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By Daniel Rigney
You've probably seen the inscription "Keep Calm and Carry On" emblazoned on a tee-shirt, a coffee mug, a tote bag or a poster recently. You may have wondered where this expression comes from, and what it originally referred to. More on this below, but first ...
Here’s a fill-in-the-blank game for anyone who’s up for a little whimsical wordplay today. Feel free to join in.
Your mission, if you should choose to accept it, is to complete the phrase “Keep Calm and _________,” and then match your sentence completion with the name of an actual or imaginary organization that might plausibly adopt this as a slogan.
Example: “Keep Calm and Call Your Mom” (American Motherhood Association)
Before you start, here’s some background.
In 1939, the British Ministry of Information produced a motivational poster urging the populace to Keep Calm and Carry On in anticipation of a German air attack on England’s major cities. The poster was not widely circulated at the time, but it’s since been rediscovered, reproduced, commercialized and parodied on posters, tee-shirts, coffee mugs, and every other imaginable surface.
If you do an image-search of “Keep Calm,” you’ll soon discover that there are already literally hundreds of mutant variations of this meme out there in the humorverse.
The one I’ve seen most often is “Keep Calm and Party On” – perhaps a fitting slogan for a college fraternity?
Some of my personal favorites: “Keep Calm and Carol On,” (A Christmas Choir?) , “Keep Calm and Call Batman,” (Citizens of Gotham?), and “Keep Calm and Run Like Hell.” (Olympic Relay Team?)
At the risk of beating a dead trope, I’ll venture that we haven’t yet sucked the last bit of marrow from this gnawed bone. I believe we can still come up with a few fresh mutations of “Keep Calm” and match these with appropriate organizations.
Here are a few lobs in that direction.
Keep Calm and Care (Disaster Relief Agency)
Keep Calm and Carry (National Rifle Association)
Keep Calm and Carry Condoms (Planned Parenthood)
Keep Calm and Bury On (National Undertakers Association)
Keep Calm and Carrion (Vulture Preservation Society)
Keep Calm and Dairy On (Wisconsin Cheese Council)
Keep Calm and Marry On (Las Vegas Wedding Planners)
Keep Calm and Parry On (London Fencing Club)
Keep Calm and Query On (Search Engines, Inc.)
Keep Calm and Carry Off (Mosquito Defense Force)
Care to add one or two of your own? Have fun with it.
And please, try to refrain from suggesting “Keep Calm and Aaaggghhhhh!!!”
Thanks!
Danagram
:] writer at play since 2011
You've probably seen the inscription "Keep Calm and Carry On" emblazoned on a tee-shirt, a coffee mug, a tote bag or a poster recently. You may have wondered where this expression comes from, and what it originally referred to. More on this below, but first ...
Here’s a fill-in-the-blank game for anyone who’s up for a little whimsical wordplay today. Feel free to join in.
Your mission, if you should choose to accept it, is to complete the phrase “Keep Calm and _________,” and then match your sentence completion with the name of an actual or imaginary organization that might plausibly adopt this as a slogan.
Example: “Keep Calm and Call Your Mom” (American Motherhood Association)
Before you start, here’s some background.
In 1939, the British Ministry of Information produced a motivational poster urging the populace to Keep Calm and Carry On in anticipation of a German air attack on England’s major cities. The poster was not widely circulated at the time, but it’s since been rediscovered, reproduced, commercialized and parodied on posters, tee-shirts, coffee mugs, and every other imaginable surface.
If you do an image-search of “Keep Calm,” you’ll soon discover that there are already literally hundreds of mutant variations of this meme out there in the humorverse.
The one I’ve seen most often is “Keep Calm and Party On” – perhaps a fitting slogan for a college fraternity?
Some of my personal favorites: “Keep Calm and Carol On,” (A Christmas Choir?) , “Keep Calm and Call Batman,” (Citizens of Gotham?), and “Keep Calm and Run Like Hell.” (Olympic Relay Team?)
At the risk of beating a dead trope, I’ll venture that we haven’t yet sucked the last bit of marrow from this gnawed bone. I believe we can still come up with a few fresh mutations of “Keep Calm” and match these with appropriate organizations.
Here are a few lobs in that direction.
Keep Calm and Care (Disaster Relief Agency)
Keep Calm and Carry (National Rifle Association)
Keep Calm and Carry Condoms (Planned Parenthood)
Keep Calm and Bury On (National Undertakers Association)
Keep Calm and Carrion (Vulture Preservation Society)
Keep Calm and Dairy On (Wisconsin Cheese Council)
Keep Calm and Marry On (Las Vegas Wedding Planners)
Keep Calm and Parry On (London Fencing Club)
Keep Calm and Query On (Search Engines, Inc.)
Keep Calm and Carry Off (Mosquito Defense Force)
Care to add one or two of your own? Have fun with it.
And please, try to refrain from suggesting “Keep Calm and Aaaggghhhhh!!!”
Thanks!
Danagram
:] writer at play since 2011
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