and the tools of filmmaking to present a good story, well told. I'm talk...
Post a Comment
Read more

Of Course They're Similar Plots - You Were Too Vague!

When you're describing the similarity between two plots, the more general you are, the less credible you are. Here's a general sketch of the worst versions of "every story is the same" or "these two stories are remarkably similar": "A character who is uncomfortable with his/her life is has a situation that forces him/her to reluctantly go on an adventure (possibly involving 1-2 companions who are total opposites of him/her) in order to get something (s)he really wants. Along  the way, (s)he encounters a lot of obstacles, has conflict with other characters, gets taken to his/her lowest point, and changes as a person. He/She finally gets the opportunity to return to his/her old life and either chooses to refuse it and continue in his/her new life or go back to his old life as a changed character." It technically describe virtually every plotline, but it's so vague that it shouldn't make anyone surprised about how similar the plotlines are. No...
Post a Comment
Read more