No double entendre left behind
July 27, 2013 11:33 AM   Subscribe

Boris Johnson unveils a giant blue cock in Trafalgar Square, causing an outbreak of terrible puns. Hahn/Cock is the work of Katharina Fritsch, better known for her Rat-King sculpture. The colour is (probably) an homage to (NSFW) Yves Klein's favourite colour.
posted by elgilito (43 comments total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
It's so blue!
posted by Sys Rq at 11:39 AM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


Anthony Weiner is so pissed right now.
posted by R. Schlock at 11:41 AM on July 27, 2013 [5 favorites]


Oh, and apparently Huma Abedin wants everyone to know she stands by Boris Johnson as well.
posted by R. Schlock at 11:43 AM on July 27, 2013


will occupy Trafalgar Square for 18 months.

I am visiting England in a couple months. I WILL SEE THIS GIANT BLUE COCK.
posted by Metroid Baby at 11:48 AM on July 27, 2013 [4 favorites]


I'll just leave this here
posted by jeffburdges at 11:55 AM on July 27, 2013


hahn is German for cockerel, and it carries a similar double meaning in Germany

No, I'm sad to report that's not true. A Hahn is nothing but a male chicken, so the joke falls flat in German. (To make up for this injustice, we have the word Schniedelwutz...)
posted by The Toad at 12:02 PM on July 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


Politics imitating Python imitating politics.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 12:03 PM on July 27, 2013


What a missed opportunity. It should have been unveiled by Ed Balls.
posted by vacapinta at 12:10 PM on July 27, 2013 [9 favorites]


We have mounted this French cock at the heart of our imperial square.

It's as though an infinite density of double-entendres has collapsed into a black hole of snark from which nothing can escape.
posted by gimonca at 12:26 PM on July 27, 2013 [4 favorites]


Paging Beavis and Butthead!
posted by IndigoJones at 12:32 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


I will never get used to the liberal use of "cock" on British TV, which makes it all the more awesome. It's too blue for Doctor Who, yet completely casual for Top Gear.
posted by Brocktoon at 12:37 PM on July 27, 2013


That's a big chicken.
posted by octothorpe at 12:37 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


And here was I thinking that Hahn/Cock was Rainer Werner Fassbinder's devastatingly brutal reimagining of life at 23 Railway Cuttings, East Cheam.
posted by Len at 12:56 PM on July 27, 2013 [5 favorites]


I find it infinitely ironic that we are going through a burst of "fitler ALL the pr0nz! THINK OF THE CHILDERS!" in the UK at the same time as unveiling a giant blue cock next to Nelson's Column.

We are the country who gave the world Ramblin' Sid Rumpo and Round the Horne (in fact, Kenneth Williams in every respect). Carry On. Ronnie Barker, Mrs Slocombe's Pussy, Frankie Howerd... and transmitted South Park: The Movie on national free-to-air public service TV. What IS it with this incessant prudery?
posted by Devonian at 1:16 PM on July 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


Anthony Weiner is so pissed right now.

It works on so many levels!
posted by JHarris at 1:20 PM on July 27, 2013


What IS it with this incessant prudery?

The Daily Mail, mostly.
posted by pipeski at 1:34 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


Ah. Another cock-up from Boris.
posted by litleozy at 1:58 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


Another cock-up from Boris.

At least he wasn't unveiling a statue of a Johnson.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:11 PM on July 27, 2013


Being from Hancock, MI, do I get double points for a double-entendre?
posted by Mojojojo at 2:11 PM on July 27, 2013




Does Fritsch typically work blue?
posted by sleeping bear at 2:45 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


Why do I have a sudden urge for Sriracha? On wings?
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:00 PM on July 27, 2013


Man, the International Art English in that Rat-King link is pretty heinous.
posted by cthuljew at 3:08 PM on July 27, 2013


Good thing it wasn't purple or it would be deemed obscene.
posted by Muddler at 3:14 PM on July 27, 2013


So, this Fritsch woman is Gonzo and Camilla's couples' therapist?
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:23 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]



So, this Fritsch woman is Gonzo and Camilla's couples' therapist?


That's really not an appropriate nickname for the Prince of Wales.
posted by stevis23 at 3:40 PM on July 27, 2013 [9 favorites]


No, I'm sad to report that's not true. A Hahn is nothing but a male chicken, so the joke falls flat in German. (To make up for this injustice, we have the word Schniedelwutz...)
posted by The Toad at 12:02 PM on July 27 [1 favorite]


By chance, is there is a single word in German to capture essence of the phrase "Boy, those Germans have a word for everything!"?
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 4:51 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


The colour is (probably) an homage to (NSFW) Yves Klein's favourite colour.

Very droll. I hope that's true. It would be so amusing.
posted by KokuRyu at 5:28 PM on July 27, 2013


Why is it blue? Was someone choking it?

Or maybe it just blue itself?

The older I get, the more juvenile my sense of humor becomes. It's like Benjamin Button or something...
posted by A dead Quaker at 5:45 PM on July 27, 2013


"Please contact your physician if your cock becomes blue and is located on your plinth for more than 18 months."
posted by anothermug at 6:09 PM on July 27, 2013 [5 favorites]


Plinth sounds far dirtier than cock, because I know what the latter is, but plinth must be something so rude I've never heard it used before.
posted by kiltedtaco at 7:12 PM on July 27, 2013


Ironically, cocks have virtually no penises.
posted by yoink at 7:41 PM on July 27, 2013




Man, the International Art English in that Rat-King link is pretty heinous.

I'm a little worried now, because I usually have a very low tolerance for this kind of thing (recent capital-T Theory threads had me breaking out in hives) yet found the linked piece pretty straightforward, if a little breathless.
posted by Dr Dracator at 11:22 PM on July 27, 2013


Since Boris was there this phwoar! blue cock uveiling also featured a big tit.
posted by chavenet at 1:01 AM on July 28, 2013


Don't you mean a Great Tit?
posted by kagredon at 2:01 AM on July 28, 2013


Just curious -- does the UK have a comedian who does a devastating parody of Boris Johnson, or is that a service he performs himself?
posted by dhartung at 2:09 AM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


Very droll. I hope that's true. It would be so amusing.

It is true! As soon as I clicked through my first thought was, "un coq gallois en bleu Yves Klein au cœur de... Londres ?!" So, I was very happy to see that they integrated puns with France and even a bit of French in there. There's no doubt the artist knows it's Yves Klein blue; if you've ever seen anything by Klein during his Blue period, you know that blue. Here in his Riviera hometown, people like to think he was also inspired by the azure blue said to characterize the area. It is strongly linked with Mary (Mother of you-know-who), too, which fits nicely with Fritsch's work: emblematic male drenched in feminine symbolic.
posted by fraula at 2:11 AM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


Well, I've searched for it and no one seems to have done a "Hahn/Cock's Half-Hour" gag. That said, I've not been able to think of one, myself.
posted by Grangousier at 2:17 AM on July 28, 2013


Dhartung: there's a really good article about Boris' 'comedy' here, really worth the read
posted by litleozy at 2:27 AM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


Just curious -- does the UK have a comedian who does a devastating parody of Boris Johnson, or is that a service he performs himself?

Himself; it's a good vote winner. Oh, and picture number 7 is of Boris seriously checking out the "apparatus" of a scale model of his cock.
posted by Wordshore at 2:41 AM on July 28, 2013


The sculpture was unveiled by Johnson, who, despite his claim that "my critical faculties are exhausted by this wonderful sculpture" had plenty to say, not least a thinly veiled jibe at David Cameron's recent efforts to crack down on online pornography. "If you were to Google the sculpture in a few years' time," he said, "search engines would collapse at the behest of the prime minister. Er, quite properly of course." He warmed to the theme later. "You would be forbidden by prime ministerial edict from looking at it," he told journalists. After a meaningful pause, he added: "Quite right too."
Heh. Related post, in case anyone missed it.
posted by homunculus at 2:06 PM on July 28, 2013


I just want to ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross.
Is that so wrong?
posted by Mezentian at 4:42 AM on July 30, 2013


« Older Paddling 1,500 Miles for Science and Adventure   |   Being Dumb Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments