Nokamura
n.— «“A Nokamura”: When a large number of jokes are all predicated on a single, earlier joke. This can entail great risk. Based on a Cheers episode. A day-player was named “Nokamura.” A vast chunk of the second act’s jokes were based on people mispronouncing, repeating, etc. the name “Nokamura.” But the problem was, on tape night—the first mention of “Nokamura” didn’t get a laugh. This meant the rest of the jokes wouldn’t work. The rest of the show was shanked.…(Note: We have recent e-mails suggesting the origin of this term was actually The Bob Newhart Show. We are investigating)» —“Writing: Jargon Preservation” by John Rogers Kung Fu Monkey Apr. 15, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Imagine telling someone how to get to your home, but without using the name of your street, or any other street within ten miles. Could you do it? We take street names for granted, but these words are useful for far more, like applying for a job or...
