Off My Mind: Joker Pulls a Boner

A couple weeks ago I tried clarifying the story behind the image of Batman saying "Quiet or Papa Spank!" If you've seen that, you've probably also seen the image above. I felt this panel also deserved an explanation. Once again, this really did happen. 
 
  When did this happen? It was in Batman #66 from 1951. That means the word "boner" had a completely different meaning than it does today. 
 
The story dealt with the Joker trying to commit a wacky crime. His plan was to rob the electric company by turning off the power. He had one of his henchmen pull the fuses for the building ten minutes after he enters. Taking an elevator up to the 24th floor, he begins his crime. Do you see where the "boner" is coming in? With the power out, there's no elevator. Going down the stairs, the Joker and his henchmen run into Batman and Robin. In order to make his escape, he has to leave his loot behind. The newspaper quickly declares that "Joker Pulls Boner of the Year." In other words, the Joker goofed up. Hence, the use of the word "boner."
 
That won't be the last we'll see of the word "boner" in this issue. 
 == TEASER == 

As the Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker is the one that usually makes the jokes. He vows to make the city regret ever mentioning the word "boner." By the time you finish reading this story, you will as well. 
 
 Joker then decides to take the "great boners of all time" (such as the Battleship Missouri getting stuck in mud, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Trojan Horse, etc) and turn them into crimes. Are there more boners in the story? Yes. There are many many more boners. The entire story is only twelve pages (there's two other stories in the issue). Throughout Joker's attempt to create boners whenever he can, we end up with lines such as: 

• "It was quite a boner!" 
• "Stung by his boner, Joker lashes back!" 
• "Batman will make the boner of the year" 
• "What does he mean, Bruce? How can he force you into a boner?" 
• "I'm worried about the boner he's preparing for you." 
• "Batman's greatest boner!" 

 
It might be funny seeing the word "boner" used over and over but after nearly forty times in twelve pages, it gets to be a bit much. There's just too many boners in this story. What have we learned today? The meaning of words have changed over the years and Joker really likes pulling boners.