Claim:   Crude 'funny name' appears on Hurricane Katrina survivor list.

Status:   True.

Origins:   Two of the oldest and crudest 'funny name' gags are to call switchboard operators and ask them to page a "Mike Hunt," and to give out one's name to the media as some variant of "Heywood Jablome." (A previous instance of the latter is covered in our "media goofs" section.)

Humor never completely disappears, even in the wake of disaster, as evidenced by a reappearance of Mr. Jablome shortly after Hurricane Katrina. Up until mid-day on 2 September 2005, the first entry on a "Hurricane Katrina Safe List" posted by CNN.com was one "Ablohmie, Hayward J." of New Orleans, Louisiana. Anxious relatives of Mr. Hayward J. Ablohmie were undoubtedly relieved to know that, according to CNN, he had been "evacuated to Baton Rouge."

We don't know whether some prankster actually represented himself as "Hayward J. Ablohmie" or whether someone connected with CNN jokingly added the name to the list before it was posted, but Mr. Ablohmie was removed from an updated version.

Last updated:   2 September 2005

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