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What is the pun in this joke "The first time I met my wife I knew she was a keeper. She was wearing massive gloves" by Alun Cochrane

Mrt
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4 Answers4

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In football / soccer1 (goal)keepers wear oversized gloves:

Goalie Source

If a person you are in a relationship with is decribed as a keeper it's someone considered to be held onto, someone "you should keep".

The joke plays with the double meaning, in a classic example of a double entendre.

1 and other sports involving a ball and a goal: (ice) hockey, cricket, lacrosse... Not all sports, though, e.g. water-/handball are played "gloveless".

Stephie
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    The first sentence leads you to believe that he knew that he would marry her when they first met - a person to "keep". The second sentence reveals that she was literally a goal **keeper**. – Hannover Fist Aug 26 '15 at 20:35
  • @HannoverFist - the classic setup of these [double entendre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_entendre) jokes.... – Stephie Aug 26 '15 at 20:43
  • Isn't this person called a *goalie*? I've never heard the term *keeper* for this role before. – Joe Aug 27 '15 at 02:20
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    @Joe "Goalie" is short for "[goalkeeper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goalkeeper)". "Keeper" is also short for "goalkeeper"... just shortened to a different portion of the word. – Catija Aug 27 '15 at 03:04
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    Also `Wicket Keeper` in cricket - [even bigger gloves](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicket-keeper). – OldCurmudgeon Aug 27 '15 at 09:44
  • @Joe: Search for "dodgy keeper", that provides plenty of examples of goalkeepers being referred to as "keeper". You'll sometimes hear chants of "dodgy, dodgy keeper" on the terraces. Or at least you used to back when there were terraces: it might be out of fashion now for all I know. – Steve Jessop Aug 27 '15 at 12:32
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    you should accredit the image. @Joe "goalie" in my experience is sort of an Americanism, I've more frequently heard "keeper" from the other denizens of the diaspora. – MichaelChirico Aug 27 '15 at 13:55
  • @Catija "Goalie" can also be an abbreviation of the alternative term "goaltender" (used in certain sports like ice hockey). – cpast Aug 27 '15 at 15:21
  • Despite the increasing popularity of soccer in the US, I'm pretty sure most people in the US would not get this joke right away (maybe because even those of us familiar with soccer use the term "goalie" more often than keeper). – abcd Aug 28 '15 at 01:51
  • @dbliss Well, it's a one-liner from the *Edinburgh* Fringe Festival... – Stephie Aug 28 '15 at 01:54
  • Aside: this isn't really a double entendre. Yes, the joke comes from the sentence having two meanings, but "double entendre" is more specific than that; it implies that one of the meanings is sexual or at least rude. Some kind of innuendo at least. This is a pun, and nothing more. (It's a good one though.) – Ewan Mellor Aug 28 '15 at 06:31
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    This isn't so much a double entendre or a simple pun than it is a [Garden Path Sentence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_path_sentence) or [Paraprosdokian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraprosdokian). – Clinton Pierce Aug 28 '15 at 14:07
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Possible she's a beekeeper? They have to wear large sets of gear to protect themselves.

Bee Keeper gloves

user3321
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    +1 for good answer, even though it's probably not what was intended by the author of the pun. – Scimonster Aug 26 '15 at 18:04
  • Another +1 for making me laugh. – AbraCadaver Aug 26 '15 at 18:38
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    I'll agree, odds are this is sports related... Soccer isn't big around here. Football (American, not soccer) doesn't use gloves. Baseball only has a glove. Soccer fits, but isn't my first thought. First thing I thought before seeing the soccer answer, oddly enough, was beekeeper. Second was Quidditch, but that's down right silly even compared to Bees. – user3321 Aug 26 '15 at 18:51
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    I don't know what Gridiron Football you're watching, but almost every position uses gloves. – corsiKa Aug 27 '15 at 04:29
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    This is what I thought of as well, though given the joke author is English the other answer is likely correct. Also you should accredit the image. – MichaelChirico Aug 27 '15 at 13:55
  • No way is it bees, baseball, gridiron, or Quidditch. The comedian was born in Scotland in the 1970s and raised in Yorkshire. It's football (soccer) that he's talking about. – Ewan Mellor Aug 28 '15 at 06:27
  • @EwanMellor Not every question has a single correct answer... unless you are saying with ABSOLUTE!!! certainty that Scotland/Yorkshire has never had beekeepers? I'll agree odds are it's football(soccer) (or cricket, since that's one of weird sports as well)... but others have said they had the same thought as me, so I'm not alone in thinking she's a (bee)keeper. – user3321 Aug 28 '15 at 14:46
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It is a play on words based on

a) "Keeper" Urban Dictionary Definition

a term used to describe a guy/girl that you love very much and plan to "keep"

b) "Keeper" Oxford English Dictionary Definition See #2

Shorthand for a Goalkeeper (Football [UK]) or Wicketkeeper (Cricket)

who would traditionally wear large gloves:

enter image description here enter image description here

The first part of the joke leads you to believe that the teller is talking about definition a), but then qualifies it by talking about the gloves to give definition b)

Matt Wilko
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4

Alun Cochrane is a comedian from the North of England. He is referring to a Goalkeeper in football (soccer) as well as someone to keep forever. Goalkeepers or keepers use large gloves.

marklbentley
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