The Tiger Woods car crash story has given rise to a plethora of puns relating to animals and golf in the press. My favourite is this one from The News of the World:
Of course, the lion and the cheetah are big cats, just like the tiger, but what the headline writer wants us to understand is 'Tiger's not a lying cheater' (it's been alleged that he was cheating on his wife with an 'events planner'). The animal theme is continued in the sub-headline. An ape is an animal such as a chimpanzee or gorilla, but the expression 'to go ape' means to become very angry (or mad as they say in the US).
Apparently, Woods' wife smashed the car window with a golf club—supposedly to rescue her 'semi-conscious' husband. This is an excuse for a golfing pun since the car was a Cadillac (nickname Caddy), and a caddy is a person who carries a golfer's clubs around the course. Are you still with me?
Another golf pun appears in this headline:
Here the word 'birdie' is used with a double meaning. A birdie in golf is a score on an individual hole that is one stroke below par. But birdie is also the diminutive of 'bird'—a slang term for a young woman.
Let me know if you come across any more Tiger puns.
READ MORE
• The excellent grammar of Tiger Woods (The Guardian)
• Tiger Woods: profile of a reclusive superstar (The Guardian)
• The private life of Tiger Woods (The Guardian)
