h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

One of the Phys Ed teachers at my high school was Miss (or Mrs) Lamborne. And we all had fun with the name of the maths teacher Mr Maiorano. (Try saying it aloud)

Please explain the joke in the name Miss Lamborne.

At high school, one of the kids was unfortunate enough to have his parents, Mr and Mrs Kerr, name him Wayne. Suffice to say his life was not a pleasant one until he changed his name to Geoffrey.

Much later I learned there was yet another person with equally shortsighted parents. He was named Wayne Carr.

Some people just don't deserve to have kids...

The proprietor of my local Chinese food emporium was named Ian Poo, or I. Poo

*trundles off to giggle like a kiddie*

My initials are PMS.

The local registrar of Deaths where i live (Great Grimsby, UK) was for 20 years a Mrs J Stiff

My woodwork teacher was called Mr Wood, while my metal work teacher was called Mr Pipe.

There are two villages about 10 miles away called Mavis Enderby and Old Bollingbroke, and theres a rural sign post nearby which reads "To Old Bollingbroke and Mavis Enderby", to which some wit has added "A son"

The founder of Grimsby was a man called Grimm - and if you've ever been here, it's a very fitting name.

A Chinese restaurant I pass occasionally is run by Soon Fatt.

I used to know a man who served with the Royal Corps of Transport (now part of the Royal Logistics Corpz, I think). The lowest army rank is usually 'Private', but in the RCT it was 'Driver'. So his name and rank was 'Driver Carr'.

I remember the New Scientist thing. Actually, I remember something on the News Quiz on Radio 4 quite a while ago.

I remember that there was a hotel manager called Mr Warm Bath. Two people wrote about incontinence called J.W.Splatt, and Mr Wedonn.

The smileys come about, I think from the letter 8 and the ). I'll try it now. 8)

Yes, its the 8 and the ) combined that turn into a smiley. If you have a look at them, they do look like a face.

Ignore the smiley thing. I didn't realise that there were posts after the one I replied to.

see http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A617366 and http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A596388 8)

I remember watching an old Open University program in Physics when I was at the school and one of the appallingly "70s teacher" dressed presenters was called Stuart Freake.

That does seem appropiate for a physicist. But wasn´t there also a time where you could make a smiley with :D ?

In the course of my job, I once ran across Mrs. Fester. Her fault, of course. I don't know WHAT Esther was thinking when she married him.

Esther Fester...

In a nearby village there's a firm of funeral directors called 'A Dyer', which I find wholly appropriate.

Probably your 8´s turned into smileys because your had a bracket right next to them. I`ll try to see if this was right. ... 8) ... ? Right! Also, there is a special smiley page somewhere in the guide which shows you the key-combinations to create them. Shalom!!! CCG.
Oh, and do you remember the scene from "the life of brian" when the roman centurio (?) talks about his friend Bickus Dickus and his wife Incontinentia Buttocks? CCG.

oooyy.....!

How about the English rugby union player Austin healey. I also read of a document signed (fraudulently) by a Bud E. Wyser. I knew a lad at school who's surname was Head. Unbelievably his parents called him Richard.
Cheers Ecky.

No particular joke in Lambourne, just funny in itself. Just remembered the principal was A. Legg at some stage (we had a new principal just about every year)

There used to be a guy down the stairs from me at uni called Andy Fish. And yes, he did have A. Fish on his door!
I also seem to remember a French rugby player called Condom (there is also one called La Maison, the house, which is disturbingly appropriate) and I have a vague memory of a news reader called Lyn Lithgoe. Linlithgow is a Scottish town.