02 January 2011

Sew Clever

When I started this blog last June I thought I was so clever to come up with a punning title that reflected two facets of my life--my work as a law professor (still teaching according to a version of the so-called Socratic Method) and my hoped-for return to sewing. As it turned out, not only was my actual title not original--soon after launching this blog I ran across Kristen's Sewcratic Method, quiet for the past 3 years--but the blogosphere is full, full of puns.

hello-kitty-transformer-sewing-machine.jpg

First, there are bloggers like me, who substitute "sew" for a more or less similar sound in their titles:
LNikia's Sewl Sista #1;
Lynda's Haute Chocolate For My Sewl;
Mistyluc's A Sew-cial Butterfly;
Heather's SEWspicious Minds.

More numerous are the SO = SEW titles. Of these, many use use "Sew" as intensifying modifier (a grammatical practice criticized here):

Lisa's Sew Random (btw, do check out the hilarious tea towel Lisa got for Christmas!);
Psycho Sue's Sew Misunderstood;
Sew Shy's Sew Shy;
Liana's Sew Intriguing;
Audrey's SewTawdry;
Christiana's Sew a Musing'
Aminat's Sew Fit;
Lucinda's Sew Wrong;
Cindy's Sew Blessed;
Meg's Sew Liberated;
Jessica and Ruth's Sew Chic;
Rosanne's She's Sew Unusual;
Mary's Mary is SewFast;
Omega's Sew Hooked;
Summer Flies' Sew Darn Tired;
Sandi's Sew Much, Sew Stylin', Sew Fast;
Christy's Sew Much Fabric, Sew Little Time ... So Little Closet Space;
Kelly's Sew Much To Do, Sew Little Time;
Julia's Sew Sweet and Special Occasion Clothing for Children;
McVal's Sew Not My Day!
Group Blog Sew Retro;
Sew Lovely's Life Is Sew Lovely.

Maybe in deference to the grammarians, a few bloggers have left this usage of "Sew" behind them:
Angelia hides her "Sew Much to Sew" in the url to Every Day Is Better Than the Last;
Heather seems to have given up on "Sew Many Things To Do" in favor of Heather's Blog; Terri has apparently moved from Sew Sophisticated to Sew Terri.
Tanya substituted the very dangerous Eating Pins for "Sew Sassy Again"; and just today,
Elizabeth has abandoned the inappropriate Sew A Beginner, (Peter has long called her "Sew An Intermediate") for the elegant Sewn.

Others use "Sew" as an introductory syllable, a conjunction perhaps indicating that what follows sums up some unstated exposition that came before (according to BoingBoing, Microsoft employees take credit for originating this usage):

Sew Darn Lucky's (see above) Sew That's All Folks;
Carol's Sew, I've Been Thinking;
Ruthie's Sew Ruthie (fka Ruthie K Sews);
Jayme Grace's Sew It Seams;
Angie's Sew I Thought ...
Tammy's Sew There Tammy.

Several bloggers play on "so and so", ordinarily a euphemism for appellations unfit for sewing circles. One wonders what the uncensored titles would be?:

Jane M's Lucky Sew and Sew;
Capital Sew and Sew's Capitol Sew and Sew;
Becky's Sew and So.

Shrinking Self Esteem

Meanwhile, Lisa H promises a monotony her lively blog Sew On and Sew On does not deliver, while if Judy, who has 5 children including 2-year-old twins, really manages to keep Everything Just Sew she's a better man than I.

Sticking with "sew" but moving away from the sew = so association, we find titles based on so = go:
Lori's Sew Forth Now and Lynelle's You Sew Girl!; and, maybe, Linda's Sewin' Like the Wind, although that one could be sew = blow, or maybe not a pun at all but an indication of Linda's stitching velocity. And sew = show: Lilian's I'll Sew You!!

After "sew", but running a very distant second, the favorite word to pun with is "seam":

NuJoi's Seams Enjoiable;
Karin's Making the Seam; and, deserving special mention for the twofer: Jayme Grace's Sew It Seams.
And let's not forget Gigi's Behind the Seams, now retitled Gigi Sews.

And finally, some sewing bloggers manage to play with words other than sew and seam:

Peter's Male Pattern Boldness;
Moggy and Kitty's I Wanna Frock and Roll All Night;
(Added)Melissa's Fehr Trade; and
Christina's Assorted Notions.

Have I left any out? What is your favorite blog title?

2 comments:

  1. Ahh but you missed my punnerfic blog title (which may only make sense if you're pronouncing my surname correctly, like "fair" not "fur")!

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  2. Sew I did! You're in a class by yourself--a totally sewing blog with a non-sewing pun! Fixed.

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