Harold B. Lee Library

Wordplay

‘Wordplay’ invitations showcase a sense of humor and mental dexterity that many people find attractive. Puns and other mental gymnastics can range from the groan-worthy to the very clever depending on the person who thinks them up. Usually wordplay is the easiest and least expensive way to make a creative invitation.

Examples of ‘Wordplay’ Invitations in the Special Collections Archives

Special Creative Dating Invitations (FA 01 692)

The inviter left the invitee a box of doughnuts with a note that read “I ‘doughnut’ know what I’d do if you didn’t go to [the dance] with me!” The invitee responded with a bag of doughnut holes and a note that read “I would like to go with you a ‘hole’ bunch.”

Creative Dating Invitations (FA 01 765)

The inviter left a bag of popcorn with the note “I’m ‘popping’ the question; will you go to [the dance] with me?”

A flower pot filled with ice cream, cookie dirt, and fake flowers hid a message that said “I’d ‘bloom’ if you’d go to [the dance] with me!”

A full breakfast, including a box of lucky charms, was left on the invitee’s doorstep with a note that read “I’d be ‘charmed’ if you’d go to [the dance] with me!”

A box of Nilla Wafer cookies was given to the invitee with a note; “Is there any ‘wafer’ you to go to [the dance] with me?”

A certain inviter taped hearts to every surface of the invitee’s living room and left a note that said “Your room just had a ‘heart attack,’ and so will I if you go to [the dance] with me!”

Dating: The Art Form- Creative Date Invitations at BYU (FA 01 1401)

The inviter ran into the invitee’s house, covered in fake blood and stabbed in the chest with a fake knife. The invitation read: “I’m dying to go out with you.”

A candy gram read: “Hey ‘BIG HUNK’, be‘TWIX’ed you and me, I think you’re ‘BAR NONE’”

The inviter put glow-in-the-dark stars on the invitee’s bedroom ceiling with a poem that read: “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have you as my [dance] date.

Creative Ways to Ask Someone to a Dance: Artistic Communication within Teenage Groups (FA 01 1424)

A bag of candy was left for the invitee with a poem that read: “Roses are red, violets are black, if you don’t go to [the dance] with me, I want this candy back!”

Hey, Baby! Do You Want to Dance: Cultural Insights through Teen Invitations to Dances in Mormondom (FA 01 1473)

A box of Honey Comb cereal accompanied the note: “Honey, comb your hair! Cause we’re going to [the dance]!”

A vat of Spahgetti-O’s and Barbie limbs was tastefully left with a note: “I’d give an arm and a leg to go to [the dance] with you”

A jar of pickles tied with pink balloons was left with a spoonerism: “I’d be pickled tink to go to [the dance] with you”

The inviter lit a bag of kitty litter on fire and left a note: “I’m burning to go out with you!”

Asking and Answering: Ideas for Creative Dates at BYU (FA 01 1553)

The invitee found a bag of flour on the porch with instructions to find the invitation ‘in the flour.’ After a mess had been made, the inviter turned up with a flower and said ‘I guess I spelled it wrong.’ The invitation was in the flower.

The invitation to go ice skating was frozen in a block of ice. The response was tied up in medical tape to let the inviter know that the invitee didn’t know how to skate, but would go anyway if the inviter would mend her injuries.

 

Creative Dating Invitations (FA 01 1660)

The inviter happened to have an old toilet in her garage. She cleaned and decorated it and left it for the invitee with a note that read: “If you’ve gotta go, go with me!”

The inviter filled the invitee’s tub with pebbles, sea weed, water, and other sea things. Inside a glass bottle, the invitation said that the inviter was shipwrecked, and the inviter needed to come to the rescue by taking her on a date.

Creative Date Invitations: Originality and Reasons Youth Participate (FA 01 1755)

A bag of peanuts was left with an invitation that started with: “I’m nuts about you”

A bag of flour was left with the invitation and a note that stated: “I felt bad that all your roommates were getting flowers, so I got you some flours.”

The inviter put little ties on bottles of Crush soda with a message: “I’d be ‘crushed’ if you were ‘tied up’ this Saturday.”

The inviter left a pair of boxer shorts in a pile of dirt: “I’d ‘soil’ my shorts if you won’t go out with me”

The inviter just walked up to the invitee, hander her a giant screw, and said, “Screw creativity, will you go to ‘the dance’ with me?”

The inviter provided the invitee with a bottle of bubbles: “Don’t burst my ‘bubble,’ please come on a date with me.”

Utah Traditions of Creative Dating (FA 01 1963)

The inviter left the invitee a bottle of mustard that said “Now that I’ve ‘mustard’ up the courage, will you go to [the dance] with me?

The inviter left a bag of popcorn for the invitee: “I’d ‘pop’ with excitement if you’d go to [the dance] with me.”

Creative Invitations: An Analysis (FA 01 2028)

The inviter gave the invitee several live mice with the letters of her name painted on their backs and a note that said: “It would be ‘mice’ to go to [the dance] with you.”

“It scared the pants off me to ask you, but you knocked my socks off!” was left on a note next to a pair of pants and socks left on the invitee’s doorstep.

For a week, the inviter left a cube of butter on the invitee’s doorstep every day with a note that said “more about the dance later.” At the end of the week, he left popcorn that said “now that I’ve ‘buttered’ you up, I’d like to ‘pop’ the question!”

The inviter left a bouquet of tulips and a note that said “With my ‘two-lips,’ I’m asking you to [the dance].”

The inviter made a pillowcase with his face on it that said: “Date? Yes or no, sleep on it and let me know!”

The Rules of Creative Dating at Timpview High (FA 01 2160)

A note left on the invitee’s couch read: “Don’t be a couch potato, come to the dance with me!”

The inviter made a video with many many people asking the invitee out. The invitation was split up into individual words spoken by a different person each.