Petanque Puns: Boules of Fun

Every now and then I choose a word that is particularly hard to pun with. Petanque is one of those.


Defying common sense, and driven by having a couple of petanque designs to showcase, here is a valiant effort at punning around the game.


Let's play puntanque.

Puns

calm down and take your hand off my boules

disastrous game of petanque - what a carreau on

gentle lob? - it nearly went into orbit


giving up petanque - jacking it in

OK, OK, you made your pointe

neighbour's game invades your space - get your petanques off my lawn


Pooh Bear plays - trying to find a Piglet

recalling an excellent game - petanques for the memories

royal petanque - the crown boules


solid player with boules of steel

Space X would be proud of that landing

throw down a challenge - see you in court


top player - the Lobster

watch the weather - it's starting terrain

​​you don't know jack about petanque

A boules player releases the boule towards the others which have already been played. Cool illustration of the game of boules.

Boules Gifts

Famous Petanque Players

Jack Black - actor

Jim Carreau - comic

Rick O'Shea - top player


Steve Lobs - iPhone inventor

The Pointer Sisters - singers

Film and TV

Carreau On Camping - Barbara Windsor plays around

Inspector Carreau - Peter Sellers investigates the game

Jargon

​Boules: The metal balls thrown during the game

Cochonnet: The small wooden target ball, also known as the "piglet"

Gravel: The preferred surface for playing Petanque


Pointe: Aiming to get your boule as close as possible to the cochonnet

Tirer: Knocking an opponent’s boule out of play with a forceful throw

Carreau: A perfect shot where your boule replaces the opponent's in one move

Petanque player releases boule towards the others

Petanque Gifts >>

Songs

Great Boules of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis

Jumping Jack Flash - The Rolling Boules

Words for Making Petanque Puns

A handy list of words for petanque punning. For the most part these are English terms rather than the original French words.  Punning in English is hard enough.

boules, carreau, cochonnet, court, gravel, jack, knock, landing, lob, petanque, piglet, point, rolling, shoot, steel, terrain
I Love Petanque shows a petanque player releasing a boule towards the others. An I Love symbol is in the background. A fun illustration for fans of boules or petanque.

I Love Petanque Gifts >>

Méne End

Time to put our boules away, adjust our dress and re-enter the internet.

​Thanks for playing.

Created by Mark Ewbie. Last Updated : September 1, 2025