A while ago I came up with the concept of the ‘aspel’. An attempt to kick-start a meme. What’s an aspel, I hear you ask? Don’t interrupt, I was about to explain.
An ‘aspel’ is the phenomena (particularly prevalent on the internet) of people adding their own extra little funny bits to the ends of the other people’s jokes. Specifically, it means adding extra little funny bits which are essentially the same joke - but spelt out. Which means that the person doing the ‘aspel’ wasn’t aware that the joke had been finished and felt that it required their own Mike Giggler-esque punchline.
It’s named in honour of the great Michael Aspel. When he presented This Is Your Life, not an anecdote could pass without him tagging on his own little superfluous re-iterative adjunct.
Example: Someone on a forum discussing, say, Shameless, might say, with tongue in cheek; ‘I hope it doesn’t become one of those shows which keeps on going long after all the original cast have left and end up a shadow of its former self!’. To ‘aspel’ this would be to add, ‘I think it’s a bit late for that!!!’
The best ever ‘aspel’ was by a flatmate of mine. Someone had told this joke online:
There’s three men and a woman hanging from a cliff by a rope. The rope isn’t strong enough for all of them, so they decide that one person should let go so that the others can survive. The woman gives a very touching speech about how she will be the one to let go, because she is used to giving things up for men without getting anything in return.
The men are so moved, they all start clapping their hands...”
Cue my flatmate’s ‘aspel’: “And then they all fall off the rope!!!”
