pumpkin head

Man in an orange jacket holding a pumpkin in front of his face

photo credit: "Peter Pumpkinhead" by Joe Shlabotnik (CC-BY-2.0) Image cropped

Definition: (noun phrase) a person with a really big head

Example: Jack couldn't fit into the shark costume, because he was a pumpkin head.

Quote:

“I mean, who wants to name himself Pumpkinhead? Who else actually gets girls with a name like Pumpkinhead? No one but me, because I'm so damn pretty.”

- Rapper Pumpkinhead, whose head is of relatively normal size

Ah, it’s that time of year! The crisp fall air, the cute kids in ladybug and pirate costumes, the sign in the grocer’s dairy case that says, “Must be 21 to buy eggs. ID required!” Yes, Halloween is also known as Devil's Night to Boston teens, though in some parts of the country it's the night before. This is the time that our young people like to show their high spirits by throwing eggs at passing cars and decorating the parked variety with shaving cream and soap.

To TP an enemy's house (festively hang toilet paper in the branches of the trees) seems to be a holiday tradition unique to this country. And back to original topic, one of the most popular activities of all got a rock band named after it: Smashing Pumpkins.

Famous American pumpkin heads include Phil Donahue, Ted Koppel, and Rush Limbaugh. And I might qualify as a pumpkin head myself, even though my head isn’t that big. In eighteenth century slang, Bostonians used to be called Pumpkins, apparently because our massive squash consumption. Boston itself, now nicknamed Beantown, was known to other cities as Pumpkinshire. I suppose that's better than Chowderville.

A. C. Kemp | October 30, 2003