When Entendres Go Viral

April 19, 2022 11:02 AM

On the Zillow Goes Wild Twitter feed, one Wisconsin listing popped up for a homespun sign with a decidedly atypical (if fitting) message in the master bedroom. MEL Magazine has an interview with the homeowner about the sign and her surprise 15 minutes of fame.
posted by NoxAeternum (74 comments total)

who says romance is dead
posted by Kitteh at 11:04 AM on April 19, 2022 [8 favorites]

i have questions about the population of poundtown that this sign does not answer.
posted by logicpunk at 11:06 AM on April 19, 2022 [37 favorites]

Whatever consenting adults can fit in the room, presumably.
posted by emjaybee at 11:09 AM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

The rest of this place seems to have been shipped from the lower 48 from the year 2010 in order to outfit an Airbnb with the least possible offense. As such, I love the sign with my whole heart. If I were in a couple now I would order one from her
posted by Countess Elena at 11:11 AM on April 19, 2022 [6 favorites]

Beds are not great for fucking, though. The bench at the foot has some possibilities but doesn't look very stable. Everything else is even smaller. I challenge the appropriateness of this room for such a sign. There aren't even hardpoints in the ceiling.
posted by seanmpuckett at 11:22 AM on April 19, 2022 [12 favorites]

The poundtown that can be found is not the eternal poundtown.
posted by Earthtopus at 11:24 AM on April 19, 2022 [15 favorites]

“People are saying that I went overboard with the signs, and that I need to lay off Michael’s even though I never go to Michael’s,” she tells me. “If I go to a store it’s Hobby Lobby or TJ MAXX, but I mainly make my own signs!”

No words.
posted by allthinky at 11:24 AM on April 19, 2022 [15 favorites]

Is it just me or is the microwave in that house surprisingly wide?
posted by saturday_morning at 12:01 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

@saturday_morning: that's due to the distorted lens realtors use to make rooms look big & open in photos.
posted by muddgirl at 12:07 PM on April 19, 2022 [7 favorites]

Is it just me or is the microwave in that house surprisingly wide?

You can work up a big appetite after visiting Poundtown.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 12:07 PM on April 19, 2022 [25 favorites]

Big Hillsong energy.
posted by Lutoslawski at 12:08 PM on April 19, 2022 [7 favorites]

The surprisingly wholesome horniness of the state of Wisconsin, previously on MetaFilter
posted by escabeche at 12:08 PM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

This is so great. I loved this when I saw it. I am delighted she makes these and this is a whole business for her. I'm really hoping her Hobby Lobby loyalty doesn't mean she's Trumpy because that would buzzkill my Live, Laugh, Love delight.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:08 PM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Poundtown is small potatoes. Welcome to Poundland.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:12 PM on April 19, 2022 [4 favorites]

I got that elephant vibe from the two flags on the verge in the shots of the front of the house.
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:13 PM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Poundtown is small potatoes. Welcome to Poundland.

Slightly less intimidating than Poundstretcher, I guess?
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:43 PM on April 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

You can work up a big appetite after visiting Poundtown.

Pretty disappointed there's no "Welcome to Flavortown" in the kitchen to complete the set.
posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 12:45 PM on April 19, 2022 [6 favorites]

"Is it just me or is the microwave in that house surprisingly wide?"

The Whirlpool WML75011 is a real thing.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 12:46 PM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Maybe add a Welcome to Flavortown sign too?
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:48 PM on April 19, 2022

The Whirlpool WML75011 is a real thing.

Key Features: "Purposeful Capacity"
posted by billjings at 1:04 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

You know there's a global shortage of Live Love Laugh signage right now. Let's have some compassion.
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:11 PM on April 19, 2022 [6 favorites]

“Plus, two out of three of our kids can’t read, and when our oldest read it while I was making it, I just told her it was a funny quote from a movie and she never asked about it again. She doesn’t care; she’s clearly used to the decor.”

Uh, yeah, that may be true today, but kids grow up. Faster than you think.
posted by zardoz at 1:15 PM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

“Plus, two out of three of our kids can’t read, and when our oldest read it while I was making it, I just told her it was a funny quote from a movie and she never asked about it again. She doesn’t care; she’s clearly used to the decor.”

Uh, yeah, that may be true today, but kids grow up. Faster than you think.

Yeah it's a shame that signs can't be taken down or anything
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:20 PM on April 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

Wow everything in that house is grey. That may be one of the most depressing houses I've ever seen.
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 1:23 PM on April 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

Wow everything in that house is grey. That may be one of the most depressing houses I've ever seen.

It's an intentional design choice. Keeping the colors muted and neutral avoids drawing attention away.

From the pounding.
posted by The Tensor at 1:31 PM on April 19, 2022 [26 favorites]

Yeah it's a shame that signs can't be taken down or anything

But internet articles about your mom talking about Poundtown? Possibly forever.

I'm not being prudish here! I think the sign is funny and it's great she (and presumably her husband) have a sense of humor about it. And no it's not a problem for the kids, either. It's just amusing to me how young parents sort of lock in the concept of their kids as babies and can't conceive of them as young adults. Young adults who might be embarrassed that the whole country (and especially their classmates) knows their parents are gettin' it on.
posted by zardoz at 1:34 PM on April 19, 2022 [8 favorites]

Wow everything in that house is grey. That may be one of the most depressing houses I've ever seen.

You've forgotten the navy blue with white gloss shiplap everywhere. Navy is the avocado of the age, and shiplap is just wood paneling turned sideways. Anyway, it's just paint and certainly no potential buyer can complain that the canvas provided is not blank.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:35 PM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Wow everything in that house is grey.

Tell me you haven't been in the real estate market for a while without saying so. It's. All. Grey.
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:39 PM on April 19, 2022 [13 favorites]

makes the shuttle instrument panel mural above my headboard a thing of subtlety
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:59 PM on April 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

This reply to the original tweet might be the only time I've felt inspired by a lettered sign.
posted by coffeecat at 2:01 PM on April 19, 2022 [6 favorites]

I find myself wondering if this tendency of internet connectivity to create occasional Massive Amounts of Attention will eventually teach people to file off all their most interesting affectations, the better to blend in and avoid potential life-altering fame/shame (or to try desperately to monetize their 15 minutes).

Like, 15 or 20 years ago, this would have been a funny story to tell your friends after doing a house tour, and no one would even have known who Lauren Hegenbarth is, and she would have just gone pleasantly about her funky life.
posted by heyitsgogi at 2:10 PM on April 19, 2022 [11 favorites]

That’s a good point. More than once I have felt dread about going viral over some mildly embarrassing mishap. I follow a popular Instagram feed that sometimes shares clips of older people dancing in public dance venues, nothing more nor less, with some “lol boomers” joke. That reminds me, I should unfollow it.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:25 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

As the old saying goes, in Penny, in for a pound. Or something like that...
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 2:35 PM on April 19, 2022

eventually teach people to file off all their most interesting affectations

It's worse than that -- they file off the interesting bits, and then double-down on the ill-considered political racism and antivax buffoonery.
posted by aramaic at 2:37 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

Related: Why is every car these days white or gray?
posted by Lexica at 2:52 PM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

The bedroom sign gave me my first honest belly laugh in weeks.
posted by loquacious at 2:55 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

Plus, two out of three of our kids can’t read...

...which is why they're really struggling in high school.
posted by kickingtheground at 3:00 PM on April 19, 2022 [11 favorites]

My Key Features For Success when in Poundtown:

• Low Profile Design
• Purposeful Capacity
• 3-Speed, 400 CFM Motor Class High Performance Venting
• 1,000-Watt Cooking Power
• CleanRelease® Non-Stick Interior
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 3:15 PM on April 19, 2022 [8 favorites]

I've never been to Wisconsin, but I believe Poundtown is right down the road from the Bone Zone.
posted by kirkaracha at 3:23 PM on April 19, 2022 [5 favorites]

Our sign says “welcome to the bone zone”. It will also double as the tombstone inscription eventually.
posted by freecellwizard at 3:23 PM on April 19, 2022 [11 favorites]

"Please enjoy your tour of the Satis Factory."
posted by The Tensor at 3:27 PM on April 19, 2022 [4 favorites]

I've never been to Wisconsin, but I believe Poundtown is right down the road from the Bone Zone.

And a short cab ride from Funkytown.
posted by Naberius at 3:31 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

And fifteen miles to the LOOOOOVE SHACK!
posted by Tknophobia at 3:33 PM on April 19, 2022 [20 favorites]

For me, the thing that makes the sign work is that it utterly captures the visual aesthetic of the signs you can by at Michael's, but the message is something that would never be approved by Corporate.
posted by NoxAeternum at 3:43 PM on April 19, 2022 [12 favorites]

I'm not a football person, but if this was in Green Bay the bedroom sign would be worded differently, right?
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:43 PM on April 19, 2022

Tell me you haven't been in the real estate market for a while without saying so. It's. All. Grey.

I moved out of a rental house that I had lived in for the better part of a decade and it immediately got The Grey Paint Job, I mean within two weeks, and it honestly really upset me.
posted by atoxyl at 4:01 PM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

The Whirlpool WML75011 is a real thing.

That's a really bizarre design - the internal depth is only 18", barely half the width, with a turntable to match set in the center. So what does the extra width accomplish??
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:12 PM on April 19, 2022

I have a Whirlpool WML75011! What it accomplishes is fitting a microwave above the range in an older house with not as much clearance between the stove and the cabinet above it. A regular above the range microwave is to tall and shrinks the open space above the stove to an unusable level. We have a tiny kitchen with no other place to put a microwave so it was that or replace the (actually quite nice) cabinets just for the microwave. There were only 2 models in that shape when we got ours. It's actually a really nice appliance and the turntable is recessed so if you put something in that's wider than that (like a 9x13 Pyrex pan) it just sits on the bottom and the turntable spins underneath, or you can turn off the spinning.

That's all I know about microwaves. Back to Poundtown.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 4:30 PM on April 19, 2022 [15 favorites]

Live. Laugh. Pound.
posted by stripesandplaid at 5:29 PM on April 19, 2022 [22 favorites]

The most disturbing thing about the photo set is these people apparently chose to put a big corporate advertisement directly into their home, always visible, nobody forcing them. Maybe even spent money to get the starbucks logo on their furniture?
posted by GoblinHoney at 5:57 PM on April 19, 2022

I know tastes vary, but that's just about the least erotic setting (in an adult space, anyway) I can imagine for that sign.
posted by praemunire at 6:26 PM on April 19, 2022 [4 favorites]

Is that like slang for The City of London???
posted by Pembquist at 6:29 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

Feels a little like the "I meant to do that" defense. "I really hoped our realtor wouldn't notice" mmm hmm. I guess when you're busted, you might as well own it, though.
posted by ctmf at 7:02 PM on April 19, 2022

Did anyone notice the sign that says "Welcome to Poundtown"?
posted by AlSweigart at 7:48 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

I don’t know . . . putting a large billboard in your own bedroom advertising your own sexuality to yourself, your partner(s), and anyone who might happen to go in there just seems desperately insecure to me.
posted by jamjam at 7:52 PM on April 19, 2022

Maybe even spent money to get the starbucks logo on their furniture?

Or maybe it's just a kid's play set. You know, like the ones we had back in our day.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:36 PM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Tell me you haven't been in the real estate market for a while without saying so. It's. All. Grey.

Actually I've been in the rental market all my adult life and it's all beige here. They might do it differently in the UK, IDK.
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 2:45 AM on April 20, 2022

putting a large billboard in your own bedroom advertising your own sexuality

That isn't the point of the sign. It's, like, a joke.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 3:19 AM on April 20, 2022 [4 favorites]

You know there's a global shortage of Live Love Laugh signage right now.

Try these
posted by acb at 3:35 AM on April 20, 2022

You'll only look foolish if you make a joke about the "Mayor of Poundtown" since they have transitioned to a City Manager/Council form of government.
posted by Flexagon at 6:44 AM on April 20, 2022 [8 favorites]

Or maybe it's just a kid's play set.

It is a kids playset, or a copycat set. The original creator is also from Wisconsin.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:39 AM on April 20, 2022

Wait a minute: She is a house flipper, and they kept the useless kitchen soffit, which required them to install the unique microwave? Eh. That's terrible.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:41 AM on April 20, 2022 [2 favorites]

Putting a sign in the kitchen that says Eat seems bossy.

Making a Welcome to Poundtown sign for the bedroom and leaving it up for the realtor photos is clueless and/or Marketing Genius.

needs a bowl of fruit, tho.
posted by theora55 at 8:44 AM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

That's a really bizarre design - the internal depth is only 18", barely half the width, with a turntable to match set in the center. So what does the extra width accomplish??

Ask the residents of Poundtown what the extra width can accomplish.
posted by Furnace of Doubt at 10:28 AM on April 20, 2022 [8 favorites]

I don't think I would live in Poundtown. It seems like one of those places that's nicer to visit.
posted by MrVisible at 11:12 AM on April 20, 2022 [4 favorites]

That's a really bizarre design - the internal depth is only 18"

Clinging to the Wreckage already went over that the purpose of the the form factor is to fill the width over the stove but I also want to note that 18" while shallow compared to the depth is really deep for microwaves generally. It's at least 3" deeper than the four counter top models I have ready access to and it is a couple inches deeper than the more conventionally proportioned model over my mother's range.
posted by Mitheral at 11:30 AM on April 20, 2022

It's at least 3" deeper than the four counter top models I have ready access to and it is a couple inches deeper than the more conventionally proportioned model over my mother's range.

The citizens of Poundtown have no comment on your mother's proportions, conventional or not.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:35 AM on April 20, 2022 [3 favorites]

Twenty dollars, same as in Poundtown.
posted by MexicanYenta at 11:40 AM on April 20, 2022 [4 favorites]

"Forget it, Jake, it's Poundtown."
posted by kirkaracha at 12:27 PM on April 20, 2022 [4 favorites]

And here I am feeling like I'm the only one who likes grey houses.

I grew up in brown 80s houses with brown furniture as far as the eye can see and brown wood on floors and walls. So tired of browns furnishings & walls & floors. I wouldn't buy a white couch, though, and colored including black fabric grabs lint & hair. Black leather definitely shows if you've been slacking on the dusting. Gray hides the hair & dust from people & cats, and walls can be changed a bit cheaper than furniture, I think. It looks clean in the pictures and that's all that matters to a lot of people.

I do think her accent choices are tacky but it's the tacky of seeing a lot of mass-produced stuff that looks similar and never thinking to look beyond the hobby stores and Target for ideas. Or even knowing where to look.
posted by tlwright at 1:04 PM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

Whirlpool WML75011

Whoa. I thought certain the realtor was getting caught stretching the rules by using a camera lens to stretch the truth about the size of the kitchen.
posted by straight at 3:15 PM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

Can't handle a whole town? Perhaps something more manageable.
A smut hut? A cozy little frottage cottage?
posted by bartleby at 4:14 AM on April 21, 2022 [4 favorites]

I clicked a suggested link that Chrome served up to me as spam and it appears there's a whole bunch of papers syndicating a story that completely misses the point:

House for sale in WI looks like a Hobby Lobby

ctrl-f pountdown, cue bewildered searching.
posted by fountainofdoubt at 7:15 AM on April 21, 2022

And here I am feeling like I'm the only one who likes grey houses.

No, honestly, as a default choice, it is far from the worst. I once stayed in a "grey room" at a fancy hotel in Vienna and it was nifty.
posted by praemunire at 8:59 AM on April 21, 2022