History Main / FunWithHomophones

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* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "[[Recap/SouthParkS6E1JaredHasAides Jared Has Aids]]"... well, it's all there in the title. To elaborate, then-spokesman Jared makes the town upset to the point of a lynch mob by apparently repeating he'd that like to give all the kids what helped him lose weight: "AIDS". He's actually saying 'aides'; people to aid them.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': House Lannister's song and go-to implied threat, "The Rains of Castamere", is about the destruction of House Reyne of Castamere.
* On an episode of ''{{Series/Workaholics}}'', Adam Demamp walks into the boss' office and says "Alice, I Demamp to know what is going on!"
** Also, while chewing tobacco (a brand of which is Skoal) Adam says 'Skoal!' instead of the guy's more usual call to depart, 'S'go!'
* In ''Series/{{BlackAdder}}'':
** In series 1, a horse is being questioned on the witness stand in Black Adder's trial for being a witch. Upon answering with a neighing sound, the prosecutor asks for clarification, "Was that a 'neigh' or a 'nay'?" (The subtitles spell this out.)

** In the episode "Captain Cook" of ''Blackadder Goes Forth'', Baldrick believes his father was a nun.
---> '''Baldrick:''' The funny thing is, my father was a nun.
---> '''Blackadder:''' (with great authority) No, he wasn't.
---> '''Baldrick:''' (with equal authority) He was so, sir, because whenever he was up in court, and the judge used to say "occupation?", he'd say "nun".
** In "General Hospital" of ''Blackadder Goes Forth'', George mistakes Mr Smith's "nein" (German for "no") for "nine".
---> '''George:''' Have you seen any spies in the hospital?
---> '''Mr Smith:''' ''Nein.''
---> '''George:''' Nine?! The Captain's got his work cut out, then.

* ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'':
** A doctor comes on a serious TV talk show to discuss euthanasia. Unfortunately, the talk show's topic of the day was "Youth in Asia".
** Two army officers are sitting around smoking pipes and reading the paper. One calls for his batman [[note]]"a soldier assigned to an officer as a servant"[[/note]], and an actor obviously confused about his part comes in dressed as Batman. At this point it's revealed that what we're watching is the production of a film.
* ''Series/SzeUTonight'' is very fond of this trope. For instance, its Chinese name is 今晚睇李, but 李 is host Johnson Lee's surname, and is a pun on 你, the word for you.
* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' has fun with this in the episode "Sugar", when the detectives are looking for a witness to a murder known online as the "Master Baiter", who works in a store.
--> '''Stabler:''' ''[over the store PA]'' Attention employees, will the Master Baiter please report to Register 1. Master Baiter, Register 1.\\
''[a nerdy-looking stock boy hangs his head in shame and walks forlornly to the front]''\\
'''Benson:''' ''[over the store PA]'' Not ''a'' "masturbator", ''the'' Master Baiter.
* One of the most famous British sketches, [[https://youtu.be/oaGpaj2nHIo Four Candles]] from ''Series/TheTwoRonnies'' relies heavily on this as a RunningGag.
* On ''Series/TheRedGreenShow'', the Lodge makes a 50-foot long of sausage link for a cook-off, and are trying to figure out how to actually get it there.
-->'''Red:''' I got an idea! Take a couple of boat trailers, put 'em end-to-end behind the Possum Van, and just lay the sausage right over the whole deal there.\\

** Happens OnceAnEpisode at least. During the "Possum Lodge Word Game" segments, Red has to get a rotating character to say a word, and fails to get them to give the correct response to the word in question. He normally wins when the character says a homophone of the word in the answer to the final question. Red's final question is just as likely to have been asked to prompt the player to say the homophone as it is to get a wrong response but contain the homophone in it.
* ''Series/FargoSeasonTwo'': Mike Milligan reminisces in one episode about how the word "revolution" has two meanings: either as an overthrow of another power, or [[FullCircleRevolution a planet making a complete orbit around another celestial object]]. He fails to realize the irony of his storyline: he thinks his revolution against the Gerhardts is the "overthrow" kind, when in reality it's the "full-circle" kind. His success against them just leave him back where he started: as an underappreciated employee for the Kansas City Mafia that's stuck doing a job he hates.

* ''Series/TheGoodPlace'':
** Jason has a special room in his house where he can be alone or hang out with his buddies without being disturbed. Everyone's noticeably thrown when he calls it his "bud hole".
-->Would you like to see my bud hole?
** While staying in Sydney, socialite Tahani mentions she got a house through Airbnb. The rest of the Brainy Bunch is shocked when they visit it and discovers it's a lavish mansion. Tahani quickly clarifies that she meant Heirbnb, where heirs and heiresses can trade off mansions, yachts, blimp hangars, that sort of thing.
* A clever dramatic twist in the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode [[Recap/StarTrekS2E25BreadAndCircuses Bread and Circuses]]. Kirk and crew encounter a world that resembled the Roman Empire with contemporary (1960s) technology, and also met a group of slaves who claimed to worship the Sun and preached a message of love and brotherhood. At the end of the episode, Spock admitted to being puzzled by these sun-worshipers, since most sun-worshiping tribes tended to be superstitious and primitive. Uhura realized that these "sun-worshipers" were in fact analogous to Christians. "It's not the sun up in the sky, it's the Son of God."
** Although FridgeLogic comes into play here. The planet's "if Rome never fell" hat is handwaved as an example of "Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development". Only in that case they should presumably be speaking some kind of Latin, which makes it highly unlikely that "son" (filius) and "sun" (solis) would be homophones. If they're in fact speaking an alien language that makes it even less likely.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode [[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS6E6Riddles Riddles]] , Neelix tells Tuvok a riddle about an ensign who gets stranded on an L-class planet with nothing but a calendar, yet survives for a full year. How? By eating the ''dates'' from the calendar. Tuvok dismisses this as mere wordplay, but at the end of the episode, he realizes that the ensign could have also eaten the Sundays/sundaes.
* ''Series/{{Kaamelott}}'':
** A bit of fun is to expect every time the Huns are discussed (since in French, it sounds like "un", i.e. "a/an" or "one").
** Angles are another barbarian tribe trying to invade Britannia... not the angles of the map. Surprisingly, Perceval is the one to point this out... which leads Arthur to point out that yes, they are, but in this case they aren't.
** A conversation with Karadoc goes in circles after it turns out he gets confused by [[SiegeEngines the use of rams and scorpions on the battlefield.]]
** Degrees, being used for both angles and temperatures, also confuse Perceval.
** Averted, however, with the Moors (which in French is "Maures", sounding like "Morts" i.e. dead people). Arthur expects Perceval to be confused about the term, but he actually knows it refers to North-African people.

** In "Fair Game", the Goa'uld Yu led to this confusion. Often referred to as "Lord Yu" (the heroes never refer to any other Goa'uld by their title) to avoid confusion. And in a later episode, as newcomer Weir is being briefed:

** Then in later seasons, the main enemy is named "Ba'al" (which the characters pronounced identical to the word "ball"). Who cloned himself repeatedly. Then they had to go capture all the Ba'als.

* ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows2019'': The episode "Gail" does the classic minors/miners joke, with Laszlo telling us his car was taken away from him because he was transporting miners across state lines.
* ''Series/JandaKembang'': Episode 16 twice makes a joke based on Indonesian word for insect (''serangga'') sounding similar with "''si'' Rangga", the name of a missing child.
* ''Series/FawltyTowers'': A passing example in "Waldorf Salad", concerning Mrs Arrad's plaice. Polly also quips that she will have plaice re-placed.
--> '''Mrs Arrad:''' Excuse me! There is sugar in the salt cellar.
--> '''Basil:''' Anything else?
--> '''Mrs Arrad:''' I've put it all over the plaice.
--> '''Basil:''' All over the place? What were you ''doing'' with it?
--> '''Mrs Arrad:''' All over the ''plaice''.
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}:'' A mild example bordering on WhosOnFirst between Palmer and Ducky. Palmer explains he doesn't like sand, after playing in it as a child and itching excessively afterwards.
-->'''Ducky:''' Well it wasn't the sand, Mr. Palmer, but the sand mite.\\
'''Palmer:''' Sand might what?\\
'''Ducky:''' The sand mite bit you.\\
'''Palmer:''' Sand bites?\\
'''Ducky:''' Well, sand mites might bite.\\
'''Palmer:''' I'm grammatically lost.
** Another episode features Tony being (deliberately for once) irritating. He refers to the agency's "new director" and then clarifies that he didn't say "nude erector", ''helpfully'' explaining that's called a [[DiscussedTrope homophone]] .
* In one ''Series/TheTwoRonnies'' sketch (far from the only one using a concept like this) Ronnie Corbett is a lord who finds his butler, played by Barker, to be insolent. His wife disagrees. They discuss this over dinner, during which Barker manages to make every course announcement sound like an insult to the lord or a compliment to the lady.
-->'''Barker''': Your sweet, m'lady. Your nuts, m'lord.\\
'''Corbett''': Oh, for heaven's sake! How am I supposed to open these?\\
'''Barker''': ''(presenting a set of nutcrackers)'' Your crackers, m'lord.

--> He said, "Do you want it pasteurised, 'cause pasteurised is best?"
--> She said, "I'd be happy if it comes up to my chest."'

[[folder: Podcasts]]

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* In ''Series/TheSootyShow'' episode "Hair Today", Matthew and Sweep have to get a hair from a completely bald man in order to cure their current [[ItMakesSenseInContext state of baldness]]. Meeting Duncan Goodhew, they explain their plight, and he gives them a ''hare'' (as in a toy which vaguely resembles WesternAnimation/BugsBunny).
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[[folder:Web Comics]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Podcast/RiffTrax's commentary on ''Film/FantasticFourRiseOfTheSilverSurfer'':
-->'''Surfer:''' The source of my power.\\
'''Susan:''' Your board?\\
'''Kevin:''' Yeah, so am I.
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Katara demands that King Bumi release them by saying, "Let us leave", Bumi responds with, "Lettuce Leaf?".
* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' twice made a joke of someone talking about Superman's [[BroughtToYouByTheLetterS "S"]]: once when Lois first sees a picture and says he has a "nice S", and when Lobo threatens to kick his "big red S".
* ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'':
** A segment in the style of ''WesternAnimation/SchoolHouseRock'' [[https://youtu.be/4Ns9djGa-7I regarding homonyms.]]
-->'''Girl''': 'Cause there are words that sound the same/Like "dam", and "pecker", and "[[HaveAGayOldTime gay]]"/And then some words are spelled the same/Like "knockers", and "cock", and "snatch"!
** In a sketch where the {{ComicStrip/Peanuts}} gang got various countries for a Geography assignment Charlie Brown states "[[IGotARock I got Iraq]]."
* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle Fractured Fairy Tales]]'' cartoon "Snow White Inc", upon being told by her mirror that Snow White is the fairest in the land, the Queen gave her a poison apple. Afterwards she went back to her mirror who told her he meant Snow White was the fairest in that she never [[HonestyIsTheBestPolicy lied, cheated, or stole]]. The Queen was the ''prettiest''.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': In the episode "Let's Play Golf", Kaeloo tells Stumpy that he needs to use a tee. He mistakes it for "tea" and asks why he can't have coffee.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'':
** In "The Great Snail Race", Squidward boasts that his pet snail is a purebred. Patrick thinks he's saying his snail is made of bread.
** "The Whole Tooth" played with the legend of the tooth fairy by revealing in the end that [=SpongeBob=] was actually talking about a tooth ''ferry''.

** In "Crime After Crime", Mr. Herriman finds out his carrot stash has been stolen. When he calls the police, he tells them that the thief must have stolen 100 carrots. The police believe he's referring to karats, meaning diamonds, and rush over to Foster's. Meanwhile, Bloo hides some diamonds in Mac's backpack as a last resort to [[DeniedFoodAsPunishment get sent to his room without supper]] so he won't have to eat an indescribable dish called "it". When Mr. Herriman gets the backpack, he is surrounded by the police, who tell him to drop the diamonds. He assures them that there aren't any diamonds in it, just carrots. When he opens Mac's backpack to prove it to them, he finds the stolen diamonds in it, and the police say "Yes, Sir. About a hundred of them.", once again believing he was referring to karats, and arrest him for theft.
** The episode "Affairweather Friends" had [[StalkerWithACrush Berry]] attempt to get Bloo's attention by pretending to be a rich kid named Barry Bling, which eventually leads to Mac unsuccessfully trying to get it through to Bloo that Barry and Berry are one and the same.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':
** In the episode "Sadie Killer", Sadie [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m5HPZELpgs starts making up a song]] about how much she hates [[BurgerFool her job]], with at one point the lyrics going into how she can't be in ''mourning'' in regards to [[spoiler:Lars being stranded on an alien planet]] because she has to work yet another shift in the ''morning'' due to currently being the only employee at her store.
--->''I really ought to be in mourning/but I've got another shift this morning.''
** In "Made of Honor", [[spoiler:Bismuth]] is told she could be maid of honor at a wedding, but misunderstanding it as the titular line because she doesn't know what a wedding is.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' had Fry become emperor of an alien race made of liquid. Leela tries to warn him that he'll be assassinated, and that half of the former emperors had been drunk at their own coronation. Fry retorts that he was already planning on having a few beers before the ceremony.
* In "Think or Swim" from ''WesternAnimation/GoldieAndBear'', Humpty Dumpty shouts "high," trying to warn Goldie and Bear that they're filling the Giant's bathtub too ''high''. Unfortunately, they think he's just saying "[[JustForFun/{{Hello}} Hi]]."
* A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH1PJTY9AVA fake commercial]] in ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'' has Orson Welles promoting frozen peas "full of country goodness and green [[PerfectlyCromulentWord pea-ness]]", then [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere immediately walking out]] when he realizes [[DoubleEntendre what he just said]].
--> '''Welles''': Wait that's terrible. I quit!
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** In the episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E11MargicalHistoryTour Margical History Tour]]", during the story of Henry VIII, when Sir Thomas More (portrayed by Ned Flanders) protests Henry VIII (portrayed by Homer Simpson) starting his own church, Henry VIII declares that because he stuck to his principles, he was going to canonize him. Cut to [[HumanCannonball More being shot out of a cannon]].
** In the episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS21E7RednecksAndBroomsticks Rednecks and Broomsticks]]" had Lisa befriend a group of Wiccan girls. One day, she discovers that she has a witch-like substitute teacher filling in for Ms. Hoover, who claimed that she couldn't teach today because of "a spell of stomach flu". Paranoid that her new friends had Ms. Hoover indisposed as some kind of twisted favor, she panics when the substitute teacher then asks "Lisa, which craft?", the joke being that "which craft" sounds like "witchcraft".
* ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries'':
** Eugene thought King Frederic wanted his help to prank King Trevor by stealing a document known as the Royal Seal of Equis. [[spoiler: It turns out to be King Trevor's pet seal, Trevor Jr., instead.]]
** Throughout Season 1, there are multiple references to what seems to be a NoodleIncident involving Eugene getting on the Baron's bad side by stealing his prized stallion. [[spoiler: Come Season 2, Rapunzel learns that Stalyan is actually the name of the Baron's daughter, whom Eugene dated and then left at the altar.]]
* A plot point of the ''[[WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse Mickey MouseWorks]]'' short "Mickey's April Fools" is Mickey having an inheritance of one million bucks. By the end of the short, it turns out that the bucks are male deer rather than dollars.

* ''WesternAnimation/WhatACartoonShow'': In "WesternAnimation/LarryAndSteve", Steve the dog tries to convince Larry to adopt him.

* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': In "Constellation Prize":
-->'''Jet''': No way! A dog star? You can't be serious.
-->'''Dr. Rafferty''': Actually, it is Sirius.
-->'''Jet''': I get that it's serious, but I wonder what the star is called.
-->'''Dr. Rafferty''': It's Sirius.
-->'''Jet''': What's serious? I just want to know what the dog star's name is.
-->'''Dr. Rafferty''': It's seriously called Sirius.
-->'''Jet''': Whoa! Slow down...
* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'': In "Armor of the Gods", Uncle teaches Jade the spell to seal the demon Dai Gui. He says one of the ingredients is hair of ewe, but she thinks he said "hair of you" and uses some of her own hair, which doesn't work. Uncle has to clarify that a ewe is a female sheep.
* In ''WesternAnimation/HerculesTheAnimatedSeries'', Hercules confuses the words "gyro" and "hero" on career day, thinking he's going to be working at "Hero World" when he's actually been assigned to a food cart called "Gyro World."
* In ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2021'', Kronis grouses that he was about to eat a sandwich before [[spoiler:Skeletor removed his jaw brace to empower it with Havoc]]. As he walks off, [[WickedWitch Evelyn]] muses to herself that she once knew a sand witch.
* The ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "Headhunters" has a scene where Mabel and Dipper attempt to sneak into a bar to interrogate one of their suspects for a mystery they're trying to solve. After making fake [=IDs=], the scene cuts to a bouncer looking at an ID and saying "Sorry, we don't serve minors", before [[BaitAndSwitch revealing that he's actually talking to a miner]] who storms off.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': The ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'' short "Party of Three" has an example combined with JokeOfTheButt where Vicky stammers "but" in response to a photograph she took of Timmy Turner fooling around without adult supervision being changed by Cosmo and Wanda's magic into a photo of Mr. Turner in boxer shorts as well as Timmy doing the same in response to his parents deciding to continue hiring Vicky as his babysitter after all. Both occasions have Mr. Turner misinterpret them as talking about his rear end.
-->'''Mr. Turner:''' What is this fascination with my fanny?
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "Molt Down", Smolder explains to Spike that young dragons have to worry about being eaten by hydras, tatzlwurms, and rocs. Spike gets confused and thinks she is talking about rocks, so she clarifies she meant RocBirds
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', then-spokesman Jared makes the town upset to the point of a lynch mob by apparently repeating he'd like to give all the kids what helped him lose weight: "AIDS", but he was actually saying [[spoiler: 'aides'; people to aid them]].
* ''WesternAnimation/DeadEndParanormalPark''
** One episode has Pugsley bring a bunch of old mascot costumes to life due to some PowerIncontinence after a heated argument with Barney, all of them saying "MEAT!" It's later revealed that it's not ''meat'' they're after, rather it's a chance to ''meet'' and greet.
** Another episode features a man called Harmony who gets the park employees to do some trust activities... Or so it seems. He's actually a demon called ''Harm Many'' who wants to make them scared enough so he can [[EmotionEater eat their fear]].
* ''WesternAnimation/NakedMoleRatGetsDressedTheRockSpecial'' has a bit where Grand-mah is addresed as "great Grand-mah" and she responds by cheerfully asking if her mother's here.
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'': After Tummi eats a cursed fruit and starts to show symptoms of [[{{Transflormation}} turning into a tree.]]
-->'''Zummi:''' You're leafing!
-->'''Tummi:''' But I'm not going anywhere.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'', after Dale, suffering from LaserGuidedAmnesia from a conk on the head, regains his memory after getting another conk:
-->'''Chip:''' Dale, you're back!\\
'''Dale:''' Forget my back. It's my head that's killing me!
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePatrickStarShow'': In "[[Recap/ThePatrickStarShowS1E21ThePatrickShowSellsOutNeptunesBall Neptune's Ball]]", Patrick comes across an invitation with the monogrammed letter "U" on it (for Upturn, its intended recipent). Squidina says, "oh, that means it's for ''you''!" and Patrick accepts it.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ClaymationComedyOfHorrors'', Wilshire Pig searches a castle for a MadScientist's [[MadScientistLaboratory lab]], but it's currently filled with a gathering of monsters for a Halloween jamboree. He asks the monster working the registration desk if she knew where the laboratory is and she gives him directions; JumpCut to Wilshire in a public restroom.
-->'''Wilshire:''' ''Lavatory.'' [[LampshadeHanging I hate homophones.]]
* The ExpositoryThemeTune for ''WesternAnimation/MyGymPartnersAMonkey'' explains that this is the trigger for the show's premise of [[StrangerInAStrangeSchool a human going to a school for animals]], with Adam's last name of 'Lyon' being mistaken for 'Lion', resulting in him getting transferred to Charles Darwin Middle School. It's lampshaded near the end of the series that it was obvious that the clearical error was never going to be cleared up.
* WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers: In "Muscular Beaver 4" while Daggett is in his superhero alter ego and pitting himself against Toe-Bot (Daggett talking for him of course), Toe-Bot warns Daggett of his mastery of [[IKnowKungFaux Toe-Fu,]] to which Daggett responds: "Tofu? The soybean rich protein extract?"
** When the duo are sold as dogs to a suburban family, the father takes them on a walk and tells them to heel, which they don't understand; "Maybe he thinks we're sick?". The two brothers end up removing his shoes thinking they meant the heels of his footwear.

** The SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for HulkSpeak delivered by [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0367.html Thog]]: it's mind-blowingly accurate while utterly incomprehensible when spoken. [[spoiler:[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo etc.]]]]

* A clever dramatic twist in the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Bread and Circuses". Kirk and crew encounter a world that resembled the Roman Empire with contemporary (1960s) technology, and also met a group of slaves who claimed to worship the Sun and preached a message of love and brotherhood. At the end of the episode, Spock admitted to being puzzled by these sun-worshipers, since most sun-worshiping tribes tended to be superstitious and primitive. Uhura realized that these "sun-worshipers" were in fact analogous to Christians. "It's not the sun up in the sky, it's the Son of God."

* In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Riddles", Neelix tells Tuvok a riddle about an ensign who gets stranded on an L-class planet with nothing but a calendar, yet survives for a full year. How? By eating the ''dates'' from the calendar. Tuvok dismisses this as mere wordplay, but at the end of the episode, he realizes that the ensign could have also eaten the Sundays/sundaes.

** Another episode features a man called Harmony who gets the park employees to do some trust activities... Or so it seems. He's actually an demon called ''Harm Many'' who wants to make them scared enough so he can [[EmotionEater eat their fear]].

Compare FunWithAcronyms and FunWithPalindromes. Also see HehHehYouSaidX.

* In Frank Black & The Catholics' "Dog Gone", the line "the news is gonna break that I am here" eventually gets a darker LyricSwap - "Your ''noose'' is gonna break while I am there".

--->'''Ducky:''' Well it wasn't the sand, Mr. Palmer, but the sand mite.\\

* ''Series/{{NCIS}}:'' A mild example bordering on WhoseOnFirst between Palmer and Ducky. Palmer explains he doesn't like sand, after playing in it as a child and itching excessively afterwards.