Chris Cole tells this us story about the Wizard of Id cartoon series.

I still vividly remember one from almost 30 years ago wherein Sir Rodney desired to take out a personal loan at the bank. A friend of mine showed me the Sunday strip, which I had to read and then had to think about to “get” the inferred PUNch line. Sir Rodney was asked to put up some collateral to secure the loan, against which the bank would write a lien. The only thing Sir Rodney had to offer was his loyal Page. When he asked the loan officer what they would call the collateral document, the loan officer replied that he “wouldn’t touch that straight line with a ten-foot pole.” That was the last panel. My more-adept punster friend pointed out that the document would naturally be called a Vassal Lien.

… to which, of course, I groaned… the punster’s version of applause…