Sun wins the Beckham punning prize
by Roy Greenslade, guardian.co.ukFebruary 1st 2013
David Beckham's decision to join Paris Saint-Germain got major billing in Friday's national newspapers, offering sub-editors the chance to compose a range of punning headlines.
Most were on the front page. Some led off the sports sections. A few were straightforward, such as "Saint David" in the Daily Telegraph and "Saint Becks" in the Daily Mirror. Similarly, the Daily Express went with "Now Saint Becks heads to France … and gives £3m salary to charity."
The Daily Mail also highlighted the charity angle with "Golden Gift: I'll give my £3.4m PSG wages to charity, says Beckham."
The Daily Star chose "Bonjour Beckham" but the Times wittily stretched its readers' knowledge of French just a little further with "Alors, sur ma tête, mon fils."
Its inside page was "Beckham delighted with Paris match", and the Guardian's front featured that pun too: "Paris match: Beckham signs for France's richest club – and gives wages to charity."
The Independent, under a picture of Beckham walking smartly along a street, presumably in the French capital, preferred "Our new man in Paris scores an early goal."
Oddly, its little (actually big) sister, i, carried only a blurb: "Paris says bonjour to Le Spice Boy." And Metro preferred "One free man and a French revolution."
The Financial Times shunned puns with "Beckham joins Paris Saint-Germain". But it was carried only on its website (where puns don't go down well with SEO requirements).
Top pun by far was, unsurprisingly, in The Sun: "Golden Boules". And, thanks to commenters, I now see the Mirror carried the same head on its back page (sorry for the oversight - memo to self: turn to the back when dealing with sport).
Arguably the most delightful spoken pun came from Garry Richardson on Radio 4's Today programme, who asked at the end of his sports spot: "Do you think he went through the French window?"
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