This entry is all about eel puns! Eels are (primarily) predatory fish which have characteristically elongated bodies, such that they look a bit like underwater snakes. The most famous eels are perhaps the moray eel, the conger eel and electric eels (which technically aren’t eels, but rather knifefish).
As you’ll see, eel puns are mostly a play on words containing the “eel” sound, or similar, but there are some more sneaky puns to be made too.
You might also like to check out the Punpedia entries on fish puns, shark puns, beach puns and squid puns for related wordplay.
As with all entries on Punpedia, if you’ve got a great eel pun, you can post it in the comments and one of our curators will add it to this entry.
Eel Puns List
Each item in this list of eel puns is either a simple word-swap (e.g. ill → eel) or it may be a general rule from which multiple puns can be made. In the case of general rules, the asterisks sign (*) represents one or more letters.
- *eel*: Most words containing “eel” can be used as eel puns: wheel, cartwheel, feel, feelers, feelings, genteel, heel, heels, keel, kneel, kneeling, newsreel, pinwheel, peel, peelings, steel, steelworker, wheelbarrow, wheelchair, wheelie.
- Field → Feeld: Words containing the “eel” sound (or similar) can be used as homophonic puns with he right emphasis: appeeling, feeld, ceeling (ceiling), automobeel, battlefeeld, ameeliorate, conceelment, deeler, eelongation, geelotine (guillotine), heeler, heelium, ideelism, memorabeelia, reveel, repeel, reelization, reely, reeligion, reelationships, reelaxation, sheeld, steeling, sheela, seel, surreelism, transeelvania, yeelding.
- Ill → Eel: “I’m not feeling very well, I’m afraid I might be eel.”
- I’ll → Eel’l: “Eel’l have to wait a few more days.”
- *ihl* → *eel*: Words with the “ihl” sound in them somewhere can be used as eel puns with a bit of phonetic twisting: abeelities (abilities), acceptabeelity (acceptability), accountabeelity, acreelic, adaptabeelity, admissibeelity, affeeliate, affeeliation, applicabeelity, arteellery, availabeelity, barceelona, beelated, beelief, beweeldered, beweelderment, beelow, beeloved, beelies, beelongings, beelong, brazeelians, breelliant, beelding, caterpeellars, capabeelities, cheeldren, civeelian, conceeliation, credibeelity, culpabeelity, daffodeel, debeelitating, deelectable, deelay, deeliberately, deeliberation, deelightful, deelinquent, deelivered, deelusion, desirabeelity, diseellusionment, durabeelity, eelaborated, eelastic, eelation, eelections, eelectorate, eelectrical, eelectrode, eelectromagnetic, eelectronic, eelectrostatic, eeligibility, eelimination, eellipse, eelongated, eelusive, exheelaration, faceelitate, fameeliarity. This is only a small number of the possible puns that can be created using this pattern. To create more, use a tool like this one.
- That’s amore → That’s a moray: “When a moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s a moray.” The word “amore”, pronounced “ah-mor-ray” means “love” in Italian and was made famous by the singer Dean Martin. A “moray eel” is a type of eel.
- More ale → Moray-eel: “Drinking moray-eel is not a good idea.”
- Morale → Moray-eel: “Captain, the army’s moray-eel is low.”
- More → Mor-ay: A bit laboured, but still possible: “Some mor-ay people will arrive soon.”
- Can’t go → Conger: “I conger to work today because I am sick.” A “congo” is a type of large, scaleless, marine eel.
- Congo → Conger: “Conger is a republic in central Africa.”
- Congo → Conger: “Come on! Join the conger line.” (See conga line Wikipedia entry if you’ve never heard of it.)
- Electric: Electric eels are famous enough that you could probably use just the word “electric” as an eel pun, with no modification to its phonetics. If you need more emphasis, you could use “eelectric”. Same with electricity, electrostatic, etc. In the right context you may also get away with using some other electricity-related terms as eel puns: short circuit, static, current, volt, ampere, voltage, watt, kilowatt, electrify, circuit, arc, electrocute, charge, power.
- Elder → Elver: “I was always told to respect my elvers according to their desert.” An elver is a young eel.
- Elderly → Elverly: “An elverly couple lives in that house.” An elver is a young eel.
- Hell of a → Elver: “We had an elver time on our last adventure.”
- Hell → Eel: “Eel hath no fury like an anguilliform scorned.”
- Foray → F-moray: Very laboured! “I wrote this during my first f-moray into poetry.”
- ? → Anguilliform: All eels are part of the “anguilliform” biological taxonomic order. Got a pun for this? Please share it in the comments!
- ? → Leptocephalus: A leptocephalus is the slender transparent larva of eels. Got a pun for this? Please share it in the comments!
As you can see our eel puns list is still short! If you’d like to help us out, this source of eel-related words may be handy (as might this source). If you come up with any puns for these words, please share them in the comments!
If you’re after more aquatic animal word play, check out our entry on crab puns and our massive fish puns entry.
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