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Lincessant Linguists: Linordinate Lin Puns Still Lintertaining
By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 16, 2012
Modified Feb 16, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 16, 2012
Modified Feb 16, 2012
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Having dished out 13 assists during the Knicks' blowout win against the Sacramento Kings at the Garden last night, the linsational Jeremy Lin was given a well-deserved rest for much of the second half to the disappointment of many Linatics. But there was no rest for eager sports writers and fans looking to unlock internet immortality by formulating the next great Lin pun. The punning has gotten so out of control, it's gone mainstream—Dave Letterman featured the top 10 worst Jeremy Lin puns on his show last night:
While it's true we've certainly joined in with our share of linterminal lapses into Linguistics—and considering how fun it is, we don't imagine we or anyone else will be stopping anytime soon—we're getting nervous that people are trying to use up all the Lin puns they can think of too quickly. There are websites that "Linify" your writing into a steady stream of Lin puns and Grantland articles seemingly written with it; Buzzfeed has lists of nicknames ("Linglorious Basterd" is pretty good) and others have lists of possible celebrity endorsements Lin could make.
Most exhaustively, SB Nation has an insane list "of the remaining Jeremy Lin puns for usage in headlines, stories and blog posts. They are the only ones left." We all need to stop and smell roses here—it's a point which Bill Simmons tackles in his all-Lin mailbag column today. Lin proved he was no mere flash in the pan in the Knicks' resounding win over the Lakers last week; and even now that scouting reports have caught up with him, he still scored the last six points in the game against the Raptors.
Even if he does simmer down offensively from this seven-game tear he's been on—even if he does end up somewhere between "J.J. Barea 2.0" and "Poor Man's Nash" as a basketball player—Lin has inspired his teammates, invigorated the Knicks' franchise, and created the most entertaining season of basketball the city has seen since Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston led the eighth seeded team to the NBA Finals in 1999.
We're excited to see what the rest of the season holds for Lin and a healthy Melo and Stat, so let's try to dole out our desperate Rangers puns appropriately. Now let's all just hope Kim Kardashian doesn't suck out Lin's soul.
Tagged
basketball
jeremy lin
knicks
linguistics
linsanity
nba
puns
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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